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Ask HN: Cheapest way to buy a Raspberry Pi Zero ( with shipping)

4 points by offtop5 ↗ HN
So I'm seeing a lot of places to buy the PI zero , but it ends up being like $5 to ship a $5 product. Amazon gets around this by hiking the price by $5 or so and offering free shipping.

Aside from visiting a physical retailer, are there any options to get one without paying for such expensive shipping.

7 comments

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tzs
Can you find a good use for more than one? If so, you might try buying several at once. That same $5 shipping would probably cover half a dozen of them at least.

If you really only have a use for one, you could try to buy from some place that sells other things you also need for your project. Case, camera, power supply, sensors, etc., which if ordered together should not raise shipping much if at all.

giantg2
I'm not sure if it changed, but they would only let you purchase one at a time so they don't get sold out. I thought it was a stipulation by the manufacturer to ensure more even distribution.
offtop5
It's weird, every place I see selling this stuff treats the shipping for the pi as a standalone thing.

As and it cost $5 to shift this $5 part, and then even if you spend another $40 that just increases the overall shipping price.

imhoguy
Shipping also covers cost of packaging. If you order 1 pc they need tiny box with some protective wrapping, the different one for 10, 20 pcs. Sometimes some extra filler is needed. Product margin is none to cover such costs unless you buy like 1000s in bulk.
shoo
maybe my intuition isn't calibrated right, but $10 for a computer including shipping sounds cheap to me

how much does it cost to actually provide that shipping? what would a fair price for it be?

imhoguy
Try to find a used one on your local classifieds portal.