Best Electronics Distributors for best price & low Shipping

Thread Starter

RiG615

Joined Nov 13, 2008
50
I've been searching around a little for a good distributor and thought there was no better place to find out than asking the people who buy from them regularly

So what are the best distributors that have cheap components, low shipping rates & are easy to deal with?




thanks and sorry if there is another thread that exists on this, but I couldn't find one
 

mik3

Joined Feb 4, 2008
4,843
I have never bought something from them but I know the following companies:

RS
Farnel
Mouser
DigiKey
Rapid

You have to be a member in the company you will choose to be able to buy.
 
I like to use mouser. They have a large selection and no minimum order. You can download their full catalog (267.4MB) in .pdf format, or just the sections that interest you. You also can have them send you a hard copy for free.

I have also used Electronix Express in the past. It has been a while, but it seems the order arrived quickly and intact.

I've seen others on this site that like digikey, but I have no experiance with them myself.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Digikey is a hobbyist-friendly vendor that is also an authorized distributor for many semiconductor lines. You know that you're getting the "genuine item" when you buy from them, and in the USA they will also ship SMALL orders via 1st Class US Mail, which will save you money on shipping costs.

Mouser is another good vendor who's also an authorized distributor for a number of semiconductor lines. They don't ship via US Mail though.

Marlin P. Jones & Associates http://www.mpja.com is a good place to look for things like power supplies, PCB's, breadboards, soldering supplies. They ship very quickly.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
I bought something from Newark a few years back; they had a particular Hall-effect pot that I needed for a project. I wasn't happy that I couldn't determine shipping costs until the package arrived. They did ship it quickly, but the shipping was an extra $10 or so. I don't know if they've corrected that situation.

Futurelec has low prices, but they ship extremely slowly, and it's tough to get status about your order. I ordered a couple of hard-to-find ICs from them a year ago, and it took over a month for them to get to me.
 

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
Newark has everything, but ships from multiple warehouses, charges top dollar, and isn't all that accurate with small orders.

Digi-Key and Mouser seem to be much more reliable for small orders.
 
I usually buy Rare ICs and Components from RS. They have a very wide range of products. They don't charge shipping fees. But I guess this is why their products is much more expensive than the others. I usually order a lot from them and delivery times range from 1 Day up to 6 working days max. Package usually comes in jiffy packs. They are kind people that give me credit balance (Sometimes I don't pay for a month and they don't complain at all LOL).

This is the Philippines and Singapore branch.. I don't know the RS America branch.

So when buying typical resistors and transistors I go to the regular electronics shop next door. But when I need special Epoxy F4 Boards I get em from RS because this is my only method of ordering here in Asia and these cool boards come from UK fresh and have usually good quality. The local stores only offers Hard Paper Boards (The brown ugly PCBs).. The ones that explodes/cracks when you iron too much (Iron transfer method). Desoldering is even worse in a hard paper board..
 

FastEddie

Joined Jul 14, 2007
35
I've gotten a few items from Jameco. Just make sure that you get a good look at the datasheets for the parts that you order beforehand. I have a few relays and a LCD display that I don't know the specs on because the DS is either unreadable or for the wrong part. Other than that their shipping was fast and the parts were what I ordered.
 
How about Jameco?
any experiences with them?
Yep, Jameco is has cheap connectors such as .100" headers, pins, and housings. Their overall selection is small but they really do have some good buys. They even have their own line of generic products under "VaulePro". I've made several $100+ orders over the years and not a single complaint.

Mouser is my favorite. The order history, saved projects, advanced search, data sheets, bulk pricing, etc are all appealing. The selections of componets are mind blowing, the catalog is 2100+ pages! Four times a year I get one of those beauties on the doorstep.

The only problems I've had with Mouser was quicky resolved. A few years back I made an order of dozens of small quanity batches... there was about $20 worth of missing items, I called them up and they shipped everything out I requested no questions.


When I was kid I made several orders from "MCM Electronics". From what is remembered the toggle switch selection was awesome. Thier prices are a little higher than Mouser and not as deep of a selection, but this was several years ago. (not the kid part, just the last time I looked at thier wares.)


-P
 
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