The Utter Futility of Keeping a Large Spares Inventory

If you've already spent the money, then it's only the maintenance/storage/disposal cost/benefit that is of concern. It's also a decision only you can make.

What you've wasted is no good fuming about. If you're not willing to manage the asset competently, the potential for waste is compounded. Just use your experience to guide current and future activity.

RL

I'm not bothered about the money; it's the space! Takes up 2 rooms. There is just too much so I can never find what I want. You can't win whatever you do....

It all depends on organization. How many SKUs are we talking about?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

You can't find things because you've never made a proper inventory. You call it a "spares inventory" yet you have no inventory management. Spend the day or two to catalog everything by shelf & box number. If the parts aren't worth spending that much time on, ditch the lot, because you've already decided they're worthless.

If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made up from several components). That means your collection is not particularly useful.

If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed - ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

I have been playing around this hobby for over 50 years now. Yes, I keep a small assortment of common values and common parts - but I am always missing something when a new-to-me object comes along. What I do keep "many" of are tubes - an auction-box here, a flea-market box there, the occasional garage sale, and so forth. The TV-type tubes get culled out pretty fast, but I expect that I have at least one-of any general-purpose and small-signal tube that I will ever need. About 2/3 of a walk-in closet's worth. Sorted.

Mouser is my go-to. $6 + the cost of the part pretty much gets me what I need, usually within 3/4 days.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

You're right about organization (or lack thereof, Phil!). Sorry, no idea what a SKU is though. But yes, really must sort 'em all out properly as they're no use all jumbled up.

SKU is Stock Keeping Unit often covered by Mini-Max rules. That's what I used when I worked in a factory to avoid having to fill order forms in too often.

Steve

Build a web site and get one of the google bots to find it. Sales will come in if the prices are reasonable and shipping is available and the customer can choose speed/costs.

I've had an online store since around 2010, we've done just under 1/2 million dollars USD in sales since then just on that part of our business. And that is without a full time person working the site. I have a guy in three times a week for half days, and I add stuff when I have time. I do have a LOT of semiconductors to put up...gah...

Listing the items, with photos and dimensions, is a royal pain and is the most time consuming part of the operation. Once listed they sell themselves...if I have them priced properly. If too cheap, they get sucked out quickly, if too expensive they sit & sit. Most of my inventory is New Old Stock parts from the 70s through the late 80s and related to the coin amusement industry. I currently have over 10,000 parts listed.

A work in progress!

John :-#)#

Sounds interesting, but how do you set the price for the rarer stuff when there's none around to compare against?

I simply try and figure out what it could possibly be worth to someone and price accordingly. Not aiming for the folks looking for a deal - the person who NEEDS that chip and is willing to pay for it. I also factor in staff costs to create the parts listing. I have some chips that sell once a year or two, but I get $XXUS for them. The cost once up is zero.

I have several thousand semiconductors to put up that I bought from a TV parts supply house...pricing those is fun. I do search to see if it is available and price accordingly, or guess at what someone might pay, and if I have three or 1,000 of the part. I guess wrong a lot.

eBay is one way for trying to find the value of something, but I've always hated the fact that you can bit in the last micro-second (snipping) and no-one has the time to counterbid. To me it should be run like an auction house - those guys know how to squeeze a buck out of something, leaving little if anything on the table. So, if there is a last minute bid, then that sets a timer "going", pause (no more bids?), "going", pause (no added bids?) GONE to the highest bidder. Or "going" (new bid), "going" (pause no bids), "going" (new bid - some minimum increment), "going" (pause)...."GONE".

John :-#)#

I wonder why Ebay don't do that? Seems like a worthwhile idea to me. Win-win all round - except for the snipers of course but who cares about them (modern day carpet-baggers).

Why do I use esnipe?

a) It prevents impulse bidding. b) There will always be another one. c) There is NOTHING that I really need from eBay. d) And, of course, anyone can use it.

Has anyone seen those penny auctions sites, typically advertising with "I got a 60" television for $5.00!!!" eBay spares us from that chaos by setting start and end times. If you resent the snipers, you did not bid high enough. Full Stop.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I use sniping too and have for over twenty years - which as a buyer eBay works very well indeed.

However as an eBay seller, it does leave money on the table. What I am saying is that eBay does not do that well for sellers, but it does work just fine for buyers.

John :-#)#

On Thursday,

I suspect that we are at cross purposes rather than in disagreement. Note, please, I am writing entirely and only for myself, and I have both bought (95%) and sold (5%) on eBay.

The venue is entirely about expectations. if the seller has high expectations the seller had better set a reserve along those lines. If the seller is sufficiently savvy to research the market ahead of posting, that process is not difficult. If the seller is looking for the "Bigger Fool" - that is a crap-shoot, and the seller gets exactly what is deserved.

eBay puts buyers together with sellers with fixed rules. Sure, they favor the buyer - that is what keeps them coming back. And, again, a savvy seller will know all this and list/price accordingly.

Generally, when I sell on eBay it is stuff that is difficult to transport, or stuff I just want rid-of. $1.00 + shipping, no problem!

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I followed this interesting thread for a really long time over several weeks. The commentary has been very interesting. From have been in the service profession for over 30 years, it is now hard to even keep up on what is a "common part" these days, given the thousands of models of devices and appliances that use the "micro" or the "nano" technology. Even with parts made in the 80's and 90's (before and after I got into the profession of repair for a living), you should have seen how many makers of the appliances and devices had substitute parts for the original. I did a Samsung TV repair on warranty that had 36 different parts substitutes for this one tv for components on the a light engine (the TV was a DLP type set). I had seen that.

So, to offer some free advice, look at the maker's service bulletins and look at the part list to find those sub. parts if you are going to start stocking parts in for back stock. That means you have to have perfect parts with the most perfected and up to date corrections (even for the most pedantic of reasons). There's millions of things out there, by the design and creation of some very bright human beings that made them (however, after a certain amount of use), then they fail. The humans fail too.

That's why, I usually order it when it is absolutely needed. That way, a person doesn't have to chase their tail knowing what they have themselves. They chase after what other people have instead- and that is me. I do work with some suppliers that are the very best.

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Sincerely,

Charles Lucas