I wasn't trying to down ramp. As an electronics enthusiast all...

I wasn't trying to down ramp. As an electronics enthusiast all my quite long life I have followed the fortunes of DSE with considerable interest. Even Dick Smith himself agreed that the business model had to change. The days of 'building your own transistor radio' were largely over, although there is still a big demand for electronic components as witnessed by the success of Jaycar and Altronics amongst others. In my opinion DSE never really found its market niche after this. It sold an ever reducing range of electronic components along with music CDs, deep fryers etc and consumer electronics. Its comprehensive catalogue was no longer published and it became just another also-ran, trying to sell everything and specialising in nothing.

To me price is king unless there is some other compelling reason to not buy from the cheapest. Good luck to all who hold DSH - I think you might need it. I know as I have a substantial BHP holding. When I first joined Hot Copper one of the first posts I read called trading in shares 'glorified gambling'. How true.