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

Not if you limit your search to North America vendors, or guaranteed ship in 1-2-3-or 5 days.

 

Off to China we go. Wish me luck.

 

If you are worried about being stiffed, and if you can find the supplier on alibaba, then you can use the alibaba trade assurance. Alibaba takes a piece of the sale, and in exchange you get a refund if there are problems. There are at lest 2 types of coverage, you want the one that allows you to receive and inspect the shipment. I've ordered many times through alibaba and only needed that coverage once, but it worked and saved me about $600. Ironically it was a supplier that I had used many times in the past,and for whatever reason they went silent after taking my payment for that particular order.

 

I must admit that I have bought a certain number of items from AliExpress including electronic components and sometimes on eBay. I bought an item 2 years ago from an AliExpress supplier that cost me about US$92 and they said they would ship it by DHL which meant a fairly fast delivery which sounded good.
Anyway, yes they did ship the item by DHL but when it came to importing it, it cost me about US$25 to clear it through customs...and then DHL wanted US$7 per day for storage until I collected the package! Yes, I had to collect it from the DHL offices as they said they were not responsible for delivery to my home!
However, I have learnt a lesson from this...Do not order items from AliExpress suppliers if they offer DHL carriage, I always now select the ordinary AliExpress Standard Shipping option or similar which come to my home. It may take slightly longer to arrive but at least I do have to go through all that hassle with DHL.
I have bought other high value items from AliExpress suppliers and selected the AliExpress Standard Shipping option and have had not had a problem.
DHL have a very bad critical feedback if you read some of the comments posted on FaceBook and other places.

 

BTW they always declare the value super low for their standard shipments and small packages so it clears customs. I’ve seen some declared as gifts.

 

Hello,

I have never bought something direct from china.
There are more places to buy from china.
Have a look at the following sites:
https://www.globalsources.com/
https://www.made-in-china.com/

In holland we can import from china for free upto 22 Euro.
Between 22 and 150 Euro you will need to pay customs clearing and taxes.
Above 150 Euro you will need to pay customs clearing , taxes and customs rights.

Bertus

 

Additionally, referring to my post #24 above, I ordered some PCB's from ALLPCB and selected DHL shipping. Total of this cost US$21
When the boards arrived in my country, DHL wanted to charge me for a 'transit declaration' (whatever that is) which cost US$14, also charge me US$7 per day for storage until I collected it from their offices. With the time I spent getting this shipment it would have costed me more than the price of the package (petrol for driving 30 miles / parking expenses / time etc.). I told DHL to keep the package and I would not 'be forced' into spending extortionate amounts to DHL and customs. DHL said they would send the package back to ALLPCB in China...I'm not sure if they did or didn't.
I now use JLCPCB in China (very good quality boards) for my PCB's and select 'ePacket' as Shipping Method and pay via PayPal. Total cost for 10 boards is normally less than US$10.
Shipments come in about 21 days direct to my home without any other charges. I am very pleased with them.
Because of my continuing business, the guys at JLCPCB have invited me to visit their offices and factory but sadly they have not offered to pay for my flight and hotel expenses!

 

I've received several DHL shipments, many from purchases through Alibaba, and so far no issues. I've also ordered from AllPCB but don't remember if that came via FedEx or DHL, but I had no issues with that one either. I think Silver Circuits uses FedEx (no issues either).. going by memory.

 

I did have to pay a 25 cent bank currency exchange on a $35 order through AliExpress.

Ken

 

I did have to pay a 25 cent bank currency exchange on a $35 order through AliExpress.

SHOCKING!

 

If you are in Canada, you should check https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/menu-eng.html. Basically, it could be a "gift", so unless it is tobacco, or alcoholic beverage (and other few exceptions), there will be no custom fee for 60$CAN or less, by shipment. The limit is 20$ for non-gifts. The limit will significantly increase if the origine if USA or Mexico when the new commercial accord will take place. Tobacco and alcoholic beverage are evaluated by province since it is a matter of provincial juridiction. It is illegal to ship marijuana through the Canadian boundary, even if marijuana is legal in Canada (just for completeness).

 

SHOCKING!

Maybe 35 years ago, I recall seeing in a maritime agency in Newport News a letter from a phone company returning 0,25 USD to a customer (crew memeber of a vessel) for some failure in the service they provided.

 

I have bought low value items from china for several years and not yet paid any duties etc.
But in if Canadian, you can't beat Digikey for next day service all for $8.00 next day air if under $100, otherwise free P/P, and no duties payable.
The problem with China/Hong Kong post is the 1 month+ wait.
Max.

 

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.

Keep in mind that Digikey and Mouser (Arrow, Newark,...etc) are authorized vendors and track their parts history from the manufacturer to you. You won't get this on Amazon, ebay, and similar. If you are designing an actual product you will be responsible for, you don't want to risk getting counterfeit, reject, or otherwise unsuitable parts. "Cheap from China" has its place if it's a hobby project or something, but not for something you are going to commercialize and warranty.

 

I recently received counterfeit TI chips from China which also didn’t work. I got a refund immediately but that was after a month wait and time wasted troubleshooting. Arrow sent me real chips.

 

Thanks guys. Some very good points on here but I was looking for some specific chips and thanks to @narkeleptk, I was able to find them at Mouser and had them shipped in overnight. All good, back to work. I would rather buy in US than China any day. Less problems, faster shipping etc.

 

There are some bargains worth getting... I stock up on some of the less critical components... I haven't had any issues with their LED's, resistors, capacitors and diodes so far... cross my fingers. It really depends, there's are counterfeit chips out there so buyer beware. I should check the 555's I received also but haven't had time. It's hard to resist ordering 100 chips for $1.50. But always check domestic pricing because sometimes it costs less here and you will get it faster and they are real!

 

Not that far but here in Bs. Aires, more than 40 years ago I thought being the wisest guy buying maybe 50 transistors for the price of 3. It took me several days of chasing ghosts to finally realize that they were much less than "out of specs" items.

 

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.

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.

That's fascinating. We have different mindsets or methods. I love digikey and mouser because of their parametric search features. I can whittle my way down based on package sizes, pin counts, all sorts of values, and see what's left to choose from. It's wonderful!

If I go on Amazon or eBay and try to search for passives by values, LEDs by color, MOSFETs based on wattage and RDS, etc, etc it's totally hopeless. The search engine mixes which value goes with what parameter and gives me millions of meaningless results, then I have to individually read the datasheet for each listing to see if it's actually suitable. Unless you have an exact part number, I don't know how you find anything there. I find the process truly maddening!

 

I believe I understand this. Google is easy to put in few criteria to search for let’s say n channel logic mosfet in TO package. Parametric searches are great if you have more requirements but it can take longer if you have 50 pages of things you don’t want