Buying from China

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bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Has anyone had any experience buying from China in terms of freight charges, customs, brokerage etc? Any idea what kind of fees to expect for about 150 semiconductors? I know about the clones etc, not interested in that part. Just want to know what kind of fees I am going to incur over and above the parts. Thanks in advance.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
I haven't paid any customs/brokerage fees for anything I've purchased from China; though I buy in low quantity to take advantage of free shipping.

What I've noticed is that the sellers are pretty loose with valuations and item descriptions. Maybe USPS doesn't care about any small scale fraud.
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Did you buy direct from a company or through EBAY etc? Not sure it would matter. He says he can lower the pricing on the bill for shipping. Not sure how that works?
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
quality it can be hit-or-miss between the different sellers and even when you find a good seller they can change their supplier at any time
That's also a problem with companies who have China manufacture their legitimate product. The factories will give good quality to get the business, then they start cutting corners to increase their profit margin. They usually make the changes hard to detect so you end up having to do 100% incoming QA to make sure they're not sabotaging you.

Another thing they're not adverse to doing is competing with their customers...
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Good to know. Mostly concerned about how much shipping is going to cost? Am I looking at $100 or $50 or something really stupid. Going through DHL or FedEx I guess. Those are my options
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
I've been buying components from China thru EBay for quite some time now. I can't think of anything that wasn't what was said.

Well, excepting that emergency cut off switch that didn't come with the EMERGENCY OFF legend. I took issue so they replaced it for me.

I wanted my full $2 worth.

I have noticed the free shipping is taking much longer now. Never past what they state, but it used to come a week earlier. But free is free, if I can wait I get stuff there.
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Thanks for the advice. This company has MOQ which is a little high for my liking and then only few options for shipping. Problem is I would like it in a week and that eliminates anybody on EBAY pretty much
 

Externet

Joined Nov 29, 2005
2,201
I have bought hundreds of items for at least 8 years from DealExtreme, AliExpress, chinese vendors within Ebay and with exceptions of some dumb vendors without knowledge of the products they sell; (they are just sellers) have always received the items with the corresponding delay around 4 weeks.
Lately found charging some shipping for larger quantities; bypassed doing a few purchases of smaller quantities.
Have no complains; AliExpress has been very watchful of correctness.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
Thanks for the advice. This company has MOQ which is a little high for my liking and then only few options for shipping. Problem is I would like it in a week and that eliminates anybody on EBAY pretty much
If you're going to pay for expedited shipping, why not buy the parts from an authorized reseller? That makes the price difference between authentic parts and likely counterfeits a moot point.
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Not sure where I would find authorized reseller for these chips? They are automotive in nature and not something you find just anywhere. Part numbers 5503GM, 74022PC and WSR-2 0.4 ohms. Only last part available through Mouser. First two, no such luck.
 

narkeleptk

Joined Mar 11, 2019
558
all of those parts are easily found at mouser. With the exception of vishays wsr's those numbers are Ford masking's and not the real part numbers.
Word of advice, do not buy 5503's from china. Every clients pcm you put one in will be calling for refund or be sent back with in a few weeks for failure again. Trust me...
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
OKay you sound like you know something about these. Perhaps you can share your insight? I have checked with Mouser and Digikey with no luck. Do you know part numbers that will work for these from Mouser? If so, could you tell me what they are?
 

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
The only Chinese product that was defective for me, so far, was a breadboard.

I hate mouser and digikey for parts. The last time I ordered from them, I had to call to find my part.
I complained to digikey......and they asked me to call in orders from now on....they wanted the business.
I can go to amazon or ebay and find a part in a heartbeat, without any training. And usually quicker service now and mostly free shipping. We live with amazon 2 day shipping. Shopping is no longer a hassle. WITH JUST A FEW CLICKS.

I would love to shop at mouser and digikey...........when they sell like ebay and amazon. I wouldn't mind the higher price.......if the convenience was there.

But they are antiques. Someone should tell them. They need a modern internet market upgrade.

It reminds me of looking up auto parts in catalogs. A full time job.
 

Picbuster

Joined Dec 2, 2013
1,047
Has anyone had any experience buying from China in terms of freight charges, customs, brokerage etc? Any idea what kind of fees to expect for about 150 semiconductors? I know about the clones etc, not interested in that part. Just want to know what kind of fees I am going to incur over and above the parts. Thanks in advance.
Real production in China is a problem.
Sometimes they replace a mandatory component with a cheaper Chinese one resulting in timing or other problems.
We lost in shipments within China ( loss of 9000 usd)
They want money up front and are not at home when problems occur. ( we did the repair @ 4000 pcb's)

We stopped many years ago and found excellent production sites all over Europe.
Due to automatic processes is pricing not an issue anymore.
No barriers in communication or production facility access.

It's up to you to take risks.

Picbuster
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
I've been buying from AliExpress for a couple of years along with Amazon, Jameco, Digikey, Arrow, and others for many years. Aliexpress has cheap prices and you can get free shipping on small quantities. As others pointed out, the item description leaves something out most times so make sure you know what you are buying. China business practices are a bit odd. It seems like a lot of vendors there are not stocking items but merely acting as an "english, russian, etc" outlet for other vendors. They put out a price based on what they can buy for in the market and mark it up for resale without actually stocking the items. Not all, but some of the vendors. Delivery may be free, but slow. Typically 2-6 weeks so plan ahead and be patient. If you want it overnight and willing to pay exorbitant prices for shipping they will expedite I have never had to pay customs duties (sometimes sits in customs for days before released) and have placed orders typically for less than $300 down to pennies and usually with free shipping. Shop the item prices free vs. paid shipping for the best deal. The same item may be for sale by over 50 vendors at a wide range of prices. Packages do not always arrive. My lost package rate is about <5% and only on small low-cost items. Chips are typically 10% (or less) of the cost from US Brokers and they are sometimes bad. I just received 10 7555 chips for 37 cents/lot. Poorly or not at all marked, pins bent, and 2 were not even 7555 chips at all. No manufacturer marking so no valid PDF although they did pass a quick circuit test for basic function. Some of the Chinese also sell on Amazon, but the prices are higher and Amazon does give you some better protection. I will say that the orders I have had to dispute with AliExpress were refunded after some real hassles with language difficulties communicating with them. I continue to buy from them, but caveat emptor and as I often tell my wife "sometimes you get what you paid for" (ie cheap ain't always best). I would not use these parts for commercial repair or sale use.
 

MrSoftware

Joined Oct 29, 2013
2,188
I have parts made in China and shipped to me in about 50-60# shipments, freight is usually $100-$150 for DHL and arrives in about a week. The last few months, usps to other countries has been slower than in the past, i have no idea why.
 

Wolframore

Joined Jan 21, 2019
2,609
I too have similar results.

Prices are great. Shipping is usually slow. Quality varies. Seems like most parts really push the tolerances to the limit. Some parts a just great and cheap. Descriptions are lacking and no real datasheets. Packaging is sometimes lacking.
I have found some parts can cost more from China. Recently I was looking into the TI CC2650 and it cost less to get them here. But there are things you can get for much less.

My biggest issue I had on a shipment was for SMD MLCC caps. They packed 7 different ones without marking values. So found out they were all about 10% off which was ok.

For domestic sources Arrow is my latest favorite. Love their free overnight shipping and product you can rely on.
 
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