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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

Mouser
Newark
DigiKey
Fair Radio
Surplus Shed (for some things)
Mark Oppat

At at least half-a-dozen others.

You also need to get to Kutztown in the spring, where all sorts of vendors of all sorts of things are all gathered in one place at one time.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

In article ,
says...

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).

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:09:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

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).

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.

I just found a reliable source for parts in China. They carry ics
which aren't available outside of China. They are utsource.net. It
takes about 2 weeks to receive the parts. I was charged $4.00
shipping. (to USA) I had four portable PAs (Megamouths) which needed
ics that I could only previously find in 1000 lots. Was going to toss
them but checked again. This company will sell you any quantity and
was able to repair them for a grand total of $18.00 in parts and
shipping.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 11:04:21 AM UTC-5, Chuck wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:09:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

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)..

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.

I just found a reliable source for parts in China. They carry ics
which aren't available outside of China. They are utsource.net. It
takes about 2 weeks to receive the parts. I was charged $4.00
shipping. (to USA) I had four portable PAs (Megamouths) which needed
ics that I could only previously find in 1000 lots. Was going to toss
them but checked again. This company will sell you any quantity and
was able to repair them for a grand total of $18.00 in parts and
shipping.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

I don't think that's an all inclusive statement. I've ordered batches of mosfets for plasma sustain boards and some lots of 50 would show different printing, different cases, different lead stampings, (which tend to support the theory that some might be original and some might be counterfeit) and some were clearly pulls.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:09:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

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).

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.


I dont buy anything from China. (or any place outside of North America).
It takes too long to get the items, if the stuff is defective, I'm stuck
with it, and I do not trust giving out my credit card info. I only buy
from the US and Canada. When I am on ebay, the first thing I do is set
their filter to US Only. Otherwise my page is flooded with China items.
Sure, I could often save a dollar or two buying from China, but it's not
worth the hassle.

The one and only time I bought an ebay item from outside the US, I
bought something from the UK. The order got all screwed up, and it
turned into a huge hassle. I lost money, got an item I did not really
want, and the seller lost too. I made a point to never buy from outside
North America again.

On 2/21/2017 3:46 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:09:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

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).

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.


I dont buy anything from China. (or any place outside of North America).
It takes too long to get the items, if the stuff is defective, I'm stuck
with it, and I do not trust giving out my credit card info. I only buy
from the US and Canada. When I am on ebay, the first thing I do is set
their filter to US Only. Otherwise my page is flooded with China items.
Sure, I could often save a dollar or two buying from China, but it's not
worth the hassle.

The only times I've had trouble with eBay orders is when I didn't follow
up on keeping track of them. I find ebay sellers to be very responsive
because they live and die by their rating. If all else fails (which it
has sometimes) I dispute the charge on my credit card and have never
failed to get the refund.


The one and only time I bought an ebay item from outside the US, I
bought something from the UK. The order got all screwed up, and it
turned into a huge hassle. I lost money, got an item I did not really
want, and the seller lost too. I made a point to never buy from outside
North America again.

It's just not that big a deal normally. Having to wait over a month
before filing for an "item not received" refund is a bit of a pain, but
I only use this for things I don't need any time soon.

--

Rick C

On 22/02/17 07:46, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:09:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

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).

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



I have placed small (around $ 25) orders from Mouser and Digikey with no
problem. I believe it is Digikey that only charges about $ 4 shipping
for very small orders such as up to 8 oz shipped by the USPS.


If you do go to ebay for the parts, watch out for the China places.
Some are good and some send junk parts.


I dont buy anything from China. (or any place outside of North America).
It takes too long to get the items, if the stuff is defective, I'm stuck
with it, and I do not trust giving out my credit card info.

I agree with you regarding EBay sellers, but...

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your
money either. If you receive nothing, or they ship the wrong thing,
or even if it's demonstrably faulty, Ali mediates a resolution.
The most common resolution is that you bin the item and get your
money back.

For China Post shipping of small items (3 cigarette packet size)
you get free shipping... my orders are often under $20... no Western
supplier will do this for you.

The one and only time I bought an ebay item from outside the US, I
bought something from the UK. The order got all screwed up, and it
turned into a huge hassle. I lost money, got an item I did not really
want, and the seller lost too.

This does not happen with Aliexpress.

Clifford Heath wrote:

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your
money either. If you receive nothing, or they ship the wrong thing,
or even if it's demonstrably faulty, Ali mediates a resolution.
The most common resolution is that you bin the item and get your
money back.

For China Post shipping of small items (3 cigarette packet size)
you get free shipping... my orders are often under $20... no Western
supplier will do this for you.

The one and only time I bought an ebay item from outside the US, I
bought something from the UK. The order got all screwed up, and it
turned into a huge hassle. I lost money, got an item I did not really
want, and the seller lost too.

This does not happen with Aliexpress.



I could not disagree more with your assertions about AliExpress. If you
receive goods which were either defective or not as represented you
can get your money back but only if you ship the items back to
the sender at your expense. On a recent $105 order with AliExpress,
the shipping cost to return the item was $48. It took weeks of
email exchanges with the sender before they were even willing
to take back the item. My experience with Amazon is the exact
opposite.

On 22/02/17 09:33, root wrote:
Clifford Heath wrote:

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your
money either. If you receive nothing, or they ship the wrong thing,
or even if it's demonstrably faulty, Ali mediates a resolution.
The most common resolution is that you bin the item and get your
money back.

For China Post shipping of small items (3 cigarette packet size)
you get free shipping... my orders are often under $20... no Western
supplier will do this for you.

The one and only time I bought an ebay item from outside the US, I
bought something from the UK. The order got all screwed up, and it
turned into a huge hassle. I lost money, got an item I did not really
want, and the seller lost too.

This does not happen with Aliexpress.

I could not disagree more with your assertions about AliExpress. If you
receive goods which were either defective or not as represented you
can get your money back but only if you ship the items back to
the sender at your expense. On a recent $105 order with AliExpress,
the shipping cost to return the item was $48.

Ouch. I haven't had a problem with a $100 order, only small ones.

For example, one vendor shipped a dangerous illegal "power saving"
device (small capacitor and an LED) with a European socket, when
I had ordered a 12V 3A power brick. Duh. It wasn't hard to convince
Ali that it belonged in the bin, and I got my money back.
A battery pack for a hand-held transceiver never arrived, though
tracking said it was in a warehouse somewhere... after six weeks
I got my money back. Another order for five magnets shipped one,
so I got an 80% refund. Three problems in perhaps 60 orders...

So yeah, you can have problems... but none so far has cost me anything.

My experience with Amazon is the exact opposite.

Yep, Amazon is good. They just don't have many of the things I want.

Clifford Heath.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 22:33:12 +0000 (UTC), the renowned root
wrote:


I could not disagree more with your assertions about AliExpress. If you
receive goods which were either defective or not as represented you
can get your money back but only if you ship the items back to
the sender at your expense. On a recent $105 order with AliExpress,
the shipping cost to return the item was $48. It took weeks of
email exchanges with the sender before they were even willing
to take back the item. My experience with Amazon is the exact
opposite.


Amazon seems to police their vendors, almost to a fault. It would be
interesting to know from the vendor side how it feels to deal with a
bad buyer (eg. broke the product, tells lies, etc.)

Ali- rather less so and as you say the shipping cost back works in
favor of a bad seller- you *have* to use a method with tracking so not
cheap. Sometimes you can get partial (maybe half) the money back
without sending it back. 8-(

--sp


--
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 04:20:07 +1100, Clifford Heath
wrote:

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your

Is this Aliexpress a company in China, or do they just sell China goods?

wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 04:20:07 +1100, Clifford Heath
wrote:

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your

Is this Aliexpress a company in China, or do they just sell China goods?


AliExpress is Chinese.
AliExpress is the consumer outlet for AliBaba, the huge Chinese company.

On Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 2:37:53 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 04:20:07 +1100, Clifford Heath
wrote:

You're wrong to discount Aliexpress. You get access to thousands of
vendors (same as EBay) but none of them see your credit card, and
until you approve of the product *as delivered*, they don't get your

Is this Aliexpress a company in China, or do they just sell China goods?



Aliexpress is just an umbrella corporation and the goods that come through are sold by many thousands of independent sellers.

Think of Aliexpress as a Chinese "buy it now" only ebay.

I've had excellent luck, just be sure to check ratings and read the descriptions carefully.

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:32:13 -0600, oldschool 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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

I'll add Allied Electronics to the list
www.alliedelec.com

Also for odd parts and such try Electronic Gold Mine

www.goldmine-elec-products.com


Avnet was a good place to order from but they have really messed up their
web site now, but they did have $9 fedex ground shipping.

I think Mouser still has $8 USPS shipping for small orders.

SparkFun has been mentioned in another post. Lots of great
experminter boards and break out boards.

I would start with Digi-Key. IMHO they have the best search
engine. Once I find the part(s) I plug them into other web sites
to check availability, price and shipping cost. It also depends on
where you live. I'm 4 hours driving distance from Mouser so normal
UPS ground is "next day" for me.


--
Chisolm
Republic of Texas

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 10:03:40 -0600, Joe Chisolm wrote:

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:32:13 -0600, oldschool 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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

I'll add Allied Electronics to the list
www.alliedelec.com

Also for odd parts and such try Electronic Gold Mine

www.goldmine-elec-products.com


Avnet was a good place to order from but they have really messed up their
web site now, but they did have $9 fedex ground shipping.

I think Mouser still has $8 USPS shipping for small orders.

SparkFun has been mentioned in another post. Lots of great
experminter boards and break out boards.

I would start with Digi-Key. IMHO they have the best search
engine. Once I find the part(s) I plug them into other web sites
to check availability, price and shipping cost. It also depends on
where you live. I'm 4 hours driving distance from Mouser so normal
UPS ground is "next day" for me.

I got a email yesterday that Newark is doing $5 shipping on orders $49 and
free shipping on orders $49 and over. Cavaet is parts must be in a USA
warehouse and shipping to a USA address.


--
Chisolm
Republic of Texas

wrote:

What is the best place for a hobbiest to buy small amounts of electronic
parts?

I buy a lot of stuff from Digi-Key. They do have a minimum order, but it is
not that bad. These days, if you buy a few chips as well as passives, you
are pretty likely to go above their minimum (I think it is still $25).
Their single-piece prices are not really steep.

Mouser is also pretty good.

Jon

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:32:13 -0600, oldschool 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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

DigiKey and (I think) Mouser got rid of their minimum order prices years
ago.

But they kind of make up for it by charging more per piece as you order
fewer pieces -- as an example, 0604 resistors are $0.10 in onsies, and
about $0.12 for ten.

You might want to check Antique Radio Supply for the tube-specific stuff
-- www.tubesandmore.com. They'll have the tubes and sockets and
transformers that DigiKey just doesn't carry. They may even have better
deals on small quantities of the sorts of resistors and caps that show up
in toob amplifiers than does DigiKey.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

I'm looking for work -- see my website!

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:32:13 -0600, wrote:
What is the best place for a hobbiest to buy small amounts of electronic
parts?

A really funky web site is http://www.danssmallpartsandkits.net/

I've ordered parts from "Dan" and never had "issues".
Lots of old descrete parts.
It can take a bit to dig through all he has listed.
(He definitely does NOT pay anyone to maintain that web site. :-)

Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | W3DHJ | W3DHJ | https://W3DHJ.net/
Pueblo, Colorado | @ | Jonesy | __
38.238N 104.547W | jonz.net | DM78rf | 73 SK

On Tue, 22 Feb 2017, Allodoxaphobia wrote:

On Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:32:13 -0600, wrote:
What is the best place for a hobbiest to buy small amounts of electronic
parts?

A really funky web site is http://www.danssmallpartsandkits.net/

I've ordered parts from "Dan" and never had "issues".
Lots of old descrete parts.
It can take a bit to dig through all he has listed.
(He definitely does NOT pay anyone to maintain that web site. :-)

The caveat is that it seems to be surplus, and mostly oriented towards
radio type hobbying. So it's good for what he carries, but it's a limited
selection. On the other hand, if you need RF parts, you may be more
likely to fill out your needs from this one source.

It's worth looking, but it may not work for everyone.

I ordered a time or two, but he no longer wants to send to Canada (or any
non-US location I think), which is a shame because it was very convenient
to be able to get those RF parts in one place.

Michael

www.allelectronics.com/

Allied

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

Try Jameco. They have a $20 minimum and sell a lot of "pulls" & odd stuff.
Almost all are "through hole" devices, which can be handy.

Hul

In sci.electronics.design 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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

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).

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

I have been out of this hobby for around 40 years and am getting back
in, but only working on old tube stuff. I remember this stuff like it
was yesterday, but back then, I lived in a city, and there were many
"brick" electronics stores nearby. Now, I live in a rural area, and
aside from the very limited parts at a Radio Shack, (25 miles away)
there are no longer any "brick" stores. Not to mention that much of not
most places seem to cater to solid state devices now. [Times have
changed a lot].

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

Thanks

My old list not updated.

http://www.pitt.edu/~szekeres/mail.htm

Greg