Quote:
Originally Posted by tStano
Why would this be frowned upon? It seems to me a really good way to make parts more accessible to teams with limited resources.
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Think about it this way.
You own Stano Inc, which makes really cool widgets that cost $100 each (which you get some percentage of depending on who sold it to the customer). You see this FIRST thing and decide to donate 2 widgets/team. You get a nice tax writeoff, they get widgets for every team. Maybe you do this for a couple of years. Maybe you also instruct your distributors that if FIRST teams call, they get a discount, taken out of your percentage as much as possible.
Now, let's say that Redateam sells Blueateam 1 widget for $50, because Redateam doesn't need it, and Blueateam has used (or broken) all theirs and can't afford to buy a new one--and somehow you find out. You donated this widget, so Redateam just made a $50 profit, but you don't get a cut, this wasn't from an authorized seller, etc. How are you going to feel, from a CORPORATE point of view? (Now, if they give it instead of sell it, thus making $0 profit but helping another team out, how does that change it? How about a trade for some other item of similar value?)
To answer the original question, Max pointed out the Spare Parts booth. Generally speaking, the way that works is you tell 'em what you need, they supply it. For motors, they'll often ask for the bad one back; for electronics they'll require permission from certain people (and tell you who they are) and often a credit card # in case you forget to return the item(s). It's located near Pit Admin.
That said, I think you may have found out what often happens when you assume based on experience that may or may not be relevant. It's generally considered a wise idea to stock up a bit on common items, maybe trade speed controllers with another team to get the type you want (for example, one particular team some time ago traded away as many Jaguars as they could for Victors), and otherwise BYO spare parts--and then bring your entire KOP to the competition. You never know who will need the loan/gift of a part.