Parts suppliers
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:14 pm
A list of where to buy general parts. Feel free to add to the list or comment below. I will also try and add a little review of each one..
One rule here is no ebay links!
http://uk.farnell.com/
I use them for the majority of my parts. Though lately there stock levels and range seem to be suffering. Probably since Avnet took them over. They do have a nice selection of parts but sadly seem to be going downhill of late and their website progressively gets more terrible and annoying as time goes on. Items which are in stock one second seem to go out of stock for months at a time. I just can't wait around that long for items to tend to shop elsewhere now.
https://www.mouser.co.uk/
while based in the USA they do seem to fit perfectly well to the UK as well. I started using them more than Farnell lately as they have a wider range in stock levels.
https://www.rapidonline.com
I do use rapid for more generic items as their prices are generally good. They are not as large a company as others, but still pretty large and do carry a lot of items. I found it is actually sometimes cheaper to buy items from this company and buying them from China!
https://uk.rs-online.com/
A rival company to Farnell. I have used them for some bulk items in the past not really had any problems with them. They had a dreadful website not long ago but they seem to have improved on it of late. They do seem to go out of stock and items a bit more and I would like. Were generally prices here are worth checking out if you are looking towards buying from Farnell anyway. Prices always seem to fluctuate so sometimes a better deal can be made from RS than Farnell if you are looking for bulk items. Problem is a few weeks later prices tend to switch and Farnell then seemed to become cheaper. So I would definitely check out both sites for pricing.
https://www.utsource.net
a China-based supplier who lately seem to be involving other sellers in their stock lists. Not really sure how it is working. I assume UT are allowing other sellers to use their system and charge a commission on the sales. So far all parts seem to come from UT direct so I am not sure if they are acting as a broker or not. In any case with it been a China site, you can expect to find a lot of chips on their reasonable prices. I have not really use them much as yet so far they seem to be okay. A lot of the items I look for can actually be cheaper elsewhere so it is definitely worth shopping around for items.
https://www.aliexpress.com/
I have used them a lot in the past, and still do. A lot of sellers seem to be vanishing on mass of late. The problem is with this site, or any China side, a lot of the parts seem to be fake items, or clearly used items, or faulty items, or simply wrong items. It is sometimes a gamble if items are actually turn up or not and forget trying to communicate with a lot of these sellers as it is just impossible. Generally after opening a dispute I have got my money back to release there is some safeguard here. But there is a lot of fake items I fell victim to so I tend not to buy anything critical from there any more. I mostly just by connectors and cables as generally you cannot really go wrong with such things. But I would be sceptical about buying chips and I found a lot are not the spec they say they are. A whole lot of items have been reprinted though some parts could be genuine and then others not even know the chips not like they are from the same production batch.
https://www.tinyboxcompany.co.uk/
I used this company once so far to buy some small boxes which I simply could not find anywhere else. This company's stock an epic load of boxes and from what I have read they can even make boxes to your specification. They do sell other items as well but I have not checked on prices from them yet.
http://www.ekey-solutions.com/
This is the company I have started dealing with with doing my assembly work and some repairs. So far they seem really helpful and friendly and their prices seem to be reasonable as well. They can be a little slow to reply to emails at times, but I think there are only two people (husband and wife) running the company. As their prices seem better than a lot of other companies I have email, of course you have to accept their costs will be low in not employing someone to reply to emails each day. As long as you have a little bit of patience with them, I think there is really no problems and I hope to continue to use them a lot more in the future. What I have seen from their work so far, it is fantastic.
https://oshpark.com/
A easy prototype PCB company based in the USA. The quality of boards is very good and I have not had any issues with them so far. For small boards even small production runs they work out really good value. Though I believe a charge per inch, so for larger boards the cost seriously ramps up in particular with multilayer boards.
http://dirtypcbs.com/store/pcbs
I have used these a few times and so far seem okay. The prices seem good, but each time I get a order from them I seem to get it heavy with import taxes was actually makes it not as good value as it first appears. They seem good on prices for smaller boards. They like others once you start getting into larger boards in particular multiple layers, is actually cheaper to get them elsewhere.
http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/
Do various general bits and bobs. Though more recently they started doing laser cut stencils which is where I started getting my prototype ones made.
https://www.toby.co.uk/
Sell all kinds of connectors and headers. I have not brought anything from them for a while but never had any problems with them.
I will add more to the list as I think of them...
One rule here is no ebay links!
http://uk.farnell.com/
I use them for the majority of my parts. Though lately there stock levels and range seem to be suffering. Probably since Avnet took them over. They do have a nice selection of parts but sadly seem to be going downhill of late and their website progressively gets more terrible and annoying as time goes on. Items which are in stock one second seem to go out of stock for months at a time. I just can't wait around that long for items to tend to shop elsewhere now.
https://www.mouser.co.uk/
while based in the USA they do seem to fit perfectly well to the UK as well. I started using them more than Farnell lately as they have a wider range in stock levels.
https://www.rapidonline.com
I do use rapid for more generic items as their prices are generally good. They are not as large a company as others, but still pretty large and do carry a lot of items. I found it is actually sometimes cheaper to buy items from this company and buying them from China!
https://uk.rs-online.com/
A rival company to Farnell. I have used them for some bulk items in the past not really had any problems with them. They had a dreadful website not long ago but they seem to have improved on it of late. They do seem to go out of stock and items a bit more and I would like. Were generally prices here are worth checking out if you are looking towards buying from Farnell anyway. Prices always seem to fluctuate so sometimes a better deal can be made from RS than Farnell if you are looking for bulk items. Problem is a few weeks later prices tend to switch and Farnell then seemed to become cheaper. So I would definitely check out both sites for pricing.
https://www.utsource.net
a China-based supplier who lately seem to be involving other sellers in their stock lists. Not really sure how it is working. I assume UT are allowing other sellers to use their system and charge a commission on the sales. So far all parts seem to come from UT direct so I am not sure if they are acting as a broker or not. In any case with it been a China site, you can expect to find a lot of chips on their reasonable prices. I have not really use them much as yet so far they seem to be okay. A lot of the items I look for can actually be cheaper elsewhere so it is definitely worth shopping around for items.
https://www.aliexpress.com/
I have used them a lot in the past, and still do. A lot of sellers seem to be vanishing on mass of late. The problem is with this site, or any China side, a lot of the parts seem to be fake items, or clearly used items, or faulty items, or simply wrong items. It is sometimes a gamble if items are actually turn up or not and forget trying to communicate with a lot of these sellers as it is just impossible. Generally after opening a dispute I have got my money back to release there is some safeguard here. But there is a lot of fake items I fell victim to so I tend not to buy anything critical from there any more. I mostly just by connectors and cables as generally you cannot really go wrong with such things. But I would be sceptical about buying chips and I found a lot are not the spec they say they are. A whole lot of items have been reprinted though some parts could be genuine and then others not even know the chips not like they are from the same production batch.
https://www.tinyboxcompany.co.uk/
I used this company once so far to buy some small boxes which I simply could not find anywhere else. This company's stock an epic load of boxes and from what I have read they can even make boxes to your specification. They do sell other items as well but I have not checked on prices from them yet.
http://www.ekey-solutions.com/
This is the company I have started dealing with with doing my assembly work and some repairs. So far they seem really helpful and friendly and their prices seem to be reasonable as well. They can be a little slow to reply to emails at times, but I think there are only two people (husband and wife) running the company. As their prices seem better than a lot of other companies I have email, of course you have to accept their costs will be low in not employing someone to reply to emails each day. As long as you have a little bit of patience with them, I think there is really no problems and I hope to continue to use them a lot more in the future. What I have seen from their work so far, it is fantastic.
https://oshpark.com/
A easy prototype PCB company based in the USA. The quality of boards is very good and I have not had any issues with them so far. For small boards even small production runs they work out really good value. Though I believe a charge per inch, so for larger boards the cost seriously ramps up in particular with multilayer boards.
http://dirtypcbs.com/store/pcbs
I have used these a few times and so far seem okay. The prices seem good, but each time I get a order from them I seem to get it heavy with import taxes was actually makes it not as good value as it first appears. They seem good on prices for smaller boards. They like others once you start getting into larger boards in particular multiple layers, is actually cheaper to get them elsewhere.
http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/
Do various general bits and bobs. Though more recently they started doing laser cut stencils which is where I started getting my prototype ones made.
https://www.toby.co.uk/
Sell all kinds of connectors and headers. I have not brought anything from them for a while but never had any problems with them.
I will add more to the list as I think of them...
This was going back to around 2006.. maybe things are better now.. no idea.. but I just use mouser now anyway.