The slow death of Jaycar?

[nctnico]

Back OT: brick and mortar shops aren't doing well even in Shenzhen. I don't find it surprising or care the least bit because in-store shopping is simply inferior. I can't search for stuff easily, travelling to a store is a waste of time, a store has high overhead costs which means stuff will be more expensive, etc.

I agree. I noticed the (only) local electronics shop has closed down as well. Like many I only visited it when I really needed something.

[Brumby]

There's also WES in Sydney, used them years ago but as i'm out of that particular industry I've not used them for some time, anyone  have current experience with them

I've used Wagner a couple of times recently.  They had what I wanted and at better prices than RS, Digikey and Mouser - if you picked up in person (which I did).  Get a small order delivered and the pricing wasn't that much different, but if you are putting together even a half decent order, you could be in front.  (Do your homework.)

They are now on Parramatta Road Summer Hill, about a kilometre from where they used to be in Ashfield.  There is parking under with a lift to the lobby - and the trade counter is open on Saturdays up to 4pm which has been very useful.  Haven't used them for mail orders, so I can't speak to that.

I'd add them to your list of Aussie suppliers if they aren't already.  http://www.wes.com.au/contactus.aspx

[TheAstro30]

Where I agree Jaycar have changed over the years, no I don't agree they're "dying". I remember a time back in the early 2000's, you could still buy 25-0-25 volt AC 160VA toroidal transformers (and other voltages in that range) there. Now, you can't. I think it's mostly to do with "how well is this product selling?" "is it selling anymore? No. Discontinue.". Yes, it's annoying. But, e-commerce online is the way components and hardware are being bought now. Yes, there's a waiting time involved and can be frustrating, but, if they want to go the way of DSE, they'll keep accommodating the niche market (DIY hobbyists, like me) or try something different. DSE's demise was they tried to do what JB-HIFI is doing now.

[johnboxall]

DSE's demise was they tried to do what JB-HIFI is doing now.

... sort of. Management (and lack thereof) didn't help. It might have worked if things were done in a more... sensible manner.

Read: https://www.channelnews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Dick-Smith-Ruling-Equity-Court.pdf

https://www.channelnews.com.au/tag/dick-smith/

As a company, Jaycar seems to be doing quite well, new stores, new channels, new HQ. Good for them. We all need to move on.

[Kerlin]

I gave up on Jaycar after buying some simple 2.5 mm DC power jacks and plugs.
Went back bought some more, same.
The plastic melted like wax candles when I tried to solder them, and I am a well experienced techo with training in soldering to military standards and decades of practice.
Went to Altronics, much better.
Happened five years ago never going back.
But Altronics very much need a few technically competent staff.

[mendip_discovery]

In the UK we had Maplins and it had it moments as it sold daft toys and the electronics stuff was at a premium price. But it was open 7 days a week and was handy when you had a thing you needed to check would work with another thing which can only be done with the physical object.

Sadly the equity companies got a hold of it. Even though it was making 50% profit on the stuff it was selling it wasn't able to keep up with the debt it kept being lumbered every time it was sold. Firm buys it, take out loan to pay for the purchase in company name, sell company after making some savings aka selling off stuff, rinse and repeat. The same happened to Toy'r Us.

[wilfred]

I bought a 3d printer last week at Jaycar and I found the staff to be friendly courteous and helpful. And answered some of my questions with surprising candor.

The last 3 Jaycar stores I have been in lately have been very neat and tidy showing they are well managed.

I tend to buy stuff on sale and clearance so I wouldn't be a great customer for them. Nostalgic old-timers expecting bricks and mortar electronics stores to stay like they were decades ago are not the profitable customers in quantity they once were. If you need a roll of filament now, where do you go?

It's time to cut Jaycar some slack it is 7 years since DSE closed down and they are still around. They must be doing something right.

[redkitedesign]

I lived in Australia the last 3 years, and was quite surprised by the number of Jaycar (and Alltronics) shops, and the range of their offering.

There is pretty much nowhere in the Netherlands where you can still find that much.

However, if I wanted something not on offer at Jaycar or Alltronics, I had to go to Element 13.9 and friends, and it usually had to be shippped from Singapore or Europe. Average delivery time 2 weeks. Mouser was slightly better, usually a week.

If I order something from Mouser for delivery in .NL, I get it in two days. Element14 (Farnell) does overnight.

[SmallCog]

Pertinent time for a thread revival, I went into Jaycar yesterday for the first time in ages.

All I needed was some heavy cable, an anderson 50A connector and some suitable crimps. They had it all but still made it painful.

They had a sign up on the cable drums along the lines of "no lengths shorter than 1m" and I asked for 1.5m which didn't compute with them. I had to have either 1m or 2m which is just annoying at the prices they were charging for cable.

I then had to convince them that I indeed did have a suitable crimping tool to do the job I was doing. It's like they wanted to pre-qualify me to buy the parts. I get the trying to upsell me on a tool but once I say I've got one they don't need to start an interrogation about what tool it is, do I know how to use it, etc before letting me pay and leave with my stuff. It was just annoying and a tiny bit insulting.

I buy a heck of a lot from Altronics. They're not perfect, there's stuff they don't have, but they're good to deal with.

Their over-the-counter prices are also incredibly sharp, particularly if you qualify for trade pricing (I'm not sure what tiers they have I might be better off than some...) I was poking around looking for something the other day and they had what I wanted on the shelf for less than I could buy it from China on eBay. Can't knock that!

One that I don't see mentioned here very often is Wes, I order a lot from them and generally have it either overnight or within 48 hours.

I'll probably go back to Jaycar again in a few years if I need something immediately, but they stopped being my go-to a long time ago.

[aeberbach]

I just noticed a big new Jaycar logo on a bulilding near Bunnings Box Hill, I don't think I am going in though. I would rather Mouser, eBay, or Amazon.

[wilfred]

I then had to convince them that I indeed did have a suitable crimping tool to do the job I was doing. It's like they wanted to pre-qualify me to buy the parts.

Surely that isn't what they were doing. Sounds like a very uncharitable slant to spin. They probably deal with lots of people who may have no idea what specialist tools may be needed and they were trying to forestall common eventualities.

[wilfred]

I just noticed a big new Jaycar logo on a bulilding near Bunnings Box Hill, I don't think I am going in though. I would rather Mouser, eBay, or Amazon.

Good parking there next to Repco and it isn't a super cramped store like Kew East is. Really good position there with Bunnings, Repco and Officeworks within a short walking distance barely worth moving the car. Great place to capture the other stores customers looking for things needed to complete a project.

[johnboxall]

 and they were trying to forestall common eventualities.

Nah, sales. A little desperate salesmanship. If some salespeople can't positively slant a sale, they'll try to negative you into it.
Not sure now, but in the past I think salespeople only got their commission if everyone in the store made KPIs. It can mess with your head if you're the lowest on the ladder in the store.

I'm shopping for a new car at the moment, and salespeople are back to their usual pre-COVID BS to get you to buy off them.

[Kerlin]

Rockby is a great place, on line or well worth visiting.
Great fun and value to be had by to sorting through their large sifting room, only one left I know of.

[wilfred]

Rockby is a great place, on line or well worth visiting.
Great fun and value to be had by to sorting through their large sifting room, only one left I know of.

Yep.

Last time I was there about a month ago they said they were looking at moving. Didn't say when and I didn't ask. But Rowville was mentioned.

[freda]

DSE's demise was they tried to do what JB-HIFI is doing now.

... sort of. Management (and lack thereof) didn't help. It might have worked if things were done in a more... sensible manner.

I recall,according to my brother who worked there, it all went downhill after that WTF purchase of Tandy for a stupid price. Before then, even though Woolies owned them, they
were pretty much arms length, most of the previous managers continued, and DSE was making profit, and it seems Woolies left them to manage their own decisions.
After that Tandy purchase though, the Woolies managers started to run things, and the character of DSe changed alot. Internally employment contracts and type of people employed all changed.

[johnboxall]

DSE's demise was they tried to do what JB-HIFI is doing now.

... sort of. Management (and lack thereof) didn't help. It might have worked if things were done in a more... sensible manner.

I recall,according to my brother who worked there, it all went downhill after that WTF purchase of Tandy for a stupid price. Before then, even though Woolies owned them, they
were pretty much arms length, most of the previous managers continued, and DSE was making profit, and it seems Woolies left them to manage their own decisions.
After that Tandy purchase though, the Woolies managers started to run things, and the character of DSe changed alot. Internally employment contracts and type of people employed all changed.

Yeah. DSE was great when it was operated as a separate kingdom by a Managing Director/Benevolent Dictator - whose job was to send very large cheques to WOW HQ every year and otherwise be left alone. Jeff Grover especially ran a very, very tight ship. Top bloke, RIP. I was responsible for running around metro Sydney installing EFTPOS and a second or third POS for stores, we used second-hand EFT gear from Woolworths and ex-repair or very old stock Commodore-branded PC clones. Good times. I would say DSE peaked in 1998.

When the top job was converted to a GM-position, started to go south. And Tandy, yeah, what were they thinking?

[EEVblog]

For those who haven't seen it:

[5U4GB]

What I do appreciate is that I can find somewhere that's within reasonable driving distance to pick up a bit of cable, a couple of connectors or some jellybean components.

That's the great thing about Jaycar, you can get most generic stuff you need from them in no time at all rather than having to wait three weeks for it to arrive from Aliexpress or wherever.  Legit suppliers like Element14 and Mouser are quicker, but there's still a noticeable delay when you're halfway through assembling something and suddenly realise you can't go any further without a 50 ohm axial sliding boxcar prawn or something.

And while they carry a lot of plastic junk they've also got some surprisingly decent stuff, for example I was pleasantly surprised to find them carrying Meanwell SMPS' rather than the expected generic house-brand white-label stuff.

[5U4GB]

I'd use Jaycar a lot more if there was one closer in west Auckland, currently as the crow flies New Lynn is closest but way off the beaten track whereas I'm more likely to pass the one in Manukau rather than North Shore or the original JC branch in Newmarket.

That requires some fairly local knowledge of Auckland geography to interpret but I ran into the same problem last week, it was a toss-up between going to New Lynn or the North Shore one, both were a helluva round trip for one part.  Ended up temporarily bodging it with... well, I won't say because I'll be asked to leave the site if I admit to it.

Having said that they have a store in Silverdale which is a pleasant surprise, saves a long trip into the city and the market out there can't be too big.

[tautech]

That's interesting as you're showing an Aussie flag 5U4GB. 

Apparently there is a Jaycar coming to Westgate only some 10 or 15 from us in Taupaki. A new PB Tech coming our way too. 
Where are you ?

BTW, with a handle like that one guesses you are into hollow glass devices and I have a box of them I can't bear to throw out so you're welcome to them.

[5U4GB]

I had a confused upbringing :-).

I actually just chose 5U4GB because there was already a 2N3055 and I figured I'd need to go back a bit further to get an unclaimed device name, haven't worked with valves for ages but thanks for the offer.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I have gotten to AKL and CHC quicker from SYD than it takes me to drive to the airport.

[VK3DRB]

Jaycar is a toy store, and I have only visited them two or three times in the last 10 years. The only real electronics store left in Melbourne is Rocky Electronics (totally revamped store recently with a nice array of electronic parts at low prices). They also do heaps on online sales. Their search engine is not the best, though. Altronics isn't too bad. But Rockby is the place to be seen and be cool.

Other than the infamous Arduino kit piracy scandal, Jaycar are at least complies with Australian consumer law. The worst "electronics" company is Australia is Dick Smith owned by Kogan. Kogan burnt me by violating consumer law, violating a contract, false and misleading advertising, and bad products with no after sales support. I even reported Kogan to the ACCC on one occasion. The worst thing that could happen is if Kogan ever bought out Jaycar... that would be the end of Jaycar.

Rockby is the opposite. Very ethical and a genuine family owned and run business. Highly recommended, friendly people. They are the best, at least, in Melbourne. www.rockby.com.au

[Brumby]

While I may cringe at some of the "toy" products that you will find at Jaycar, I can only console myself with the fact that the electronics hobbyist of today isn't going to be spending enough for them to stay afloat, so they have these other product lines to help keep cash flowing through the till.  To me, it's a survival mechanism.

Besides, when I'm in need of a 1N5408 NOW, I can ignore all that crap.  I will admit that sometimes I do sneak a peek for my amusement - and more often than not, react with a quiet WTF?!