DigiKey bait-and-switch "scam"

[1276-2449-1-ND]

I've run into an issue using DigiKey the past few months.

Parts that are backordered no longer show up as backordered on the product listing page, but only when they're in the cart. And even then they state that the order will ship a few days out (around exactly 1 week.)

However, after making payment if you check the status of the order the shipping date is now pushed back to the backorder date. In one case an order was pushed to several months beyond the published backorder date, implying that even some of their published backorder dates are fake.

At first I thought it was just a mistake, but now after speaking with their sales team I think it's done deliberately to avoid losing sales due to the current long backorder times.

These sorts of shenanigans from a supposedly reputable distributor is borderline unethical if not outright scammy. This is something I expect from someone on AliExpress, not DigiKey FFS.

These fake DigiKey backorders have caused serious problems for us because we took DigiKey at their word and now we can't build the product we're supposed to right now. Had they just used the real backorder dates (and stopped trying to hide them) this could have been easily managed and planned around.

DigiKey has dropped considerably in trustworthiness. How long until they start looking for "alternative sources" for their out of stock products -- if they haven't already?

[48X24X48X]

This happened to me last month. On the product page and checkout page shown available units around 29K units. After order placed, it showed they have none in stock. Then it back ordered to end of January. I had to buy from Element-14 as I needed to assemble board now and not end of January.

[asmi]

Yea, I had a bad experience just yesterday too. The shopping cart no longer showed that some items were on a backorder, but the Android app did show them as such when I was trying to place an order.
But then it got worse - it switched the cart into "USD" mode, and even after removing the backordered items and adding an equivalent items which were in stock, apparently there is no way to switch the cart back into "CAD" mode. And even lady at DK phone support wasn't able to help me with that. The only way around it was to export current cart into Excel file, then create a brand new empty cart and add all items into it. The reason the mode is important is that it has implications for delivery mode - for USD orders they deliver using CPT terms (meaning taxes and duties are due on delivery), for CAD orders it's DDP (all taxes and duties are prepaid).
That thing really left a bad taste after all was said and done, and that is yet another reason to switch to different distributor. Up until that moment they were super-reliable, I can't remember there being a single issue in all years that I was working with them, but looks like that is changing now. Will see how it goes - I'm willing to give them a benefit of a doubt for now, but if something like that will happen again, I will have to look elsewhere.

[Rat_Patrol]

An issue with how you ordered it?

Say you ordered a cut strip or Digi Reel but they only had full reels available (maybe they keep that separate, I don't know)?

Not sure, I switched to Mouser after 4 orders in a row from DigiKey didn't ship the same day, putting me back a day of work. Mouser has been very consistent in getting orders out on time.

[asmi]

Not sure, I switched to Mouser after 4 orders in a row from DigiKey didn't ship the same day, putting me back a day of work. Mouser has been very consistent in getting orders out on time.

Well Mouser wasn't flawless either. One time my order got stuck because apparently they required some documents from vendor of one of the parts for export, and they couldn't get hold of anyone for a few days - and Mouser didn't bother contacting me to let me know what's going on until I called them to find out what's up with the order. Another time they shipped me somebody else's order together with mine (got it RMA'ed few days later as it took them some days to issue an RMA label) - so that I mentally imagined myself being on the other side of such transaction while ordering some low-stock items and didn't like that image a single bit. Also Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them - so part of the blame can go to Fedex for not paying attention to what's on a label like size and weight being different from the actual package.
But at least they don't play BS games with stock levels.

[Rat_Patrol]

Neither/none are flawless.

I've had to bounce back and fourth when one was OOS on a component. I'd likely use Digi Key more if they weren't 2 day ground to me. Mouser is also 2 day, but Digi Key is geographically close to me, just outside the 1 day shipping time.

My last Mouser order they missed shipping the same day. No problem, the upgraded to  NDA to get it to me on time. Great. UPS dropped the ball on that package (of course...), and delivered a day late anyway. At least Mouser did what they could do; nobody could have predicted UPS mis-sorting the package.

[SilverSolder]

[...] Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them[...]

If the two packages were picked up at the same location, the computers would probably just assume the operator scanned the same package bar code twice...

[phil from seattle]

[...] Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them[...]

If the two packages were picked up at the same location, the computers would probably just assume the operator scanned the same package bar code twice...

In my small business, it is trivially easy to reprint a label.  It was probably a simple mistake as it is not worth cheating at this level to save a couple of bucks.  Especially given the low likelihood of 2 packages shipping to the same location. Probably not worth putting the effort into preventing that kind of fraud, either.

I've used both DigiKey and Mouser but prefer Mouser.

[Bud]

[...] Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them[...]

If the two packages were picked up at the same location, the computers would probably just assume the operator scanned the same package bar code twice...

If a shipment is a multi-packaged they go with the same shipping label. At least that was the case some years ago with UPS when i shipped.

[JohnnyMalaria]

[...] Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them[...]

If the two packages were picked up at the same location, the computers would probably just assume the operator scanned the same package bar code twice...

If a shipment is a multi-packaged they go with the same shipping label. At least that was the case some years ago with UPS when i shipped.

That was my experience with FedEx a few months ago, too.

[wraper]

If a shipment is a multi-packaged they go with the same shipping label. At least that was the case some years ago with UPS when i shipped.

It's not the same label. Multi-piece shipment will have different labels, even if there is common tracking number for all of them.

[E-Design]

Can somebody cite some digikey part numbers as examples to show them. They do listen to feedback, Id like to submit this to them. If enough people complain, they may stop this. But we need exact examples.

[NorthGuy]

But then it got worse - it switched the cart into "USD" mode, and even after removing the backordered items and adding an equivalent items which were in stock, apparently there is no way to switch the cart back into "CAD" mode.

I also had troubles recently switching from CAD to USD. They had the best web site, miles ahead of others. Most importantly, there were no bugs. But then they started re-designing it and it got much worse, more difficult to use, and somewhat buggy. I have no idea why they're doing this.

At the same time Mouser is getting better - more things in stock, better CAD prices. I still prefer DigiKey, but this is mostly reminiscences from the past.

Delivering is falling apart too. I placed an order with DigiKey on Dec 22, and it only arrived today. But this is certainly FedEx's fault - DigiKey shipped it right away. DHL is taking weeks lately ...

[thinkfat]

Delivering is falling apart too. I placed an order with DigiKey on Dec 22, and it only arrived today. But this is certainly FedEx's fault - DigiKey shipped it right away. DHL is taking weeks lately ...

Well that at least is not a surprise. Carriers have been swamped with online orders as most people were obeying stay-at-home orders and doinc christmas shopping online instead of hitting the mall.

[asmi]

Well that at least is not a surprise. Carriers have been swamped with online orders as most people were obeying stay-at-home orders and doinc christmas shopping online instead of hitting the mall.

Actually it is surprising. I've placed orders with Mouser and DK on Dec 21st, and received the former on Dec 23rd, and the latter on Dec 22nd. Also placed another order with DK yesterday, and today it's already in my hands. So I didn't notice much delays - Mouser orders typically show up the next biz day, so the one I made on 21st was a day late, but this did happen on occasions before too, so not too surprising either. DK was right on the money for both orders - once I actually managed to place the order that is.
Same can be said of DHL - I had two PCB orders delivered to me - one right before xmas, and another one yesterday - both arrived few days before their own estimated times.

[NorthGuy]

I've placed orders with Mouser and DK on Dec 21st, and received the former on Dec 23rd, and the latter on Dec 22nd.

That's my mistake. I looked at a wrong tracking number. The DigiKey shipment was ordered and sent on Dec 28. On Dec 22, there was a different FedEx shipment, completely unrelated to DigiKey.

[pisoiu]

Same here with Digikey. Ordered some devboards, all in stock, paid, received order confirmation, again with all items on stock.
Few days later, I received shipping notice with invoice, one item on backorder.

[48X24X48X]

I had a chat with their online service just now because my order in December with back ordered items supposed to ship on 29 January and suddenly changed to 15 January. But, even as of today it didn't go out. Then they said "I'm sorry, it seems to be overdue. I will initiate a delivery in formation request or DIR to try to get more information". Then, I mentioned my part was in stock when ordered, paid and in fact 29K was in stock (I ordered 1K for a full reel). I even mentioned it is not me alone experiencing this now and this is what they responded "The website shows real time as close as we can. We do have thousands of orders going out at the same time". I was just too lazy to further entertain them after that. It can't be too coincidence for so many people experiencing this.

[Siwastaja]

Same here with Digikey. Ordered some devboards, all in stock, paid, received order confirmation, again with all items on stock.
Few days later, I received shipping notice with invoice, one item on backorder.

Literally the absolute #1 reason I completely ditched Farnell and went for Digikey for good was this shit Farnell was doing. I have zero tolerance for playing such games. Yes, I understand sometimes this can happen because,
1) they can't reserve the parts while in shopping basket; someone may have shopped just the same parts in the split second between checking the cart status, and clicking checkout,
2) sometimes inventory error (human error) happens.

But neither explains this happening all the time.

So I just ditch the supplier for good when they start doing this on a regular basis.

[pisoiu]

Well, I cannot say that I had very bad experiences with Farnell. Their prices are not too good but otherwise it was ok.
On your #1, there is a solution and TME uses it. The moment you press 'buy' for one item, the displayed qty drops with the ordered amount, it becomes reserved for you. If you do not finish the order in a certain amount of time, usually until the next day, all items in cart are released.
#2, yes, that happens everywhere but usually with the last few items or reels. The item which was backordered in my case was a devboard and they had quite a few on stock, over 10-20 pcs.
Otoh I had with Digikey another situation some time ago, more specifically with their free shipping. I ordered something like 5k pcs of hammond plastic boxes, which of course qualified for free shipping. After I paid, I received a notice that the free shipping will be around 600 usd. I understand that a pack of 5k boxes can be quite heavy and huge compared with a reel with ICs having the same value, but nowhere on their terms and conditions was stated such situation. During further dialogues I asked them how can I estimate the shipping if a similar situation will arise. They said to place the order and see because it cannot be determined before.

[Jester]

The same thing happened to me last week, part showed stock and now back ordered until February. Something is definitely no5 quite right at Digi-Key

[Siwastaja]

It happened to me with Farnell during the timeframe of about 2015-2016, at that point I stopped using them completely.

My average order was maybe 50 lines out of which about 5 on average went from good stock numbers to zero immediately after clicking checkout. This happened many, many times. Once I suspected this trickery beforehand so looked at the stock numbers every day for maybe a week before ordering, completely stable, not a popular part, stock isn't going down, and relatively high number (hundreds). Then it dropped to zero during the split second of clicking checkout. 99.99% sure it isn't because of someone buying the parts at the same time. Inventory error can explain some of the instance but it was too common so I suspected foul play.

[Mangozac]

Inventory error can explain some of the instance but it was too common so I suspected foul play.

Regardless of foul play I would have stopped using them simply due to frustration!

[olkipukki]

Exactly, around 80% orders have been cancelled for last 4-5 weeks (and went to another dists) after listen their dumb excuses such as "stock qty error" or "we sent you email, but you didn't response" etc.
My DK rule of thumb today - if they cannot ship on the next business day, cancel an order straight away and don't waste too much time

On positive side, they do not charge up front (yet) and don't need to deal with refunds (yet) 

[Dave8266]

I couldn't say that any of them are "fishy", but I've been shocked how many otherwise normal components have gone from stocks of tens of thousands, to nearly zero, in a matter of days lately.
Are large companies doing arbitrary "lifetime buys" to mitigate the supply chain shortages?  Is this the pandemic toilet paper situation, but in electronics?   

[wraper]

Is this the pandemic toilet paper situation, but in electronics?   

Toilet paper temporary shortage was artificially caused by idiots. Component shortage is real.

[gnuarm]

[...] Fedex didn't seem to mind shipping two packages with exact same labels on them[...]

If the two packages were picked up at the same location, the computers would probably just assume the operator scanned the same package bar code twice...

If a shipment is a multi-packaged they go with the same shipping label. At least that was the case some years ago with UPS when i shipped.

I don't use UPS because they are too problematic.  But I was dropping off a multibox shipment once with Fedex and they would not accept my packages because I had the same label on all three boxes.  I couldn't get the software to work right and thought it was ok to use the same label, but they have no way to track the shipment if they all have the same barcodes, so they don't do that.  Even if the shipment has multiple packages, they each get a separate barcode and label.

[gnuarm]

Well that at least is not a surprise. Carriers have been swamped with online orders as most people were obeying stay-at-home orders and doinc christmas shopping online instead of hitting the mall.

Actually it is surprising. I've placed orders with Mouser and DK on Dec 21st, and received the former on Dec 23rd, and the latter on Dec 22nd. Also placed another order with DK yesterday, and today it's already in my hands. So I didn't notice much delays - Mouser orders typically show up the next biz day, so the one I made on 21st was a day late, but this did happen on occasions before too, so not too surprising either. DK was right on the money for both orders - once I actually managed to place the order that is.
Same can be said of DHL - I had two PCB orders delivered to me - one right before xmas, and another one yesterday - both arrived few days before their own estimated times.

I believe it was with Digikey I've selected USPS Priority mail and got the package in two days when it otherwise would be four days with either UPS or Fedex ground.  Seems Digikey is in a tiny corner of Minn that shipments are routed through North Dakota.  I've even received shipments from California in two days using Priority mail.  It's also the cheapest way to ship.  Don't know how it is fairing with the pandemic and such. 

[gnuarm]

Is this the pandemic toilet paper situation, but in electronics?   

Toilet paper temporary shortage was artificially caused by idiots. Component shortage is real.

I like that when people respond to uncertainty by taking precautions they are referred to as "idiots".  Yes, when word circulates that there may be shortages people are more likely to buy that item than not.  Given the supply chain that has little flexibility the result are persisting shortages.  This is not the result of "idiots".  It is the result of people trying to cover their "assets". 

A couple of years ago there was a shortage of 0603 passives.  While I watched lead times stretch out most everything I needed was hard to come by but available.  One part on my BOM was down to a single stocked brand.  I bought a reel at a somewhat inflated price creating more price pressure.  Was I an idiot? 

I've not heard much about the current semiconductor shortage, but there are reports of auto makers shutting down factories for a month or so, which says it is very real.  Not sure why though.  I haven't heard anything about the cause.  Are the semiconductor companies not making enough due to the pandemic? 

[Siwastaja]

I like that when people respond to uncertainty by taking precautions they are referred to as "idiots".  Yes, when word circulates that there may be shortages people are more likely to buy that item than not.  Given the supply chain that has little flexibility the result are persisting shortages.  This is not the result of "idiots".  It is the result of people trying to cover their "assets". 

Non-idiots such as myself stockpiled a rational amount of balanced variety of important assets you can't easily replace with something else. Forward-looking ones, such as myself, did this over extended period of time to reduce the sudden stress on the supply chain.

Idiots stockpiled two years worth of toilet paper in one day, and only one-two weeks worth of food.

[KE5FX]

I've run into an issue using DigiKey the past few months.

Parts that are backordered no longer show up as backordered on the product listing page, but only when they're in the cart.

What I've seen is that out-of-stock parts show zero availability on the product listing page as expected, but you can no longer see the expected in-stock date without adding it to your cart, at which point you have to remove it manually before looking elsewhere.  Apparently DigiKey thinks that they will get more business by annoying their customers and impeding their workflow.

The CEO of Mouser should send a handwritten thank-you note to DigiKey's management, accompanied by a nice gift card for Olive Garden or Arby's or whatever is considered gourmet dining in Thief River Falls, MN.    Between this and the other changes to the site, DigiKey is in the process of destroying decades of customer goodwill.

[wraper]

Is this the pandemic toilet paper situation, but in electronics?   

Toilet paper temporary shortage was artificially caused by idiots. Component shortage is real.

I like that when people respond to uncertainty by taking precautions they are referred to as "idiots".  Yes, when word circulates that there may be shortages people are more likely to buy that item than not.  Given the supply chain that has little flexibility the result are persisting shortages.  This is not the result of "idiots".  It is the result of people trying to cover their "assets". 

It's exactly being idiots. There was no real shortage in manufacturing. And you can shit without a toilet paper too, people have done it for thousands of years. As Siwastaja said, what's the point of acquiring yearly supply of toilet paper, if you will be dead without food by then.

[thinkfat]

But they were also hoarding food. We had a shortage of Pesto, Pasta, flour, sugar, canned meat, rice etc. Over many weeks in March, April and well into May.

[wraper]

They look like idiots for me:

[gnuarm]

I like that when people respond to uncertainty by taking precautions they are referred to as "idiots".  Yes, when word circulates that there may be shortages people are more likely to buy that item than not.  Given the supply chain that has little flexibility the result are persisting shortages.  This is not the result of "idiots".  It is the result of people trying to cover their "assets". 

Non-idiots such as myself stockpiled a rational amount of balanced variety of important assets you can't easily replace with something else. Forward-looking ones, such as myself, did this over extended period of time to reduce the sudden stress on the supply chain.

Idiots stockpiled two years worth of toilet paper in one day, and only one-two weeks worth of food.

It doesn't matter if you gradually stockpile.  If you understand the supply system is a constant current source even a 1% increase in demand by EVERYONE will quickly deplete the local inventory (filtering capacitors). 

The "idiots" you describe stockpile a bunch at once and then don't buy any more for some time while you continue to deplete the system.  At the end of your depletion period it has the same impact on the system. 

What people fail to understand is the power supply does not have much compliance.  Scott is not going to build a new toilet paper factory overnight if at all.  That's also why it is so bad for manufacturers when there is a drop in demand.  They end up with manufacturing resources they have to shut down.

I happen to have lucked out on the TP front.  I bought the mega pack at Costco and happen to have something like a couple of years worth on hand.  That's 1.5 packs!  I never realized just how much toilet paper that was.  It's the kind of thing you don't think about until you can't get it.

I normally would shop every week for groceries.  Now I buy enough to last 3 weeks or more.  I run into limits on how much I can buy which is a bad thing in my book.  I'm not hoarding, I'm just trying to avoid going out any more than I need to.  That's a good thing.

[gnuarm]

But they were also hoarding food. We had a shortage of Pesto, Pasta, flour, sugar, canned meat, rice etc. Over many weeks in March, April and well into May.

Again, that is not from hoarding.  Many of those things were simply because the supply rate is a constant and the demand peaked, not because of hoarding, but because people were at home and started baking.  A sudden spurt in making bread meant yeast was in short supply.  Hoard yeast?  Doesn't work because it expires. 

I've got a 20 lb bag of rice I've never opened.  Maybe I should sell it on the black market.

[SilverSolder]

[...]
I normally would shop every week for groceries.  Now I buy enough to last 3 weeks or more. [...]

Are you getting your fresh fruit & vegetables from somewhere else?

[Bud]

They look like idiots for me:

How's that different from the usual scenes during Black Friday sales that happen every year? 

[wraper]

How's that different from the usual scenes during Black Friday sales that happen every year?

As if they are not created by idiots as well.

[SilverSolder]

How's that different from the usual scenes during Black Friday sales that happen every year?

As if they are not created by idiots as well.

You know the old saying:  think how dumb the average person is...   and half of them are even dumber! 

[Siwastaja]

I think the average person is actually quite OK!

It's same in the traffic. Most drive just fine, and for that reason, are not observed by others who also drive just fine. Yet the one who crawls in the middle of the road blocking the traffic is the one who's being observed.

It's just that when we see idiotic behavior, our brain tricks us into thinking it's what majority is doing, because that's what we are seeing, it's a kind of selection or sampling bias. In fact, it's just that certain idiotic behavior just sticks out; it's so visible, and yet at the same time, sensible and rational behavior mostly goes unnoticed. This gives the rational people a superiority bias.

It's enough if 1% of the customers shop 2 years worth of toilet paper in one week to cause temporary shortage because the supply chain has been carefully tuned for average consumption. Yet this 1% do not represent average person.

But supply chain can respond to changes, it's not a constant current source. There are many layers all of which have some level of feedback and feedforward available. For example, wheat flour can be, and actually is stored in large amounts; the actual production of wheat isn't a constant current source to begin with. If pasta consumption goes up, plants manufacturing it (from wheat flour) can well respond within a few weeks because it's a simple process. Overall, people don't suddenly start eating more, so yearly consumption is not changed, and long-term wheat storage has no problem supplying the increased demand, because it will be followed with decreased demand when the people are staying home and eating the supplies they stockpiled exactly in the way they planned to, and not buying more. This is all really simple and people are actually behaving surprisingly rationally, avoiding unnecessary shopping when there is a good reason to avoid it.

[SilverSolder]

I think the average person is actually quite OK!

It's same in the traffic. Most drive just fine, and for that reason, are not observed by others who also drive just fine. Yet the one who crawls in the middle of the road blocking the traffic is the one who's being observed.

It's just that when we see idiotic behavior, our brain tricks us into thinking it's what majority is doing, because that's what we are seeing, it's a kind of selection or sampling bias. In fact, it's just that certain idiotic behavior just sticks out; it's so visible, and yet at the same time, sensible and rational behavior mostly goes unnoticed. This gives the rational people a superiority bias.

It's enough if 1% of the customers shop 2 years worth of toilet paper in one week to cause temporary shortage because the supply chain has been carefully tuned for average consumption. Yet this 1% do not represent average person.

But supply chain can respond to changes, it's not a constant current source. There are many layers all of which have some level of feedback and feedforward available. For example, wheat flour can be, and actually is stored in large amounts; the actual production of wheat isn't a constant current source to begin with. If pasta consumption goes up, plants manufacturing it (from wheat flour) can well respond within a few weeks because it's a simple process. Overall, people don't suddenly start eating more, so yearly consumption is not changed, and long-term wheat storage has no problem supplying the increased demand, because it will be followed with decreased demand when the people are staying home and eating the supplies they stockpiled exactly in the way they planned to, and not buying more. This is all really simple and people are actually behaving surprisingly rationally, avoiding unnecessary shopping when there is a good reason to avoid it.

Many of these problems are caused by "just in time" deliveries and minimizing inventories -  i.e. the power supply filter capacitors are as small as possible, so expect some ripple under heavy load! 

E.g. only now - 9 months after Covid became a "thing" - is it possible to buy isopropyl alcohol at the local drug stores / pharmacies...  they only have room for 18 bottles on their shelf, which is re-supplied every few days.  They never changed the amount of space allocated to it despite demand being crazy for months and months, causing them to sell out 5 minutes after a delivery...

[NorthGuy]

If a person predicted a stock market boom (which is nothing more than increased demand for stocks) and bought ahead of the others, he is considered a market guru, a genius of a kind.

If a person predicted toilet paper shortages (which is nothing more than increased demand for toilet paper) and bought ahead of the others, he is considered an idiot.

There's a contradiction here.

[wraper]

If a person predicted toilet paper shortages (which is nothing more than increased demand for toilet paper) and bought ahead of the others, he is considered an idiot.

Person did not predict anything, and especially not ahead of time. Just rushed in stores with a bunch of similar lunatics, bought some product this stupid heard randomly selected and then caused stock to temporary deplete. I can effing do the same, go into store, buy all of the sugar they have, and they will be out of stock for some time. Then say I predicted that would happen . And sit on a pile of it for decades.
This shit happened before covid, one time there was some rumor on social networks that salt will go away because of some EU directives, idiots started buying salt like mad. There was one grandma who stored so much salt into her attic, that it collapsed into her bedroom and nearly killed her. The same happened with buckwheat, dumbasess bought tons of it at hiked prices (stores know their shit) even though barely eat it.

[NorthGuy]

I can effing do the same, go into store, buy all of the sugar they have, and they will be out of stock for some time. Then say I predicted that would happen . And sit on a pile of it for decades.

Sure. People do this all the time. Except they don't buy physical sugar, but future contracts, and, of course they sell as the price goes higher. The richest banks in the world make most of their profit by manipulating futures, options, other derivatives.

[tooki]

This shit happened before covid, one time there was some rumor on social networks that salt will go away because of some EU directives, idiots started buying salt like mad. There was one grandma who stored so much salt into her attic, that it collapsed into her bedroom and nearly killed her.

  what was she planning for, to pickle herself in salt like a mummy?

Fun fact: the USGS says that the expected lifetime supply of salt for a newborn today is about 28,200lbs (13,000kg) of salt. But of course, the vast majority of that will be for industrial use as a raw ingredient, not as food!

[Siwastaja]

Sell the toilet paper, making profit in the process -> from idiot to genius. Or just an opportunist. But non-idiot, in any case.

This is all logical. You're considered a non-idiot or even genius if you do something that benefits at the very least yourself, or someone else, or in best case, everyone. Stock market players at least try to make a profit, that's the whole point.

Stockpiling properly requires quite some logical thinking. If you never normally stockpile, you are immediately going outside of your automated comfort zone and can't do it properly by instinct alone. You need to be well aware about what you actually use and how much and how often, and how that relates to the expiration dates of products. Also if you expect to be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem, you need to be able to make some realistic predictions early on.

[Alti]

It is a dynamical system whose state can become fluctuating in a response to actors' actions.
I really doubt those actions are irrational from actor's point of view. These are based on information available and built-in demand model (mainly life experience). If you run out of supply, expect losses. Does not matter here if that is TP or DDR4. I would not call someone an idiot even if the action was based on mass distributed false information, gossip or propaganda.

So if the distribution system is organized this way (free market + open information flow) then simply correlated actions of actors lead to fluctuations (and generate various additional costs, fights in the shop, stockpiling, anxiety).

I would say that an idiot is the one who expects this system of distribution to be unconditionally stable.

[wraper]

I would not call someone an idiot even if the action was based on mass distributed false information, gossip or propaganda.

If someone is lacking brain to think on it's own, it's called idiot.

[cdev]

In finance, they call it "systemic risk". Maybe websites list components like banks sometimes claim they have liquid assets that are actually tied up.

Is this the pandemic toilet paper situation, but in electronics?   

Toilet paper temporary shortage was artificially caused by idiots. Component shortage is real.

[mcj7247]

I'm losing faith in Digikey. I placed an order of about 100 parts and none were backordered. (I did have my cart open for about a week). When I placed the final order I never saw any request to hold it or to approve a second shipment or any notice that anything was backordered. I received my original order and then 2 days later I get an email stating my backordered parts are on the way....and with another $7.99 shipping charge for (2) 0.50 cent caps! So far no response from Digikey via email to customer service. Very disappointing. 

[SilverSolder]

I'm losing faith in Digikey. I placed an order of about 100 parts and none were backordered. (I did have my cart open for about a week). When I placed the final order I never saw any request to hold it or to approve a second shipment or any notice that anything was backordered. I received my original order and then 2 days later I get an email stating my backordered parts are on the way....and with another $7.99 shipping charge for (2) 0.50 cent caps! So far no response from Digikey via email to customer service. Very disappointing. 

Digikey needs a "Fill or Kill" order type, just like the markets! 

[NorthGuy]

Digikey needs a "Fill or Kill" order type, just like the markets! 

Limit orders would be useful too 

[1276-2449-1-ND]

UPDATE:

I ordered the ICs directly from MicroChip back when Digikey didn't come through, even though they were backordered to April, and then September. But I just got them delivered today. It was funny too because there were just 50 QFP ICs ordered, but they were put on a humongous 13" reel that won't even come close to fitting on our PNP machine.

As to why we don't order a bajillion parts to keep in stock -- we do for common parts. Expensive specialty ICs such as this one ($5 per IC) are ordered as we need them. Too large of an inventory of expensive items is a waste of capital and makes the books look bad. I would prefer to order these things a dozen at a time as we need them from someone like DigiKey even though they're more expensive so our money isn't tied up in stock that won't be used for a year or two.

This IC wasn't just out of stock at Digikey, but everywhere. I went around to every distributor and bought up all their remaining stock to fill some orders in January. It was only something like 15 ICs, but I felt like a bit of a douche for depriving some hobbiests of touchscreen controllers.

[NorthGuy]

Microchipdirect are excellent. They always send full-length tubes. I like them very much. But they're not as fast as DigiKey - it usually takes them about a week to ship in-stock items, then several days to arrive from Thailand. DigiKey ship immediately. Since this thread appeared, I placed several orders with DigiKey (for in-stock items). They shipped all orders the same day I haven't experienced any delays or backordering.

[1276-2449-1-ND]

And no duties either or BS "import brokerage fees" -- a pleasant surprise.

[SilverSolder]

Microchipdirect are excellent. They always send full-length tubes. I like them very much. But they're not as fast as DigiKey - it usually takes them about a week to ship in-stock items, then several days to arrive from Thailand. DigiKey ship immediately. Since this thread appeared, I placed several orders with DigiKey (for in-stock items). They shipped all orders the same day I haven't experienced any delays or backordering.

Placed Digikey order this morning, already showing as shipped.  That's one thing they definitely get right.

[phil from seattle]

Microchipdirect are excellent. They always send full-length tubes. I like them very much. But they're not as fast as DigiKey - it usually takes them about a week to ship in-stock items, then several days to arrive from Thailand. DigiKey ship immediately. Since this thread appeared, I placed several orders with DigiKey (for in-stock items). They shipped all orders the same day I haven't experienced any delays or backordering.

Placed Digikey order this morning, already showing as shipped.  That's one thing they definitely get right.

I am sticking with Mouser.  Had a Digikey order I placed on 2/27, supposedly shipped on 3/6 though not actually picked up by UPS until 3/9. Scheduled to get here 3/12.  Mouser, even with a resend of the package (long story, they messed up the order) took 1 week to Digikey's 2.  And for basically the same parts, all listed as in stock.

[SilverSolder]

Funny how everyone's experiences are so different with the same companies...

I think there is a Digikey warehouse nearby, I sometimes get stuff the next day even with USPS (not after Covid, though).

I order from both Mouser and Digikey, and other suppliers too - it all depends on who has what I need!

[tooki]

Funny how everyone's experiences are so different with the same companies...

I think there is a Digikey warehouse nearby, I sometimes get stuff the next day even with USPS (not after Covid, though).

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

[NorthGuy]

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

I often get FedEx shipments from DigiKey originating from Winnipeg, MB.

[SilverSolder]

Funny how everyone's experiences are so different with the same companies...

I think there is a Digikey warehouse nearby, I sometimes get stuff the next day even with USPS (not after Covid, though).

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

Ah, I didn't know that.  Looks like the postal service out of Minnesota is quite good.  Must be all those Scandinavians! 

[gnuarm]

Funny how everyone's experiences are so different with the same companies...

I think there is a Digikey warehouse nearby, I sometimes get stuff the next day even with USPS (not after Covid, though).

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

Ah, I didn't know that.  Looks like the postal service out of Minnesota is quite good.  Must be all those Scandinavians! 

You joke, but UPS and FedEx ground takes 4 days to reach the DC area because it is routed through North Dakota.  The rest of the state reaches us in 3 days.  Priority mail is 2 days and saves some bucks! 

[Styno]

Regarding Click-and-switch ... we urgently need radio modules that are hit by the global silicon shortages. None of the official distributors has them in stock and we were relieved when the RS Components website showed them as 'in stock'. So we ordered several hundred and a day later the order information says 'Shipped'. Two weeks later we try to ask: where's our stuff? They do not answer the phone, their online Chat bot is never available and days later they respond by email: we have no stock, we didn't send you anything, the info our website is not to be trusted. Sorry for the inconvenience. 



So now we ordered via some 'hoarder' at 5x the usual price...

[gnuarm]

...RS Components website showed them as 'in stock'. ...days later they respond by email: we have no stock, we didn't send you anything, the info our website is not to be trusted. ...

That says so much!  Then on top of that they don't answer the phone!

[tooki]

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

I often get FedEx shipments from DigiKey originating from Winnipeg, MB.

Perhaps bulk routed through there, but definitely not (physically) originating there.

[tooki]

Funny how everyone's experiences are so different with the same companies...

I think there is a Digikey warehouse nearby, I sometimes get stuff the next day even with USPS (not after Covid, though).

Unless you live in rural Minnesota, there isn't: Digi-Key runs one, and only one, warehouse for the entire world.

Ah, I didn't know that.  Looks like the postal service out of Minnesota is quite good.  Must be all those Scandinavians! 

It’s actually primarily UPS. Digi-Key runs its own in-house UPS pre-sorting facility. As best I can tell, they pretty much deliver ready-to-load air freight containers to UPS. It’s so damned efficient, if I order here in Switzerland on a Wednesday evening, it will reliably arrive by Friday midday!

[SilverSolder]

I often use plain snail mail from Digikey (to various places in NE USA) as it seems to arrive in 1-2 days normally (pre-Covid).

Maybe things are different now.

I placed an order for some very ordinary parts with Digikey on Wednesday that still hasn't made it out of the "Submitted" state on their site. 

Meanwhile, Osh Park is cooking on gas - they delivered my PCB order after 10 days, all inclusive.  For small projects at least, they seem competitive with JLCPCB.  Sadly, no parts to solder onto them! 

[NorthGuy]

I often use plain snail mail from Digikey (to various places in NE USA) as it seems to arrive in 1-2 days normally (pre-Covid).

DigiKey doesn't even offer snail mail to Canada - free FedEx on all orders over $100. Takes only two days even to my remote location.

[drussell]

I often get FedEx shipments from DigiKey originating from Winnipeg, MB.

Perhaps bulk routed through there, but definitely not (physically) originating there.

Indeed.

It clears customs in Winnipeg but everything from Digikey actually originates from their warehouse(s) in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

Many things that clear using bulk, third-party customs clearing systems will show as originating from somewhere here in Canada, because that's where the Canadian side of the courier picks it up from, after the packages have been sent into the country in a larger load and customs cleared.

I ordered some headers and a Super Coil from Summit Racing last week (came from an Ohio warehouse) which didn't show up in FedEx's tracking until it was picked up as "originating" in Woodbridge, Ontario.  This is very common with larger volume sellers that have their own customs-clearing arrangements.

(As an aside, FedEx did a nice job once in Canada, they weren't supposed to show up until yesterday but they showed up on Saturday, the driver said they've got a backlog so were offering extra Saturday shifts to do bonus deliveries...    Worked out great, was able to drop them off at the local ceramic coating shop yesterday.)

[Bud]

Indeed.

It clears customs in Winnipeg but everything from Digikey actually originates from their warehouse(s) in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

How was it possible though a few years back, when Digikey shipped with Purolator in Canada, that I placed orders at 7:30 pm and got it delivered next morning at 9am?  And that INCLUDED the Purolator truck driving around the neighbourhood before coming to my house. I recall Purolator trucks left the receiving facility at 7 AM.  Less then 12 hours from submitting the order till the truck leaving for delivery ? Shipped from Texas?

[drussell]

How was it possible though a few years back, when Digikey shipped with Purolator in Canada, that I placed orders at 7:30 pm and got it delivered next morning at 9am?  And that INCLUDED the Purolator truck driving around the neighbourhood before coming to my house. I recall Purolator trucks left the receiving facility at 7 AM.  Less then 12 hours from submitting the order till the truck leaving for delivery ? Shipped from Texas?

I always still get things the next morning...  I've even ordered past cutoff at about 9pm here and it's come the next morning, both when they used Purolator and now with FedEx.  It's not coming from Texas...  It comes via air from Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Winnipeg where it clears customs, then on via air again from Winnipeg to Calgary, then gets sorted and loaded on a truck at the FedEx depot here and shows up at my home or office a few hours later whenever the truck comes by the area.

I've had Digikey orders show up in less than 12 hours from when I placed the order.

[jmw]

I placed an order for some very ordinary parts with Digikey on Wednesday that still hasn't made it out of the "Submitted" state on their site. 

Same - order from Thursday still in submitted. One edge for Digikey is their economy shipping is regular USPS, which is a dependable 2-3 days to the west coast for regular mail. Mouser uses UPS mail innovations which is highly variable and several days slower on average.

[phil from seattle]

I placed an order for some very ordinary parts with Digikey on Wednesday that still hasn't made it out of the "Submitted" state on their site. 

Same - order from Thursday still in submitted. One edge for Digikey is their economy shipping is regular USPS, which is a dependable 2-3 days to the west coast for regular mail. Mouser uses UPS mail innovations which is highly variable and several days slower on average.

Mouser used to have $3.99 1st class shipping for under 1 lb.  That was great - cheap and fast.  But no more.  Sigh.

[da075]

same here. placed an order last week and still showing as "submitted", sent and email to inquire about the delay but it went unanswered.

[aheid]

I placed an order crom DigiKey sunday and was pleasantly surprised to find it on my doorstep here in Norway on Wednesday. Not a huge order but no whole reels or similar "easy pickings".

[ThomasRR]

Placed two orders in last 3 month, one of the quite important in terms of volume, and everything went just fine. Fast delivery and good service (even when I have to change the delivery address -to another country!- once one order was already sent)

[petters]

Same issue with Digikey, showed 1000+ stock for them to come back to me a week ago saying they just got new stock back in. Received my order today, 2 weeks later, to receive the wrong module model.... seems their entire stock system is shit in more ways than one.