John H wrote:
On Tue, 17 Oct 2017 20:01:05 -0400, Alex wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 10/17/2017 12:21 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:10:14 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

Mr. Luddite wrote:
... is causing the brick and mortar stores to close their doors.

I needed a HDMI coupler to extend a HDMI cable. Went on Amazon and
they
had several, some for under $2. I opted for one that was a little
more
expensive at $3.45 because it had gold plated contacts. Submitted the
order and it will be here in two days.

Then, I happened to be out running an errand and stopped in at a Best
Buy, deciding that since the couplers are so cheap, I'll pick one up
there so I could finish the project I am working on today rather than
having to wait for two days.

Found the coupler but the package had no price on it. Took it up
to the
register thinking it was probably 5 or 6 bucks, tops.

Girl scans it and the price was $29.09.

I told her that must be a mistake, so she manually entered the
number on
the package. Yup. $29.09.

Told her I changed my mind. I'll wait until Wednesday. That's absurd.



Or the are like Sears. A few years ago, I needed a 3/4 drive
breaker bar
to change the water pump on my diesel. $45 at Sears, but sign up
email
and order online for pickup. $21 and Sears is only a couple miles
from me
in the shopping center. I think that is the last purchase there. So
last week, get an email that I have $20 free cash to spend on home
fashions. So wife and I buy $20 of towels for the fire victims.
2 days
later I get an email I got $25 of more free cash. Bigger selection
this
time. I have been looking at metric ratcheting box end wrenches.
So go
online for store pickup. They bring to car. $79 set, on sale,
$50 off.
So for $5.45 with tax I get a really nice set. No wonder they are
bankrupt.
The ironic thing is that they used to be the king of mail order and
just about the time when internet sales were starting to gain a little
traction, they went solid brick and mortar abandoning ther catalog
operation. (90s)
It s a classic case of losing your imagination and not looking at
where the world is headed. With their infrastructure, experience and
their product line they had the opportunity to dominate the online
marketplace.


Yup. When I was a kid I'd spend hours going through that massive Sears
catalog.
When I was a kid I was *in* the Sears catalog. We had a neighbor who
was a photographer. His "model" was unavailable so he called my Mom.
It was for one of those portable basketball hoops. They showed up with
the hoop, some clothes from Sears, and a basketball with a Sears logo on
it. After a few shots of me shooting a layup, our neighbor said the
ball might be blurry (no digital back then). They partially deflated the
ball, set it on the back of the hoop against the backboard (with the
Sears logo facing the camera) and all I had to do was jump like I was
making a shot. That was what they used. I still have copies of the
photos they didn't use and the ball was blurry.

The minimum rate back then was $60 per hour. I was paid $60 for the one
hour but 10% was taken out for an agency fee so I netted $54. I never
met my "agent". Not bad for a high school kid in the early 80's. That
photo ended up in one catalog, the Christmas "Wishbook" and a smaller
flyer they mailed to the house.
After some heavy searching I found that shot. Page 454:

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1983_Sears_Wishbook/#454

That was good money. Hope you didn't waste it on frivolities, but bought something useful...like a
gun.

That's it. The photo they used in the regular catalog had our house in
the background. Same photo but without the background removed. You
could see the neighbors house too. They go a kick out of that.