Where do others here order components? Awkward experience with Digi-Key

[EPAIII]

I will have to question your statement that you doubt that they make a profit from the shipping charge. While I have not worked at a company with the volume of shipping that DigiKey has, my last employer had a moderate amount of packages going out almost every day. We are talking about a company of about 75 people overall and around 200 packages on a heavy day. So, nothing like DigiKey. But their packages were similar in size and weight. They got really good discounts on the shipping rates. In fact, their shipping department had a scale and printer from three different freight companies and they bid against each other for the business.

I can only imagine what kind of steep discounts that a company like DigiKey gets. And probably free lunches for the head of shipping.

I can understand that packaging and handling also costs money, but even there, my former employer had stacks of envelopes and boxes from all of those shippers, including the USPS.

In short, I suspect that DigiKey does make a profit on the shipping charges. And on a small order, it may even be more than the profit on the parts which are often priced down to the thousandth of a cent per part.

Maybe they are playing the shipping game.  Say they have a million in stock then after the order is placed say they are back ordered so they can charge for shipping a second time.  If they messed up the web site then maybe they got desperate and need the extra income.

I really don't think DK makes its profit from loading shipping expenses.  You do have the option of deleting backordered items before submitting your order.  As for the present case, DK admitted its error and made the buyer "whole."

[EPAIII]

This free shipping is easy to understand if you have ever looked into getting set up to accept credit card payments. I have and it was a real eye opener! The credit card company hits the merchant with a percentage charge for every dollar/cent of the amount charged. Oh, and there is a monthly charge too. Ever wonder how the credit card companies can offer rebates of 1%, 1.5%, even 5% on certain purchases? It is simple, they charge the merchants that much AND MORE. So the merchants are forced to incorporate those rebates in their prices. And you and I PAY for those rebates weather we actually get them or not. Even WalMart has to include these fees in their prices. And the grocery stores too. And gas stations. Everyone who accepts credit (or probably debit) cards for payment.

This is one reason why places like Amazon and WalMart can offer their web sites for small merchants to sell their wares. They have the credit card payment system set up and those small merchants pay them as much as or even more than the credit card companies would.

It is also one reason why companies like Amazon and WalMart come out with THEIR OWN credit cards. That way they can keep the "AND MORE" part of that percentage. And, for them, it is millions of dollars.

In my mind the choice is like this:

1. Pay with the credit card and get the 1.5% cash back but pay the shipping charges. And get faster delivery. And if there is a problem with the order, the credit card company will be on your side. Don't laugh, I have had many charges reversed by credit card companies.

OR

2. Pay with a check and get the free shipping. But the delivery is going to be a week or more. And no protection against fraud.

If I wasn't in a hurry, I would compare the shipping charge against the rebate.

Digi-Key offers free shipping (US and Canada) if you mail them a check or money order.

See this post which includes links to the mail-in order form...

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/digi-key-has-changed-and-it-is-not-very-good/msg3273588/#msg3273588

I recently ordered four capacitors.  I made sure that the items I ordered were in stock and were not marketplace items.  I used the D-K shopping cart to ensure I had the correct D-K part numbers and to see what the sales tax and tariff charges were and then transcribed this info onto the paper order form, popped it in the mail with my check and had the parts delivered free via USPS within a week.  The order form allows you to choose if substitutions or backorders are acceptable and you can request shipping confirmation/tracking via email.

[MrAl]

Maybe they are playing the shipping game.  Say they have a million in stock then after the order is placed say they are back ordered so they can charge for shipping a second time.  If they messed up the web site then maybe they got desperate and need the extra income.

I really don't think DK makes its profit from loading shipping expenses.  You do have the option of deleting backordered items before submitting your order.  As for the present case, DK admitted its error and made the buyer "whole."

Well what you think and what you can prove are two different things.

I am not saying that all companies play cash games like this, but from my personal experience with some companies either they are trying to bring in extra cash or they are very very very stupid about how their sales mechanisms work.

You dont know how many times i was handed the "Oh this is the first time this has ever happened" excuse.  Yeah right, they been in business for 15 years and this is the first time something that could be very common came up.  I used to believe stuff like that all the time when i was younger, not anymore.  How long has DK been in business, i think it's been at least 20 years now, and they dont recognize any problem?

I cant say for sure if DK is doing anything 'unethical', but it's been my experience over many years that some companies do not know the word exists.  It may come as a shipping charge or other charge.  Best bet is to check everything and if you were in the purchasing department you would be responsible for the order going smoothly not the place you buy from and your job could depend on it, not anyone at the company you buy from.

So check and recheck is the order of the day.  If you dont want to do that, then expect some unforeseen problems in the future  :-)

I should note that i never had a problem with DK but i always check everything before anything ships.  I have had a problem with Jameco though, a place from which i bought parts for some 40 years.  They pulled the same shipping game on me as the original poster in this thread experienced.  I called them and complained and got the extra charge removed.
Another problem with BG Micro.  They blamed the problem on the mouse's "mouse wheel" used on the site, causing a higher shipping charge.  I liked the heavily discounted parts prices i got from them but after i complained they stopped sending me catalogs in the mail, which i liked to get.

I dont blame companies too harshly for these problem though i blame the price of real estate as i was saying before.  When people buy something new, they pay the full price, when they buy used, they pay less.  When they buy a house however, they pay maximum price even though it's used, and it is almost always more than what they payed for it.  So over hears with people buying an selling houses, eventually something has to give and it comes in the form of a problem with the economy.  This isnt just in the country of origin either, it eventually effects the entire world and especially hits hard on the less fortunate countries that had little to begin with.  It's a very sad state of affairs that no government official has ever dealt with that i know of.

Comical note:
I think BG Micro is no longer around.  I guess their shipping game did not work (just kidding here ha ha).
I really liked them for the most part, got tons of parts from them over the years with no problems sorry to see them gone.

[RubyRhod]

I prefer Mouser but DK seems to have some of the more obscure or esoteric parts that I want.  But, when it comes to passive components like 1% resistors, etc., I have found that Amazon (made in China of course) is hands down the better bargain and the parts quality and tolerance seem to be fine.  I paid almost $10 for nine resistors at Mouser and paid a hair under ten for over a thousand from Amazon.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

[cellularmitosis]

I use DigiKey, but also Tayda Electronics sometimes as a [limited] alternative.

I’ve also had good experiences with Tayda.  In particular they seem to be the best cheap resistor option, the leads are not thin steel like the cheapies on eBay.

They mostly just carry jelly bean part numbers, but this can be an advantage for beginners (less overwhelming part selection), and when starting a new project I like to see if I can make the BOM “Tayda compatible” by limiting myself to parts which they stock.

[EPAIII]

I had a phone call earlier today from Mouser.

I had ordered about 35 of an analog IC from them. Their web site said only 22 were available and the remainder would be back ordered for over a year. But that is not the point and the long lead time is not their fault, at least not completely theirs.

The call was about an e-mail that their automated system had sent to my old e-mail address and which bounced back. They were calling to check on that address. I gave them the new e-mail and thanked them for the call.

This shows that they do care about small orders from individuals who do not buy tens of thousands of dollars of parts every month or year. I doubt that I have spent $1000 with them in any of the past 10 years or over $500 in that whole 10 year period. I think some of the suspicions being voiced here are a bit too pessimistic.

So I guess it's one more vote for Mouser over DK. But I often price my orders on both of them and sometimes from others like Newark and Jameco. I do not like "no name" internet sources.

[thm_w]

Maybe they are playing the shipping game.  Say they have a million in stock then after the order is placed say they are back ordered so they can charge for shipping a second time.  If they messed up the web site then maybe they got desperate and need the extra income.

I really don't think DK makes its profit from loading shipping expenses.  You do have the option of deleting backordered items before submitting your order.  As for the present case, DK admitted its error and made the buyer "whole."

Well what you think and what you can prove are two different things.

Its seven dollars dude.. digikey is NOT making money off of that 

Digikey clearly makes their money from their huge mark ups on low volume purchases. Look at the cost of buying five capacitors vs 5,000:

- 5 caps at 27 cents = $1.35
- 5,000 caps at 4.49c each, 5 = 22c

They are blatantly telling you right on the pricing page that they make $1.13 if you purchase 5 caps. Thats a 500% markup.
Of course this is ignoring packaging costs, their true cost, labor, etc. but you should start to get the idea at this point.

[MrAl]

Maybe they are playing the shipping game.  Say they have a million in stock then after the order is placed say they are back ordered so they can charge for shipping a second time.  If they messed up the web site then maybe they got desperate and need the extra income.

I really don't think DK makes its profit from loading shipping expenses.  You do have the option of deleting backordered items before submitting your order.  As for the present case, DK admitted its error and made the buyer "whole."

Well what you think and what you can prove are two different things.

Its seven dollars dude.. digikey is NOT making money off of that 

Digikey clearly makes their money from their huge mark ups on low volume purchases. Look at the cost of buying five capacitors vs 5,000:

- 5 caps at 27 cents = $1.35
- 5,000 caps at 4.49c each, 5 = 22c

They are blatantly telling you right on the pricing page that they make $1.13 if you purchase 5 caps. Thats a 500% markup.
Of course this is ignoring packaging costs, their true cost, labor, etc. but you should start to get the idea at this point.

I am not sure why you think that is 'proof', but whatever you have to tell yourself.  So i guess i have to add an addendum to my previous comment which i will repeat for completeness here...
What you think and what you can prove are two different things.
What you think is proof and what actually is proof are two different things.
I can add more if you dont feel that is adequate enough yet :-)

If 1.13 really is a 500 percent markup, then 7.00 is a 3097 percent markup, on top of that 500 percent markup.

But really i have a lot of experience buying parts not only for my own personal use but when i designed stuff i had to convince the purchasing dept to order them.  We had some interesting discussions.

But hey think what you want, do what you want, just dont blame anyone else for anything.

[IDEngineer]

I'll chime in here, as I have literally decades of experience with most of these vendors.

Early in my career I favored Mouser because they originated "in the next town over" from where I lived and I could drive there to pick up parts. This was back when they published a paper catalog!

Later I started ordering from DigiKey. Someone mentioned the "-ND" on the part numbers... this dates from a very long time ago when they offered certain discounts, but depending upon your quantities and/or other conditions you would add the suffix -ND ("No Discount") to the part number to control which type of order you were placing. That's long since gone away but for some reason they still use the -ND.

My present observations between the two distributors:

* Mouser often carries more obscure parts, and often has stock when DigiKey does not.

* DigiKey has a better search system. Most critically, you can sort ascending/descending on any parameter which is INCREDIBLY useful for a whole variety of reasons. Mouser's search system pales in comparison, to the point that I often use DigiKey to select parts and then simply plug in the resulting part numbers to Mouser - skipping the latter's search system entirely. It's that useless.

* DigiKey ships much, MUCH faster than Mouser these days. Pre-COVID I could order parts up to 8P Central Time and they'd ship same day. If I ordered 2nd Day Air I'd often have them the next day. Even USPS First Class mail got here in 2-3 days. Order on Friday, ship USPS (which moves over the weekend), and I could have a small package on Monday for a few dollars in shipping costs. Meanwhile, Mouser's shipping is... unpredictable. Your package might leave by the next day, or maybe in a few days. I've never discerned a pattern to it. Mouser orders always arrive, but not on any sort of schedule.

* Both distributors are very good to work with in terms of customer service. In the heat of COVID their customer service folks were working from home and I got to "know" a few at each shop. When we were in dire need of something they would prioritize us a bit to keep our lines running (a service I did NOT abuse). They are always willing to share expected arrival dates (which have become less reliable in the last two years) and work with me to sort out challenges.

* As far as I can recall, Mouser has never made a mistake on an order. That's a remarkable statement considering the volume they handle. DigiKey is almost perfect, but I can remember exactly two times over the decades that they've made mistakes. One was shipping too many of a part, the other was including something we hadn't ordered. Note they never shorted us anything. In both cases we called to report the error and asked how they'd like to handle it since it was their loss, and in both cases they thanked us for being honest and told us to just keep the parts - it wasn't worth the shipping, paperwork, and restocking labor to receive them back.

Bottom line: I generally hit DigiKey's website first, if only for their vastly superior search system and predictable shipping. But Mouser gets a lot of our business too. For that matter, so do Allied and a bunch of smaller, more obscure shops worldwide. We try to support the overall infrastructure by spreading around our business a bit. But it usually starts at DigiKey.

Wall of Shame Dishonorable Mention: We've done a bit of business with Farnell but seek to avoid them in the future. Just too many "dropped" orders. This got significantly worse during COVID. I understand that was a tough period for many businesses but nobody treated us like Farnell. We STILL have some MCU's on order with them, 12+ months past their due date, that were shown as IN STOCK when we placed the order. My own personal opinion is that they were advertising everything they had, got too many orders, and self-allocated them across multiple customers without saying anything. Then the backorders... just... sat. Honestly, I'd rather be told right up front that we're not getting any/some because at least we can start contingency planning ASAP. By leaving us hanging, our Production folks don't realize they're not getting parts until it's too late to save the schedule because of lead times for replacements. Very aggravating.

[T3sl4co1l]

Hmm, want to say I've received incorrect parts from Mouser before -- but it's been a long time.  I think both are in the 3-sigma sort of range, which is kinda par for the course for retail, and low enough that you can go quite a while without seeing mistakes -- or indeed any.

Tim

[MrAl]

Hmm, want to say I've received incorrect parts from Mouser before -- but it's been a long time.  I think both are in the 3-sigma sort of range, which is kinda par for the course for retail, and low enough that you can go quite a while without seeing mistakes -- or indeed any.

Tim

I have to agree we cant be TOO hard on them they do pretty good most of the time.  That's most distributers.
As to getting samples though, I asked National for 4 "F" type TTL chips some time ago for a high speed clock to be used in an acquisition board.  They sent me 3, and told me if i wanted more i'd have to buy a lot of them in one order.  That held the project up for a while.

[floobydust]

Digi-Key is not giving any guidance on shipment dates, which is beyond frustrating. Is it in a month or two, or 20 months? WHEN?
Recently needed jellybean cube relays, Mouser had stock but nothing at Digi-Key.
Although Mouser has some problem with Fed-Ex shipments to Canada, they are not at all streamlined and it typically takes 4-5 days, always some hold up in Memphis.
Digi-Key is superior for shipping time, if they had the stock.

[james_s]

One issue I've had with Mouser is they often use inaccurate photos of the parts, so you really have to make sure to pay attention to the parametric table and datasheet. With digikey you can usually buy a pot or switch and the shaft and mounting style will match what's in the photo. Yeah you should always study the parametric table but after using primarily digikey it's easy to forget.

[T3sl4co1l]

One issue I've had with Mouser is they often use inaccurate photos of the parts, so you really have to make sure to pay attention to the parametric table and datasheet. With digikey you can usually buy a pot or switch and the shaft and mounting style will match what's in the photo. Yeah you should always study the parametric table but after using primarily digikey it's easy to forget.

I once got inverse-burned(!) on that:

Had to sub a Copal S-1011A for a one of these,
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/nkk-switches/FR01FR16H-06XL/2104084
According to the datasheets...... it didn't seem like there was an equivalent, and I was going to have to live with the assembler complaining about the pins not matching.  They'll have to bend them to fit or something.

Boards came in. They're fine. The switch has a fat ass just like the picture shows.

Hmm.

Message the manufacturer.  The -06XL is an undocumented custom part code which happens to have this extra row spacing.  Turns out it is a perfect sub.

They just don't put it in the datasheet.

I guess judging by the price as well, they don't want people to buy this part, anyway.  But not documenting it correctly sure "helps" in that regard...

But yeah, in any case, turns out with this particular part, the picture is more authoritative than the datasheet(!).

---

Interestingly, LCSC has extensive photography -- I assume they take them themselves, never using mfg/datasheet supplied graphics.  Probably a good idea, considering how spotty the sources can be in their neck of the woods.

Tim