What website to buy general components or tools in Europe?

[jtruc34]

I would like to hear your experience with different websites in term of prices, shipping and available choice.

It would be good for me to have a unique place to buy basic components (like resistors, capacitors, diodes, LED, transistors, no fancy IC) and tools like solder wire, pliera, flux pens or de soldering wick.

Thank you

[abraxa]

Since you appear to be in Switzerland, is customs an issue for you? After all, import duty may make ordering outside of Switzerland more expensive for you.

From my point of view, Reichelt may be worth a look for you if you don't mind ordering from Germany. They're a professional company, reasonably priced and the only issue I know of is that there's no guarantee that generic ICs are of good quality as they don't guarantee a brand. mikrocontroller.net has threads on this if I remember correctly, and also this:

https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/Elektronikversender
https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/Lokale_Elektroniklieferanten#Schweiz
https://www.mikrocontroller.net/articles/Eisenwarenversender

[jaromir]

By go-to EU supplier is tme.eu, located in Poland, though have offices in other EU countries too. I buy 95% of my components from them.

[EmmanuelFaure]

+1 for TME.

[bd139]

Another fan of TME here. Usually their orders arrive before local sellers here!

[RoGeorge]

Mouser
https://eu.mouser.com/

[JPortici]

i like TME but for tools we usually go with RS (as strange as it may sound, the RS branded scissors/pliers/whatever are very good)

[jtruc34]

Well, it is strange. Usually, I didn't pay EU VAT (19%) on Welectron because I live in Switzerland. But here on TME, I have to pay it. What happens?

EDIT: I'm stupid, I clicked on the strange botton "optimise" and it added an extra 50 euros (I think it "optimises" by adding extra components to have reduced prices). If I look at the TVA, it is 0%. Yeah!

[tooki]

I use Digi-Key and Reichelt from abroad, and Distrelec domestically. (And Pusterla in Zurich for retail, or Conrad in a pinch.) Mouser doesn’t do customs pre-clearance, Farnell won’t ship to CH at all for consumer sales. Not sure about TME.

Digi-Key, Reichelt, and Conrad all handle Swiss VAT and customs clearance, so no surprises. (In the case of Digi-Key, VAT is collected by UPS, but customs clearance is handled.)

[magic]

It would be good for me to have a unique place to buy basic components (like resistors, capacitors, diodes, LED, transistors, no fancy IC) and tools like solder wire, pliera, flux pens or de soldering wick.

For such things I would just look for some local shop or a domestic hobbyist-oriented online vendor. They tend to have better prices than professional distributors, at least in my experience in Poland.
I use TME for less common parts or when I need brand assurance and once used Mouser for really exotic parts.

[tooki]

Here in Switzerland, the hobbyist-oriented vendors (local shop, Conrad, etc) are much more expensive than the professional-oriented vendors. You’re paying top prices for ebay-level Chinese components, for the most part. (Only for resistors is the local shop actually quite competitive, for name brand.)