Raspberry Pi Zero $5 in-store at Micro Center

[Rakehellion]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/463189/Zero_v13_Development_Board_-_Camera_Ready

1 at $5.00 each
2-5 at $9.99 each
6+ at $12.99 each

 

[Elixer]

That is a pretty nice deal, too bad it is in-store only.
*edit Oh wait, that is the Pi Zero... n/m.

 

[ultimatebob]

I think that $5 is the MSRP for the Zero... if you can actually find it at that price.

 

[dodger2020]

I don't care how difficult it is to find these. I fail to see how them charging you $5 when that's the MSRP for 1ea and DOUBLE MSRP if you want more than one is a hot deal. Not to mention that's what they've been charging for them since the Pi Zero was released (with a few rogue store exceptions). Microcenter will never get a dime from me for their sales tactics.

 

[Elixer]

D'oh, didn't catch that it was the Zero, thought it was the Pi 3 board.

 

[Mike64]

http://www.microcenter.com/product/463189/Zero_v13_Development_Board_-_Camera_Ready

Just FYI, Microcenter has periodic actually-a-"sale"s on the Zero for 99¢… Also in-store, and with theoretical limit of one per customer, but I'm not sure their online ordering system compares different orders, and can say from experience that no one bothers to check or seems to care when you buy them "in person" without placing a pick-up order (at least if you're not totally obvious about it, and at least at their Brooklyn store...)

 

[mikeford]

They sold out last time and gave them out free when they were back in stock.

I am happy enough that anybody has local stock for these DIY project type things. Most I buy cheap on ebay and wait a few weeks to a month or more for, and sometimes price is less important than time.

 

[ultimatebob]

When this first came out, $5 seemed like a deal for this product. When I look at it now, though, I realize that it's just a small circuit board with a 5 year old smartphone SoC on it.

That's about what it should cost, considering all of the additional parts you're going to need to get it running.

 

[Rakehellion]

I think that $5 is the MSRP for the Zero... if you can actually find it at that price.

Important caveat. Where can you?

 

[Mike64]

Important caveat. Where can you?

By mail, you mean? Yeah, that's a problem, but I think Microcenter always sells them in-store only, so it doesn't change the fact that this really isn't a "deal". And if you mean available at MSRP anywhere on a regular basis, then, well, there's always Microcenter, which "usually" has them. They do go out of stock, but it's not like they disappear from their stores 3 days after they get a shipment... And they always get more, and never charge more than MSRP for the first item (and at least a couple/few times of year, even sell them for 99¢ for the first item.) And frankly, I have no problem with them charging a lot more for subsequent multiples, though I guess it wouldn't kill them to let people have 2 at $5.00, while still keeping a lid on all the rabid flippers that would otherwise buy their entire inventory within hours of it hitting their shelves if there were no limits at all…

 

[Kaido]

I think that $5 is the MSRP for the Zero... if you can actually find it at that price.

Regardless of the pricing & availability games, what a time to be alive...a great development board for the price of a Big Mac, amazing!

 

[Rakehellion]

By mail, you mean? Yeah, that's a problem

Where else can you get them in-store for that price?

$5 may be the manufacturer's suggested retail price, but it isn't the normal price. I think that's like crapping on a 4K TV thread because you got one on Black Friday for $100.

Regardless of the pricing & availability games, what a time to be alive...a great development board for the price of a Big Mac, amazing!

It's waaay better than an Arduino for around the same price. I just bought one yesterday.

 

[Mike64]

Where else can you get them in-store for that price?

Nowhere else that I know of (except maybe Fry's? I don't have a local one, so I don't actually know about that.) But then I don't know of any other major brick & mortar chain that carries them at any price. All I've been saying is that this is Microcenter's normal price for a product they regularly carry, so I''ve just been wondering what makes this a "deal" of any temperature...

 

[Rakehellion]

what makes this a "deal"

Because as far as either of knows, this is the best price for this item available anywhere.

Okay, you're a Micro Center expert and have their entire catalog memorized. Great, some of us don't.

 

[Mike64]

Because as far as either of knows, this is the best price for this item available anywhere

Whatever. I think most people think of "deals" as being unusual/sale prices for products, not the normal price for a regular product that one person apparently didn't know the seller sells...

Okay, you're a Micro Center expert and have their entire catalog memorized. Great, some of us don't.

The fact that you apparently had no clue doesn't make everyone else who did "expert"... It hardly takes an expert to know MC sells the Zero, and at MSRP. They've been doing it since the product was introduced, and they send emails that mention it at least once a month.

But anyway, the horse died half a dozen posts ago and my arm is starting to ache, so if you really want to keep at this, the last word is all yours...

 

[esquared]

OK people, stop.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director