Farnell

[urbis]

I'm UK based and don't have a Farnell account.

What's their shipping charges generally? Their site's hard to navigate but I'm only wanting a single £4 item and assume it could get expensive!

Cheers.

[8086]

http://uk.farnell.com/help-delivery-information/?ICID=glo-pro-2

[mariush]

Note that they have a custom site for UK and Ireland for more "retail" or small orders... fewer items but if I remember correctly cheaper shipping options: http://cpc.farnell.com/

I may be wrong, so double check it.

I buy from them often and the shipping costs are about 4 euro no matter how much or little I order and I'm fine with it, considering I get the packages in 2-3 days at my door.

[tom66]

If you pay by card (the only other option is to open a credit  account), the minimum order is £20 (last I used it.) Try to get your parts from CPC, if possible: they have a good stock of most common ICs and SMD resistors/caps/etc. £5 min order & free postage.

[alanb]

Some of their product are available from http://cpc.farnell.com/ and last time I ordered from there, there was no minimum order or delivery charge. 

[urbis]

I live close to CPC, but unfortunately they don't have the part I need.

[bookaboo]

You can often get the same parts at CPC for less and they have lower threshold for free P&P.
I find them a little slower 2-3 days for CPC whereas Farnell are 99% reliable to be next day with UPS.

I've also found Farnell are willing to negotiate on larger orders these days.

[Ericho]

Shipping is free in Belgium except for items out of the US stock (25$ and no returns) I have an account with VAT number thou

[Wilksey]

Min order £20 without account, still only free over £20 with an account.

Try RS (Trade Counter) or Maplin, might be more "cost effective" or Ebay!

[Monkeh]

CPC have a £10 minimum order (it was £5 a while ago, no minimum before that..). Farnell are £20 (+ VAT) without a credit account. Delivery at both thresholds is free.

[Kjelt]

Here it is €50.- minimum, so I often just order 10 pieces and a lot of other stuff I sometime might need. It is a shame but since the shipping is free and they use courier service I can not blame them.
If you have a business it is a different ballgame, order what you want no minimumand free shipping.

[bookaboo]

I long for the good old days when both RS and Farnell would happily ship you a £0.25 component with free next day UPS delivery. I actually wonder why it took them so long to stop that practice but it was nice while it lasted.

[22swg]

I guess I have got used to Farnell web site , usually find what I require , minimum order £20 don't forget then + vat  , usually super fast free delivery here in UK  ( I have an account and pay by creditcard )
Its annoying that i complete an order, then remember I need something else straight after... so now I try to keep a ' Next Oreder' list . Farnells ' Now in stock' email notification is very good .

Sort of comparing apples and Oranges...

Farnell I give them 9/10
RS                      5/10
Maplin                 3/10
Rapid                  8/10
HobbyTronics       9/10
Cool Components 7/10 
 

[SteveyG]

It's annoying that Farnell and CPC have different stock, and you often end up needed bits from both. It's worse than Amazon where you need to buy random stationary to get free shipping.

CPC and Farnell operate as completely separate companies, have a different consumer base, have completely separate stock and warehouses etc. They are just owned by the same parent company, so no more annoying than having to order from RS or Rapid as well. 

[Kjelt]

I forgot, only thing really bothering me with Farnell is that for private persons they only sell what is in stock that day.
So I once did an order for 120 pieces of product X, they had only 89 in stock so they billed me 89 pieces and I had to re-order another time when X was in stock again.
Ofcourse due to the €50 limit that is not such a nice practice, esp. when product X costs 0,05 or something and you really need that other 31 pieces 

Within our company, totally other experience, they ship no matter what the limit is and give you the lowest price, so you can order 1 time product X for 0,05 and get UPS delivery next day, ofcourse this will not be done much but still.

[Monkeh]

I forgot, only thing really bothering me with Farnell is that for private persons they only sell what is in stock that day.
So I once did an order for 120 pieces of product X, they had only 89 in stock so they billed me 89 pieces and I had to re-order another time when X was in stock again.
Ofcourse due to the €50 limit that is not such a nice practice, esp. when product X costs 0,05 or something and you really need that other 31 pieces 

Not an issue with the UK branch. They've overnighted me single diodes as they came into stock in the past.

[Tepe]

I forgot, only thing really bothering me with Farnell is that for private persons they only sell what is in stock that day.

Still better than here, where they don't sell to private persons at all.

[Kjelt]

Not an issue with the UK branch. They've overnighted me single diodes as they came into stock in the past.

And what I really really don't understand is those warehouses. I ordered 70 connectors and got three packages from three different countries, where one package from Germany contained only two connectors. Oh well they must have a superdeal with those couriers otherwise they would already be bankrupt.

[tom66]

Whilst CPC had £5 minimum orders, I'd frequently receive a large cardboard box with two air packs in it, and two printed invoices, with the useful contents being two reels of solder braid worth about £6 in total.

[cosmicray]

Of the last 5 order I've placed, the one with the largest box to contents ratio was DigiKey. The items inside would have survived pretty much anything the shippers could throw at them. That is both a good and a bad thing, as it inflates the shipping costs, but massively protects the contents.

When I placed the original online order I was unimpressed that the shopping cart could not quote an accurate shipping cost when I committed to the order. Next time I'm sending a check.

[JohnnyBerg]

Of the last 5 order I've placed, the one with the largest box to contents ratio was DigiKey. The items inside would have survived pretty much anything the shippers could throw at them. That is both a good and a bad thing, as it inflates the shipping costs, but massively protects the contents.

I wonder if the business model that Farnell and many others have, will hold in the future. Export transport from China is havely subsidised.

[Kjelt]

I wonder if the business model that Farnell and many others have, will hold in the future. Export transport from China is havely subsidised.

As long as the transport from China to Europe or US is not within one day AND the chinese can not guarantee their components origin for 100% no business will switch.
And it is safe to say that the real big businesses that order $10k a week with them are the only customers they make a profit of.

[dannyf]

no business will switch.

Generally true but may not be that absolute: i thought the US DoD complained that some chinese fake parts made their way into some military products -> think about the traceability requirements there and ask how that could have happened,

I think it is better to assume for the worst, in case you are positively surprised.

[JohnnyBerg]

As long as the transport from China to Europe or US is not within one day AND the chinese can not guarantee their components origin for 100% no business will switch.

I see some of the big EBay sellers (like Sainsmart) setup pre custom warehouses in Berlin and Amsterdam.

[Kjelt]

I see some of the big EBay sellers (like Sainsmart) setup pre custom warehouses in Berlin and Amsterdam.

That would help with the shipping time but not with the shipping costs. AFAIK the chinese government subsidizes the chinese transporters (boats/plains) to europe and us not the foreign transporters (UPS / DHL etc.) so the shipping inside of europe shall cost them the same as the other european distributors.