[HydePhoenix]

<Rookie alert>

We are a rookie team starting "from scratch." I.e., assume we have nothing.

Reviewing FIRST Senior Mentor Dana Henry's FIRST Choice list for rookie teams, and crossing it against Michael Hill's spreadsheet comparing part costs to credits, I get the following $ / credit values:

Batteries fc15-008 50 1 50 $0.89
Battery charger fc15-005 50 1 50 $0.66
Ethernet port saver fc15-030 5 2 10 $1.15
Velcro kit fc15-036 10 1 10 $2.49
Encoder Kit fc15-039 20 2 40 $1.18
Spikes fc15-112 20 2 40 $1.75
Black Jaguars fc15-0340 50 4 200 $1.60
Victor 888 fc15-019 50 4 200 $1.40

It has been suggested that buying batteries locally may be cheaper than paying for shipping via FC.

The hypothesis I'd appreciate feedback on is: As rookies, we're probably going to be buying a lot of stuff, and so we should be careful to maximize the value of our FC credits. E.g., why not buy a battery charger, say - and conceivably one preferable to the one on offer here - rather than paying money for a higher cost / credit item available here?

The problem is: As a rookie, I don't know enough to know which higher cost / credit items here we're going to need.

Any further suggestions on this score?...

Many thanks!