Scott Dorsey wrote:
Rob wrote:

Halted is one of, if not the last, surplus stores in the
Valley. I've always visited when in the area.

This kind of stores (much smaller of course) have closed decades ago here.
They need supply and demand, and both of them are diminishing.

The supply has changed and moved. There are now huge components markets
in China and Korea that sell manufacturing surplus the way Halted and Poly-Paks
used to do.

But it is probably not worth it to ship it in bulk to the USA or Europe
to sell it there at surplus prices.
Maybe a surplus store could survive in those countries when shipping
individual orders.

The military surplus is still coming out of the pipe, though, and I am seeing
lots of people bidding on test equipment and junk at the military auctions,
but I am not seeing where it's going. It's definitely less interesting than
it was when I was a kid... lots of generic computer equipment now.

We had military and general electronics production companies that sold
surplus in the old days but the manufacturing plants have moved and so
the supply dried up.

The owner says that he lost the profitable business because people search
the internet before buying something, and the only business left basically
was low-value stuff.

Or stuff that people needed urgently. As hardware has become more reliable
and cheap enough that people could keep spares, there is less of that than
there used to be.
--scott

He said that when people want to buy some more pricey equipment they shop
on internet and order it elsewhere, but when they need batteries or a
USB charging cable for their phone they walk in and buy it in the store.
He could not survive from those transactions alone.

Last time I have been there I "urgently" needed some 74HC123 to use in
a PPS pulse stretcher I intended to install a few days later. When I
got home it turned out they had grabbed 74HC132 from the drawers.
Fortunately I could still use those for the purpose...
But normally I order components and gadgets at Aliexpress, they are
delivered in 10-14 days and cost a fraction of what I was used to paying
in local stores (that were getting impossible to go to except by bicycle).
And when I would require quality stuff and quick delivery there are lots
of options as well.