I was in a Best Buy the other day. That’s something I don’t do all that often because it tends to make me a little nostalgia-y sad. (They’ve really pared down their components in recent years, and the sad truth is that I usually know more than the staff does. Especially if I’ve been researching a purchase, and have now abandoned my jammies.The staff, of course, has been trained to be as outgoing as possible, so there’s no real chance of reading the box before it’s being read to you.) In general, the prices don’t really lure me in, either.

In this particular case, the goal was a highly educational documentary of no particular description, due to the fact that I remember their video section being… well, better.

I cannot go into one of these places without looking at things, though.

So, after a brief stop by internet connected locks, which was interrupted by a salesman (really, they just appear out of no where) I headed over to my current fascination. Podcasting equipment.

They are not selling any of the things that are in my basement, right now, and the next step on my list isn’t there, either.  But I did find the pricing interesting, and worth mentioning. This is a Blue Yeti Pro microphone. It’s priced locally at $179 ish, but is generally priced at about $245. And it’s priced at $245 on the Best Buy website, as well. So, the unadvertised local price is roughly $66 cheaper. And it has been for a couple of months at least.

Don’t take this as a recommendation for the microphone itself. For a podcast, this is actually a lot of overkill, and the microphone I chose is about half of the good price. I would like to own this one… mainly because it has a lot of fiddly knobs for me to play with. But if I’m just reading stories on the internet, it’s too much. But it’s an interesting exercise in pricing.

This is also–I checked–the only microphone in the store that has both a USB and an XLR connector. And that means I’ve gotta remind everybody that it’s a big red flag anytime a store only has one selection of anything. In this case, it means they’ve stocked the really expensive version where you get more than most people will ever need for more than most people should pay. Sometimes, it means you’re getting the bargain basement version. Or the “popular” version. It very rarely means you’re getting the right fit.