In some discussions on another forum, it has come to light that the same part (same manufactuter, same part number), both on-line and in the brick-and-mortar stores, is either $18 *or* $45 depending in which zip code you live in (the on-line catalog has you enter your zip code before searching for parts).
It was originally noticed as a East Coast-West Caost difference, but one of the guys on the forum did the search for the same part with two zip codes 30 miles apart and found the $18 vs $45 difference. Dividing line seems to be Kansas/Colorado.
I know that they are free to charge what they want to, but that's a 150% difference. That makes no sense. Another example of MBA-think there?
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')