Everyone who is contemplating buying a Grundig/Eton S350 or S350DL or
who already owns one, and especially anyone thinking of buying one used
off eBay
or from a dealer, should be aware that there has just been a dramatic
change
in the list price in recent weeks.

It appears that Eton/Grundig has reduced the list price on the
S350DL radio from $150 to $100 (and also the list price on the
YB550PE from $100 to $80). I had gotten a catalog from a
mail-order dealer who I did not consider to be a source of radios
(Siegler & Co.) that had some Eton radios in it, and was
surprised to see the S350DL at only $99.95. I went through
a series of contacting them to verify that it was really the
S350DL and not just the S350, and they assured me that it
really was the S350DL. I had a 10%-off on-line order discount
code and so I ordered one. Since I thought that this was
a really surprisingly good deal, I also notified Hauser's "DXLD"
Yahoo group and the SWPrograms mailing list about this.

Then I happened to actually *read* the print in Eton's ads
in PopComm and noticed that the February and March '06
ads show the list price of the S350DL now to be $100,
and they no longer listed the old S350. The Feb '06 MT
still has the old Eton ad with the S350DL at $150 list and
the S350 at $100; I haven't gotten the March issue yet.

Anyway, this certainly affects all the S350 and S350DL owners
and sellers and prospective buyers, and also makes it much
less advantageous to get the Tecsun version! I did a quick
Google search just now and see that many sites are still selling
these at the old higher prices, and it seems that the news
about the new lower prices has not propagated widely.

This should drive the price of any remaining new S350s still on a
dealer's shelf down to maybe $50 as a discontinued close-out, and
also cause the prices of any used S350s and S350DLs on eBay
or used-radio-dealer sale lists to plummet! Also much wailing
and gnashing of teeth amongst those who bought these
radios at the old price, I expect. A similar effect on YB550PE
prices, too.

So I hope the info can be spread among the SW-radio community.

Also, I took a look at the www.etoncorp.com website --
BOTH the S350 and S350DL are listed on it at $100 list price each!
The YB550PE, which is in the current ad in PopComm at the new lower
price of $80, isn't mentioned at all!

73, Will Martin