cheaper Alternative to RS,Farnell,CPC etc

[tacromx]

If your in the uk and require a cheaper source for Analogue Devices, MicroChip,ST,Cree etc then have a look here...

http://www.anglia-live.com/

And no... i have no association with the company, they just have very good prices

[blauwhaar]

www. tme .com

It is no problem for most parts to get just one for a reasonable price.
It is easy if you need a microcontroller for an educational project

Same here: And no... i have no association with the company, they just have very good prices

[Elmer]

I use octopart's API to check distributor stock/prices when auto-generating BOM from my PCB files Even on resistors/capacitors, by building part # for my preferred manufacturers depending of course on tolerance, dielectric etc. That method really shaves some time from generating BOMs as well as shaving off cost, and even does the price break check as well (say you need 40pcs, sometimes it is actually cheaper to buy 100) without me having to worry about that either.

[crunx]

I have literally over hundred times purchased electronics components via eBay. Mostly coming from China or some other "Far-Eastern" country.

However, quite often there have been bargains even at European countries.

Or you may find rare, hard-to-find parts such as a 10 GigaOhm 5% resistor I located one time - that was from Russian military surplus.

Therefore, do not automatically assume, that you *have* to use a distributor. They are quite often geared towards small businesses, not for hobbyists, may have minimum purchase limits, or relatively expensive delivery costs. And the total cost of purchase is naturally part cost + postage, so always check that. too. Especially imprtant for small purchases!

At eBay, used with PayPal, there is also a pretty good buyer protection, which have given me refund in those few cases something is lost or broken.

My main objection for buying components from China is the long delivery time, typically many weeks. (I have also very seldom experienced quality issue, but in those cases buyer's protection helps)

... and - no - I have no personal interests in eBay, I am just a bargain shopper type guy

[solutions]

Here's your Chinese eBay order being filled (this is not a joke - many of the parts on eBay and in the Shenzhen market are reclaims):

[lecroy]

If your in the uk and require a cheaper source for Analogue Devices, MicroChip,ST,Cree etc then have a look here...

http://www.anglia-live.com/

And no... i have no association with the company, they just have very good prices

Great choice of JFets..

[Old_but_Alive]

a few months ago, I was looking to purchase 10 small fans, the 40mm 12v type.

I went to Farnell website as usual, and they were £10 ($15) each, but out of stock.

I googled the part number, found a distributor in Poland who was selling them for £2.30 ($3) each, same Sunon part from the official distributor , the postage was a few pounds, and they arrived next day to the UK.

That certainly reduced my faith in Farnell

[crunx]

Here's your Chinese eBay order being filled (this is not a joke - many of the parts on eBay and in the Shenzhen market are reclaims):

Yes, if you are careless. Rule number 1: Check the seller's rating and feedback. Rule number 2: The description must say: "Condition: New".

I have never received any re-claimed parts, if they are marked "New". If I had detected such a thing, I would have had to open a case and claim back my money. That's the good thing with eBay/PayPal buyer's guarantee and rigorous rating system: If the item is said to be new, it better to be so! Or else, I get 100% sure my money back, and seller's rating falls.  Most sellers bend themselves backward in case of a complaint, to avoid reduced rating!

[chicane]

I have used this place in China www.utsource.net for some STM8309 I couldn't find in any of the regular suppliers in North America, the parts came in perfect condition in tape packaging. There are some horrors stories, not just reclaims but also complete fake parts. I have had a fake sunon fan before, but I got that from a small local electronics shop, that probably wasn't too diligent on their source for the fans, so you have to be careful everywhere these days I guess.

[Beltza]

I have used utsource too, they have a couple of shops at eBay. The received parts where first class, not used nor fake.

[Elmer]

For anything commercial, imagine what it would do to your company reputation if you shipped units with failing reclaim parts, and the cost recalling & replacing them. A refund for the fake parts would not be much comfort.

[crunx]

Using reclaimed parts is not wise if you have alternatives. And in generally must be avoided, because the quality is likely very varying and risky.
However, buying from eBay and from China doesn't automatically mean that the parts are reclaimed or fake!

In any case, there is a big difference depending on the use of parts: To customer's equipment one doesn't want to risk anything. Of course, not reclaimed parts, or anything else with low quality. But for a hobby projects the price might be more of priority. In hobby and experimenting project still I don't wan to use reclaimed parts, but for instance resistors and switches sold as "new" would pose pretty small risk. Nobody usually reclaims so cheap parts, claiming them to be new, but distributors can be expensive, mostly due to the delivery costs.

[Elmer]

One component I have had very good experience with buying on eBay is silver mica capacitors for my hobby audio or RF projects. I have a big bin of those, and they cost me next to nothing. Some of them, like the Soviet military 0.2uF, just isn't produced anymore and make IMO the very best coupling capacitor in HV tube amplifier circuits. I remember I was buying some ~1000pF ones from my local supplier once, and what a price they charged... 5 of them cost like the price of a new soldering station.

[solutions]

I think some of you guys are missing the point. If the price is too good to be true, there's a reason for it - nobody is running a charity for your benefit.

The reclaims are cleaned up, remarked, and sold as "new". Imagine buying new parts for your shop, then returning reclaims to a reputable distributor (this has pretty much gotten shut down by the distributors) or sold off to a broker, who are willing to  whore their mother for $ - your business got legit parts for a substantial discount.

Reclaims and counterfeits, are a huge business - huge corporations with savvy buyers, even high-rel military repair depots, have been duped in this area, so don't get all cocksure what you are getting is legit, including from a broker. https://counterfeitparts.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/using-reclaimed-parts-counterfeiting-operations-vs-maintenance-and-repair-operations/

Your best change is with a name brand distributor whose reputation hangs in the balance as far as doing business - some chump on eBay, or in Poland, who could care less if you come back for your single unit purchase. You also don't know (and don't want to know) if the goods are from a hijacked shipment. I'm guessing, or I'd like to think, that most of the parts we come across are merely surplus, but you can't be 100% sure unless you have a decent lab setup for FA.

For hobby, it's not a huge deal and you probably don't care if it's a reclaim or counterfeit part, perhaps should care if the goods have been stolen. For an AirBus, or the ventilator at your hospital bed, I'd be a bit concerned about reclaims and fakes (counterfeit hardware, like high strength bolts, are a huge problem as well in aero/mil).

[CocaCola]

In regards to Ebay it really depends on what you are buying, not all the stuff is counterfeit or reclaimed...

When it comes to current production more costly ICs, if you find a bargain well below wholesale prices (almost all chip manufactures will give you the asking wholesale price) chances are you will get a counterfeit or reclaim if you are lucky if you are unlucky you might get a batch that didn't pass QC and was supposed to be destroyed or you will get a slab of epoxy with legs and bad silk screen print...  This gets worse when there are global shortages of the popular in demand chips...  I have seen this happen over and over again with Atmel chips, all the sudden someone designs a product like the Arduino and there is an instant shortage of the Atmel micro used on the device, overnight A LOT of blobs of epoxy with bad silk screens appear on Ebay for half the going market value...

But, many times when it comes to basic discrete components they are 2nds and for many applications they will work fine, this is the case with LEDs and resistors...  Almost all the cheap LEDs on Ebay are 2nds, usually the reason for them being 2nds is the  color is not properly matched or the intensity isn't correct, not a problem for many builds if they are just used as indicators...  Same with resistors, many are not to spec and vary more than the % they are supposed to, not a deal breaker all the time...

Also for connectors, many of the ones on Ebay are production over runs, liquidated from a defunct device or bootlegs, and again for many this is not a big concern over name brand...

In the end if you buy from a big name distributor you almost always get what you pay for and can be assured of quality, on the other hand on Ebay you might very well get a bargain, you might get some sub quality parts or you might get burned with total junk, it's a roll of the dice...  For me and hobby work, I roll the dice many times usually for discrete components, LEDs and connectors, but on occasion for some more simplistic ICs like logic chips, I have never rolled the dice on micros or a more fancy IC...

[Checksum8]

Ebay is a great place to find good parts. But you have to be careful. Here is an
example of questionable parts I found while searching for "AD797"
See photos - which ones are real?

[CocaCola]

Here is an
example of questionable parts I found while searching for "AD797"
See photos - which ones are real?

Sadly Analog is one of those companies that has no consistency in their own silkscreens, further confusing the issue...

[Elmer]

I have never rolled the dice on micros or a more fancy IC

+1
Troubleshooting a circuit, even for hobby use, can be tricky enough without having the fake or not variable in the equation. For me, just knowing an IC could be a fake, could be enough to throw me off the real error when debugging, with the end result that I waste time looking at all the wrong stuff in all the wrong places...