Author Topic: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?  (Read 17929 times)

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Offline cosmicray

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #25 on: February 12, 2015, 08:50:27 pm »
OK, Mouser is in Fort Worth, DigiKey is in Minnesota, and Newark is in Chicago-land. Mouser is probably the closest to north Florida, but not by all that much.

About eBay... eBay is a collection of independent sellers. Each seller is different from every other seller. I think it would be a less than fair move to paint all eBay sellers with the same brush. I sell on eBay (no electronics or parts), primarily at Christmas, and I know the provenance of everything I sell. So not all eBay sellers are trying to scam unwary buyers. There are some bad apples, and I'm sure there are bad ones on every site.
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Offline edavid

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #26 on: February 12, 2015, 08:54:21 pm »
The problem with Digikey, Newark, Mouser, etc is the shipping on small orders is insane!

In the US, DigiKey has free shipping if you order by mail and prepay by check.

Arrow has $8 flat fee shipping.

 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #27 on: February 12, 2015, 09:05:46 pm »
For Digikey - shipping from MN to WA by first class mail is only a few dollars as long as the total weight is less than 8 oz. - which for electronics components it usually is.  Digikey ships very fast and only takes 2-3 days to get to me in Western WA.

That, said I've ordered hundreds of things from eBay including many electronic components and so far have had no issues with counterfeit components. In fact the only fraudulent eBay seller I've every had to deal with was the recent too good to be true cheap Agilent power supply much discussed on this forum.
 

Offline Cliff MatthewsTopic starter

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #28 on: February 12, 2015, 09:09:20 pm »
About eBay... eBay is a collection of independent sellers...
not exactly, eBay stores seem to be a step up from sellers requiring $ignificant investment and time (not one man ops, typically). A bad reputation would blow that away...  That brings us full circle then, to the original store question...  so I there's only one? - tayda2009
 

Offline suicidaleggroll

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #29 on: February 12, 2015, 09:45:08 pm »
About eBay... eBay is a collection of independent sellers. Each seller is different from every other seller. I think it would be a less than fair move to paint all eBay sellers with the same brush. I sell on eBay (no electronics or parts), primarily at Christmas, and I know the provenance of everything I sell. So not all eBay sellers are trying to scam unwary buyers. There are some bad apples, and I'm sure there are bad ones on every site.

Note - all of my comments in this thread about eBay are only referring to people/stores selling "new" components and electronic trinkets for significantly less than should be possible.  This is primarily what people are talking about when they mention buying ICs, DC/DC converters, and other small boards on eBay, and is what I was responding to.

99% of the time these parts are coming from China, and 99% of they time they're designed poorly, running parts out of spec, and/or are using fake components with grossly exaggerated claims that will most likely cause them to not work at all or fail prematurely, and possibly damage other equipment or you.  It's like buying counterfeit phone chargers at the flea market for $1 that electrocute you if the humidity in the room gets too high.

Buying authentic used equipment (test equipment, amps, etc.) from regular people on eBay is significantly less shady, and is more like buying on Craigslist, but with astronomical fees.  There's still the chance that something won't work correctly, but you're probably not going to get a knockoff/counterfeit item like you will if you buy a $1 new "50W" DC/DC converter, or $2 50-pack FTDI chips, etc.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 09:49:58 pm by suicidaleggroll »
 

Offline JohnnyBerg

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #30 on: February 12, 2015, 09:54:55 pm »
About eBay... eBay is a collection of independent sellers...
not exactly, eBay stores seem to be a step up from sellers requiring $ignificant investment and time (not one man ops, typically). A bad reputation would blow that away...  That brings us full circle then, to the original store question...  so I there's only one? - tayda2009

As said, look at some video's of Julian llet, he gets a lot of stuff from good ebayers like Alice and the Good and Cheap Supermarket and others.
He also has a mailbag section ..
 

Offline rdl

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #31 on: February 12, 2015, 10:34:18 pm »
For Digikey - shipping from MN to WA by first class mail is only a few dollars as long as the total weight is less than 8 oz. - which for electronics components it usually is.  Digikey ships very fast and only takes 2-3 days to get to me in Western WA.
...

Shipping by First Class Package is very cheap and usually pretty speedy, about the same as Priority Mail. I'm pretty sure the weight limit is now 13 oz. with a 3 oz. minimum charge. I've shipped a lot of stuff by First Class, most falls under the 3 oz. minimum, I think the last time it was like $1.90 or so. Add 75 cents for packaging and it makes for some pretty cheap shipping.

This is one area I think Mouser comes up short, because they don't offer 1st Class Package as a shipping option.
 

Offline dannyf

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #32 on: February 12, 2015, 10:37:21 pm »
Quote
I would not trust ANY store on ebay for genuine components.

Agreed wholeheartedly. I think one's life is much happier if s/he expects less-than-genuine parts from ebay purchases.
================================
https://dannyelectronics.wordpress.com/
 

Offline kingofkya

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #33 on: February 12, 2015, 10:47:07 pm »
Just an fyi tayda2009 has a website.
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/


I have used em before but... be aware the capacitors are going to be chong/chang whatever crap and likely fake nichicon ones. Also almost all the transistors are no name brands or obsolete old stock so. But on the upside they ship really fast via dhl.


Quote
If you care about the quality and reliability of what you're buying and who you're buying it from, then get off of eBay.

OR if your making a public project and want to see how bad quality for something can go.
 
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 10:49:53 pm by kingofkya »
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #34 on: February 12, 2015, 11:01:45 pm »
I've had a lot of success buying from Chinese suppliers on eBay recently. Did I get a couple things that were crap?  Of course. But things like headers, connectors, motors have all been good. I've been buying the Arduino Pro Mini clones for $2.50 ea. Every single one has been good. As far as I can tell the uCs have are legit.

I use these parts to have on the shelf for prototyping. For that purpose. I'm very happy. Would  I use these channels for production units?  No. But I might well source stuff through Alibaba for production.

Other good parts on the cheap have been the standard through hole microswitches. 100% quality. And even better, they put out perfect square waves with no discernible contact bounce. I could have paid 5-10x through Mouser or Digikey, but why?

Things that have been bad have been due to faulty design of the PCB/schematic. That doesn't matter much to me since the price of a stuffed board plus a sensor is so much less than the same sensor as bought from a domestic supplier.

Would I buy ICs, caps, transistors, etc and expect to get good quality? Of course not. Just use common sense, buy samples before you buy bulk, and you will save a ton of money.

I have found the well-rated Chinese suppliers to be extremely reliable. Just read the reviews. The good ones are not hard to find. Just keep in mind you'll largely get what you pay for, sometimes better, and it's all fair enough.

And lastly, the only eBay sellers I've had real issues with were *Americans*. 

(I am American, so I get to point that out.)


 

Offline Cliff MatthewsTopic starter

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #35 on: February 13, 2015, 02:14:04 am »
I did a bit of reading and found a buyer with some experience:
http://www.sciencetronics.com/greenphotons/?page_id=855

(those behind filtered internet can view it in the PDF attached..)

« Last Edit: February 13, 2015, 02:19:25 am by Cliff Matthews »
 

Offline Cliff MatthewsTopic starter

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #36 on: February 13, 2015, 03:10:33 am »
A site called "The Find" has a way to get parts (many links to eBay sellers). Try these searches:
http://www.thefind.com/hardware/info-2n3055-power-transistor
http://www.thefind.com/search?query=lm555
http://www.thefind.com/search?query=2n3904
or a personal fave...
http://www.thefind.com/search?query=LM350k+steel
Would you think the lowest price is a knock off?

I digressed a bit... let's see what linked list we can summon in a few more days. Any more seller/store's worthy of mention? or shame?
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #37 on: February 13, 2015, 03:59:32 am »
For Digikey - shipping from MN to WA by first class mail is only a few dollars as long as the total weight is less than 8 oz. - which for electronics components it usually is.  Digikey ships very fast and only takes 2-3 days to get to me in Western WA.
...

Shipping by First Class Package is very cheap and usually pretty speedy, about the same as Priority Mail. I'm pretty sure the weight limit is now 13 oz. with a 3 oz. minimum charge. I've shipped a lot of stuff by First Class, most falls under the 3 oz. minimum, I think the last time it was like $1.90 or so. Add 75 cents for packaging and it makes for some pretty cheap shipping.

This is one area I think Mouser comes up short, because they don't offer 1st Class Package as a shipping option.
minimum First Class Parcel is currently $1.93 (unless you are shipping thousands of identical packages each day). That rate is about to go up in April to (IIRC) $2.04. Those are commercial rates. People shipping over the counter at the post office will pay a bit more.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 

Offline edavid

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #38 on: February 13, 2015, 04:12:18 am »
http://www.thefind.com/search?query=LM350k+steel
Would you think the lowest price is a knock off?

No, Alltronics is an old time surplus dealer.   The photo shows an 87 date code, which is probably when they got the parts.
 

Offline Rick Law

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #39 on: February 13, 2015, 06:43:25 am »
I haven't heard anything bad about Tayda, and in fact they are often recommended. Why not deal with them direct? I take every opportunity to avoid giving money to eBay.

http://www.taydaelectronics.com/

Well, I will say something bad about them... their customer service is non-existent... they just ignore email.  I would still order from them, but they are not any better than a random eBay seller.

Tayda

It could be an off day (for them) or I am lucky.  On one of my order, I had ordered two precision OpAmps and one came DOA.  I contacted them on their site, I received a reply very quickly (next business day, 12 hours difference means same day he/she got the email.)  A short exchange to verify my side of the story and I was credit via store credit exceeding the cost of the OpAmp for my trouble.  I was very pleased with how quickly they responded and how professional they handled it.

Their inventory is small.  But for their low price and quick response, they are my go-to guy for things.  If they don't have it, (stuff beyond typical voltage regs, op amps, pin-headers...) I will hunt eBay/Mouser...

eBay

eBay is like stores in any city.  Some stores are good, some stores are horrible, and most are in between.  $ makes the world go round.  The better eBay sellers are more expensive.  It would be as inappropriate to try to put all the stores in say San Francisco into a same group.

As you get to know the sellers, you will form your own "go-to" guys on eBay.  Bare in mind however:  I understand eBay sellers sell their ID as well.  I suppose if something like Waldorf Astoria can change hands, why can't eBay seller ID change hands.

As for my experience with eBay overall, a mixed bag.  Most are average no thrill experiences.  Some very good and some very bad.  I have more excellent experiences than I have horrible ones.  I have had problems before, but most got resolve rather reasonably.

It is a matter of expectation.  eBay is like flee market / cat street like thing.  It is not the same as shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue or Tiffany.  It is someone sitting at a "virtual table" with all his stuff, you come, you see, you paid, you leave, you try, you fix, you joy or you cry.

Mostly, it is with exaggerated capabilities.  So scale that expectation.  300 lumens?  Let see how much others are charging for a 300 lumens led...  do the research.

With the right expectation, horrible experiences would be limited.  I think my "disappointing transactions" is a small percentage of my total transaction dollars.  Just to put on a perspective what I meant "horrible":  Thus far, this are the top two worst, so I made out pretty good so far:

> One "close out" sale, $29.00 for a 3.5" 2TB drive.  Ordered one, thinking about ordering more but decided against it since this was a seller I have not buy from before.  My reservation was correct.  A few days later, item was marked as shipped.  Click on it, the seller is defunct.  A few weeks later, I got a small envelop (still unopened today) with what feels like a stick of chewing gum folded to the size of a stamp.

> once I won a very low bid.  I was give a story about out of stock.  I was refunded but not full!  The shipping was not refunded and of course being "out of stock" there was nothing shipped to begin with, I got $2.10 back out $3, I think.  I am annoyed at myself.  I got the dealers a mixed up and mistakenly given them a good review.  I was unable to change the review.

I did not include those times when I simply got suckered.  They were selling something that I didn't know I could have got it cheaper elsewhere - like 1/2 the price.  I got careless and thought it was something else.  (Damn it, I didn't know they have single-pack!  I have always brought and only seen box of 4 in them... )  That is personal stupidity/carelessness, I can't blame the store on that.

Good luck - never submit a big order on the first go!  Buy one little things, then more little things until you get a level of comfort.  Take good notes.  Note the bankcard creditor name. that will give you more info on if this one is selling under different hands.

Rick
« Last Edit: February 13, 2015, 06:48:22 am by Rick Law »
 

Offline Cliff MatthewsTopic starter

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #40 on: February 13, 2015, 02:10:20 pm »
...Bare in mind however:  I understand eBay sellers sell their ID as well...
Rick Law, nice overview sir! That part about the chewing gum - how sad.. 
At least they had to spend some coin sending it.

But do you ever get tempted to open it for maybe, sad stories or apologies?
 

Offline rdl

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #41 on: February 13, 2015, 03:09:47 pm »
I think the last time it was like $1.90 or so.
minimum First Class Parcel is currently $1.93 (unless you are shipping thousands of identical packages each day).

Yes, that's what I said. I do almost always ship through eBay though, so that probably is the commercial rate, even though for me it's only a single package and not thousands.

I checked pricing at USPS.com and a 3 oz. 1st class parcel is $2.32, 13 oz. is $4.12,  so $1.93 is a pretty decent discount vs. the price at the post office.
 

Offline Rick Law

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #42 on: February 13, 2015, 08:44:14 pm »
...Bare in mind however:  I understand eBay sellers sell their ID as well...
Rick Law, nice overview sir! That part about the chewing gum - how sad.. 
At least they had to spend some coin sending it.

But do you ever get tempted to open it for maybe, sad stories or apologies?

Tempted to open it, yes.  But I left that intact to remind myself the truism: "When a deal is too good to be true, it is!"  When the going price for a 3.5" 2TB drive was $150, $29 buy-it-now was too good to be true.

The seller went defunct before I received the stuff so there was no avenue to follow.  It was (if I recall) before paypal has purchase protection and ePacket, and it was between Christmas and New Year.  I think the site was set up to catch the Christmas purchases.

They even send it with tracking number - I suppose so they can for as long as possible claim "we shipped the stuff."  But a 3.5" HDD is a good bit bigger than the size of a stamp and wont fit in a small envelop.  So each time I am temped to just click-buy on a super great deal, I just feel the bump in that envelop between my figures and that cools my heel.  It feels like the gummy toy out of a bubble gum machine, hence the folded stick of chewing gum description came to mind.
 

Offline Bryan

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #43 on: February 14, 2015, 12:13:07 pm »
Hey all, a first post here regarding parts acquisition:
While looking for a new version of the $15 AVR LCR component checker, I stumbled upon this supplier:
http://stores.ebay.com/Tayda2009

For one-stop shopping on Ebay, who do you trust (recently) when ordering low-cost components?


Not the greatest selection of parts, but good service, prices and Canadian so you can save on shipping. I have used them quite a bit.

http://www.dipmicro.com/store/
-=Bryan=-
 

Offline Cliff MatthewsTopic starter

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #44 on: February 14, 2015, 11:05:29 pm »
Not the greatest selection of parts, but good service, prices and Canadian so you can save on shipping. I have used them quite a bit.

http://www.dipmicro.com/store/
Thanks! I think I'll visit and spend a few hundred loonies (they're about 90 minutes from me).
The store location in Niagara Falls, is it well stocked?
 

Offline jarrodhroberson

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #45 on: February 19, 2015, 08:39:05 pm »
I have no idea where everyone gets this $1 shipping rates.

10 ATtiny85 DIP8 $12 of parts, the shipping offered is out of line.
 

Offline ion54

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #46 on: February 19, 2015, 08:58:20 pm »
Cliff, I'm in Canada too and ordered parts from Tayda multiple times. Cannot comment on the IC and transistors, but got knobs, pots, resistors, some crystals, switches, etc. All shipments were very fast, less than 2 weeks, and parts were decent quality. I would buy from Digikey or Mouser or Element 14 when the cost is about $200 and then the sipping is free, but buying parts for $10 and paying $8 for shipping does not work for me.
 

Offline rdl

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #47 on: February 19, 2015, 09:17:17 pm »
And Newark charges State Sales Tax also (if you're in the US).

The Priority Mail looks about right, but the rest are ridiculous. Especially when you consider that those could ship via First Class Parcel and their cost would be under $2.50

I have no idea where everyone gets this $1 shipping rates.

10 ATtiny85 DIP8 $12 of parts, the shipping offered is out of line.
 

Offline Jeroi

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #48 on: February 19, 2015, 09:44:55 pm »
I have done fairly lot protoboards with ebay sellers that sell old stock and usually you can see from the chip that date code there is several years ago but that does not matter much in prototypes because you want cheap parts and look the part costs in distributors later on when board goes to main production. Thing is just order 10times more to be sure that single one works out of the batch because usually you can buy 10 for single or so when dealing with ebay sellers. My smd parts has been what they say, usually 1% resistor are within 1% tolerance and smd Tantalums have been there also but when board goes to production, you need to have trust worthe dealer that can supply ALOT parts and ebay sellers can't do that and are not trust worthy businesses.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2015, 09:48:06 pm by Jeroi »
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: Getting parts - Any trustable Ebay stores?
« Reply #49 on: February 19, 2015, 11:59:14 pm »
I'm thinking that most of the big-name supply houses look at First Class as an unacceptable ship method. The recent package I received from DigiKey could have been sent First Class, other than the tacky flux required a cold pack. This time of year, they might have gotten by without it, but for the serious buyers, that's the norm. The box they used was over 50% material used for void fill.

The $5.61 is a curious number, as it appears on none of me USPS rate charts. I wonder how they came up with that.
And Newark charges State Sales Tax also (if you're in the US).

The Priority Mail looks about right, but the rest are ridiculous. Especially when you consider that those could ship via First Class Parcel and their cost would be under $2.50

I have no idea where everyone gets this $1 shipping rates.

10 ATtiny85 DIP8 $12 of parts, the shipping offered is out of line.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 


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