> On Dec 24, 2022, at 12:29 PM, charles meyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> My esteemed listmates,
> 
> As we enjoy Christmas and all the holidays, I almost joined with an impulse buy.
> 
> I read Trusted Reviews for best Bluetooth speaker and best budget speaker but I don’t need it to be waterproof or capable of honoring a Stradivarius.
> Just to be portable enough so I can grab it with one hand and listen to “Fresh Air.”
> 
> Must I spend $47 on a speaker just to migrate Terry Gross from room to room?
> …

I suspect that Bluetooth is like USB, which because of licensing costs they’re never going to target the really dirt cheap market.

I would recommend looking at some of the ‘closeout’ type websites which have sales to unload stuff quickly rather than have it hang around their warehouse, often older models or refurbished products or such.

Amazon bought Woot.com, but they also have their warehouse deals section of their site (which has one-off things, like stuff they opened the box for to take pictures of, but might not have repacked it with manuals and cables).  They currently have a shower speaker for $12 (free shipping if you have Amazon prime): https://electronics.woot.com/offers/artsound-waterproof-shower-speaker?ref=mwj_sh_el_10_bs

The guy who started Woot now runs Meh.com, which usually has a deal a day, but you can also look through older deals til they sell out.  But I didn’t see anything in there right now (they tend to sell out quick, woot doesn’t have the ‘we just need to get rid of it’ type prices as they used to)

And you can try dealnews.com, which lists sales from other websites.  They have a couple of speakers listed below $40 right now:  https://www.dealnews.com/c837/Electronics/Portable-Speakers/f1541/Bluetooth/

-Joe