DIYbanter - View Single Post - Best place for a hobbiest to buy small amounts of parts?

Jasen Betts[_2_]

On 2017-02-21, wrote:
What is the best place for a hobbiest to buy small amounts of electronic
parts?

I am looking for an online source where I can place orders for a handful
of parts at a time, which does not require $50 or more orders, or charge
huge shipping fees. I am also looking mostly for parts for antique tube
equipment. My typical order would likely be $20 or less of caps,
resistors, and maybe some solder or a tool, and so on....

From what I've seen, Mouser, Digi-Key and Allied seem to be the
biggies... But I have to admit that they have so much in their websites
that I almost feel overwhelmed. And I hear they have large minimums and
shipping, but I never got that far on their websites.... (I have to go
to a public WIFI to use those sites, since I only have dialup at home).

Depending on where you are sometimes they have free shipping.
so far as i know they don't have minimum orders on most common parts,
I think that I heard that digikey has free shipping if you are in USA
and order by mail with cheque enclosed.

I know ebay is an option too, but ordering each item separately can be a
pain too.

yeah... quality can be suspect too, but if y're prepare to be vigilant
it can work.

What (if any) online stores will fit my needs?
Maybe its none of these huge stores, but something smaller...

you could look at "sparkfun" and "adafriut" and "pimoroni", but I'm
not guaranteeing that they will be a good fit for you.

--
This email has not been checked by half-arsed antivirus software