Homelab stuff in Berlin?

[rootpeer]

Hello, bit of a silly post.

I am in Berlin for a couple of days and I am wondering if there are physical stores anywhere with homelab or out-of-the-ordinary gear or an electronics flea market type to have a look at, maybe pick something up for cheap.

We don't have such places in my home city so I thought this might be my best chance at finding one.

 

[i386]

I've never seen "server stuff" in retail stores (north Germany). There is not a lot demand (compared to consumer rgb things ) and they all keep this stuff in their warehouses or ship directly from manufacturer...

 

[Stephan]

I am in the country. IMHO no such thing anymore. Also with pandemic nothing going on publicly really since 2020, same for flea markets.

There used to be smaller electronics supplier shops up until the late 1990s, but these days as @i386 said "not a lot of demand". I would even say very very little demand. The true tinkerers from back then have reached middle age or gotten really old. :-| While my Generation X played and programmed with C64, soldered extension cards etc., Generation Y and Z seem busy stimulating their dopamine release by playing Pokemon Go.

Also no idea what you mean by out-of-the-ordinary gear. Best deals are usually found online from people who do not quite know what they are selling. All "freaks" that I know, including myself, shop from "last man standing" major electronics distribution outfits like Reichelt, Conrad (might even have a store in Berlin - expensive, no deals expected here), also ebay.de, ebay-kleinanzeigen.de and of course since the 2010s we source directly from China though Aliexpress or Taobao.

 

[alex_stief]

If you are absolutely determined to go shopping, you could try here: AfB social and green IT
It can be hit or miss though, and they specialize more on the client side of things (Laptops, PCs...) instead of server stuff.

 

[tinfoil3d]

Yeah not much here in japan too. Number of retail shops shrinked in Osaka, last time i checked there was some cool stuff like old SPARC servers etc in some of them. Not sure they exist right now. I do know there was a server-only retail shop in tokyo but they've switched to "visit reservation" system last year and not sure if operate as retail shop now either, probably not. Good things are easy to go.

 

[tinfoil3d]

There'sa valid reason for SERVER retail shops to NOT exist is server guys are true geeks and pros and they know what exactly they're looking for. Hence, selling it online right now is safer and cheaper(no expenses on maintaining or even renting a customer-friendly retail space).
While a lot and i mean it, a lot of customers of regular computer retail shops have slight or no idea, or they just want to look at what they're buying and compare, visually. Which is totally fine.