Digikey still is in the old days. The same guy who started Digikey, Ronald Stordahl, is and has always been the owner.
Their free shipping with check is his own original policy. That's why it's still in effect.
Yep,,, IIRC he started the company to serve hobbyists, and it grew world wide,,, great company to deal with,,, like Mouser, but Digi's free shipping sold me!!! Mousers site is a bit easier for me to search,, and they seem to have more vintage parts, at last order, but that will dry up soon, I suppose...
Stordahl started Digikey in 1972 to sell electronic keyer (for Morse code) kits to hams.
Then more stuff, and it just grew bigger and bigger.
Then more stuff, and it just grew bigger and bigger.
Free shipping, regardless of the source, is my first consideration when contemplating a purchase. Living in a small town (less than 1K) in dairy farm country, going into town or the city costs 3 - 4 gallons of gas per trip. At $3.50 per gallon, it makes you think about running out for whatever. Even if I wanted to go out a buy something for a project, besides the local hardware store, there is no place to go.
We use Amazon prime for as much as we can find on the site. I used to use eBay, buying and selling, no more auctions, just a set price. Last time I sold something, eBay is now like a bank or paypal, they hold the money from the buyer until they receive the item and then send you your money 3 days later.
It does seem we are now victims of greed.
Alternative distributor worth mentioning:
TME Group
Located in and ships from Poland, thus probably most interesting for EU residents.
Reasonable portfolio and price. Shipping to Germany was 7€.
I only ordered once, can't complain so far.
Just for fun, I calculated what I would save today placing my order on Digikey instead:
All price data from today in Euro and without VAT.
Quantity is not correct though because in case the volume discount was at different quantity, I chose the most favorable Digikey quantity and price.
Means, in fact I bought a different quantity and paid even less per component.
LOL, as you can see I didn't follow my own advice and bought two different, but somewhat redundant 1uF caps. 😳
TME Group
Located in and ships from Poland, thus probably most interesting for EU residents.
Reasonable portfolio and price. Shipping to Germany was 7€.
I only ordered once, can't complain so far.
Just for fun, I calculated what I would save today placing my order on Digikey instead:
All price data from today in Euro and without VAT.
Quantity is not correct though because in case the volume discount was at different quantity, I chose the most favorable Digikey quantity and price.
Means, in fact I bought a different quantity and paid even less per component.
LOL, as you can see I didn't follow my own advice and bought two different, but somewhat redundant 1uF caps. 😳
My theory:
Once the collapse is finished, DIYers will be mining landfills for PCBs to get components.
Once the collapse is finished, DIYers will be mining landfills for PCBs to get components.
Still took a good long while before they started carrying anything useful for building discrete amps. And I think it even started with the Toshiba 2SC3281.
With one notable exception. They carried Panasonic, which meant a good source of capacitors. Also a little known high speed sustained beta driver transistor pair - the C1567/A794. Bought tons of ‘em. But those were the biggest ones they made.
Around the same time Mouser started carrying most of what Motorola made, instead of just their 40-60-80 volt epi-base lines. You just can’t build amps over about 20 or 30 watts per channel with that stuff. And no, 2N3055’s don’t have enough current gain to go stacking them in series, either. And doing that without good PNPs was a recipe for making an oscillator (that heats up and blows up).
I've used TME a few times, to buy some constant current regulators I couldn't get from Farnell or RS.
Will be illegal. 😀 Because it is bad for the climate, or whatever reason they just make up. 😆
My crystal ball tells me that semiconductors will get expensive once the China / Taiwan conflict is starting.
Do you remember the semiconductor shortage not too long ago? While it was temporary in nature, governments suddenly spent a ton of taxpayers money to subsidize semiconductor plants in the US and EU - for a temporary issue that resolves on its own prior to any of those plants being finished. It is just a matter of time until this crisis unfolds - all on its own of course, just like any other crisis.
Unfortunately, my crystal ball does not tell me when this will happen. However, now is a good time to stock up with semiconductors, isn't it?
^Anything that at least maintains nominal value, even better if it gains, like certain internet money token 🙂
Crisis? it seems that with so may new plants coming online, thee will be a glut of semiconductors.
I used TME too, and they are reliable for us in EU.
Another confusion is import duties and taxes. These are not going to the distributor but to your government; call your president, don't blame Mouser or Digikey.
In fact, those distributor ship DDP meaning that they include the import duties and taxes in their prices and transfer the money to the government tax man.
They do that digitally while the shipment is underway so there's no delay at all. That saves you a lot of hassle, delay and cost. For instance, here in Belgium, if I buy and import myself I pay at least $ 15 just for admin cost to the government in addition to the actual import duties. With Mouser and Digikey that's an immediate saving.
I see a lot of bitching here by people who don't really know what they are talking about. It's just like audio ;-)
Jan
Another confusion is import duties and taxes. These are not going to the distributor but to your government; call your president, don't blame Mouser or Digikey.
In fact, those distributor ship DDP meaning that they include the import duties and taxes in their prices and transfer the money to the government tax man.
They do that digitally while the shipment is underway so there's no delay at all. That saves you a lot of hassle, delay and cost. For instance, here in Belgium, if I buy and import myself I pay at least $ 15 just for admin cost to the government in addition to the actual import duties. With Mouser and Digikey that's an immediate saving.
I see a lot of bitching here by people who don't really know what they are talking about. It's just like audio ;-)
Jan
I know that buying from Mouser in EU haven't to pay extra for import taxes. You pay once
Is it the same from Digikey?
See post #72. ANY distributor that offers DDP shipping does that, its the definition of DDP: Delivered duty paid (DDP) is a delivery agreement whereby the seller assumes all responsibility and cost for transporting the goods until they reach an agreed-upon destination. But you always pay duty, it's just included in the price if you buy DDP. Or vote for a different party next elections!
If you want more info, Google Incoterms.
Jan
If you want more info, Google Incoterms.
Jan
Small UK companies with a turnover under £90k don't charge Vat and therefore cannot send items overseas DDP because there is no way to add it to orders for non UK customers. This is not good for export sales but there is no way around it.
Are you complaining that you can't buy VAT free because you already buy VAT free from a small company??
Again, you are confusing VAT with import duties. VAT is not import duties. VAT is for the sellers government, import duties for the importing government.
What you are saying is that small UK companies cannot sell VAT-free because they don't have to levvy it. That's your gain.
But if they sell to another country, there's still import duties to be paid by the buyer like anyone. Even from big companies. DDP does not exempt you from import duties, it just streamlines the process thereby saving you fees and time.
Jan
Again, you are confusing VAT with import duties. VAT is not import duties. VAT is for the sellers government, import duties for the importing government.
What you are saying is that small UK companies cannot sell VAT-free because they don't have to levvy it. That's your gain.
But if they sell to another country, there's still import duties to be paid by the buyer like anyone. Even from big companies. DDP does not exempt you from import duties, it just streamlines the process thereby saving you fees and time.
Jan
It's you who are confused. I am speaking as a small business seller.
There are no import duties levied by most countries on goods from the UK to the EU and elsewhere. (Governments collect both vat & duties, the latter are not the same as the fee charged to collect the vat & duties)
DDU vat (or sales tax - name varies with country) is collected in the recipients country along with a collection fee and usually by the courier service on behalf of their government.
So as small business I cannot opt to use DDP which would save the buyer the collection fee, and delays at the border, hence my exports have suffered.
Also, if I wanted to be able to collect the exports vat, I would have to have vat number for the EU countries I ship to and then have the paperwork and red tape every month to send the vat to the relevant governments. Best thing I ever did was to deregister for UK vat and keep sales below the threshold even if it cost some exports.
There are no import duties levied by most countries on goods from the UK to the EU and elsewhere. (Governments collect both vat & duties, the latter are not the same as the fee charged to collect the vat & duties)
DDU vat (or sales tax - name varies with country) is collected in the recipients country along with a collection fee and usually by the courier service on behalf of their government.
So as small business I cannot opt to use DDP which would save the buyer the collection fee, and delays at the border, hence my exports have suffered.
Also, if I wanted to be able to collect the exports vat, I would have to have vat number for the EU countries I ship to and then have the paperwork and red tape every month to send the vat to the relevant governments. Best thing I ever did was to deregister for UK vat and keep sales below the threshold even if it cost some exports.
I received this just now.
Attachments
Import duties (& export ones) are determined by the internationally agreed Tariff (HS) code and all countries can set their own % for example to stop cheap imports undercutting their own manufacturers.