Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#61

Post by joezydeco » Wed, May 10, 2023, 8:55 PM UTC

codetrotter wrote: post #34

How do people on HN feel about Arrow Electronics? https://www.arrow.com/ I don't see any mention of them ITT yet. I've used them a bit in the past for a project I was involved with. They were not the cheapest but they seem pretty ok from my experience.

A few years back Arrow started a design/build consulting arm.

They'd come in for lunch-and-learn sales sessions bearing sandwiches and a friendly smile while quietly learning who our clients are and, eventually, stealing design wins away from us.

Fuck Arrow. Never going back.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#62

Post by konschubert » Wed, May 10, 2023, 8:55 PM UTC

Osiris wrote: post #58

nebula8804 wrote: post #2

Wow I am going through the same thing as the author right now. I recently placed an order with Mouser doing side by side comparison shopping with Digi-Key. The last time I used Mouser was 12 years ago in my college days. I thought hey they were good back then let me just compare the prices and Mouser came ahead this time due to the shipping cost. I am just ordering replacement capacitors for an old PC motherboard tha…

3 weeks? You would have gotten them faster directly from China and probably for a lot cheaper. The only reason for me to order from a US based company is faster shipping.

What's the best place to order form china?

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#63

Post by cool-RR » Wed, May 10, 2023, 8:56 PM UTC

MrFoof wrote: post #31

I’m still waiting after 7 weeks for a refund from Mouser. I ended up escalating to my business’s credit card issuer. Ordered a $120 cable in which both vendors had recommended. It wasn’t what was required, so sent it back as an RMA, in all the original packaging. Mouser refused to refund me, saying that there was a bag with my order number on it, and even though I sent back the original unopened product in its origin…

[flagged]

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#64

Post by themodelplumber » Wed, May 10, 2023, 8:56 PM UTC

Osiris wrote: post #58

nebula8804 wrote: post #2

Wow I am going through the same thing as the author right now. I recently placed an order with Mouser doing side by side comparison shopping with Digi-Key. The last time I used Mouser was 12 years ago in my college days. I thought hey they were good back then let me just compare the prices and Mouser came ahead this time due to the shipping cost. I am just ordering replacement capacitors for an old PC motherboard tha…

3 weeks? You would have gotten them faster directly from China and probably for a lot cheaper. The only reason for me to order from a US based company is faster shipping.

> The only reason for me to order from a US based company is faster shipping.

You don't see any service and support benefits? Component QA benefits?

(Relevant to your comment and general experience, not so much the specific company in the post...)

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#65

Post by 1970-01-01 » Wed, May 10, 2023, 8:58 PM UTC

FYI HN is a big fan of https://octopart.com/ for shopping your parts list.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#66

Post by JohnFen » Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:02 PM UTC

lnsru wrote: post #36

Mouser is another middle man, I keep trying buying from manufacturers directly. While some don't accept small quantities and others refer to their preferred retailers it's worth it. The big distributors are expensive. There is no big deal saving 1/4 not buying from Mouser. As a distributor Mouser's fine, all of my orders arrived as expected. On other hand shit happens from statistical view alone when Mouser processes…

I generally prefer eliminating middlemen as well, but a good middleman does actually bring additional value in many situations.

For instance, if I'm doing a project and need to order a bunch of different items for it, the convenience of doing it all in one place, with a company that will take care of me if/when something goes wrong with the order, can be well worth paying their markup.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#67

Post by MrBuddyCasino » Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

mailey wrote: post #33

alibarber wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Finland and it is consistently both cheaper and faster to order from DigiKey in the States than anywhere else I’ve tried in Europe (>$50 for free shipping). If I can’t get the part locally (and of course accept the markup for that) then I can have it in my hand in 48 hours from DigiKey. And yes they handle all the customs and tax and stuff for you at the checkout.

You can also use one of these suppliers: https://www.tme.eu https://www.reichelt.com/ although shipping can take from 2 to 7 days (despite the proximity)

Can confirm TME can be pretty good. Their selection is limited, but cheap and swift shipping.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#68

Post by riceart » Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

themodelplumber wrote: post #64

Osiris wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 weeks? You would have gotten them faster directly from China and probably for a lot cheaper. The only reason for me to order from a US based company is faster shipping.

> The only reason for me to order from a US based company is faster shipping. You don't see any service and support benefits? Component QA benefits? (Relevant to your comment and general experience, not so much the specific company in the post...)

> You don't see any service and support benefits?

Read TFA?

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#69

Post by ultrarunner » Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

codetrotter wrote: post #34

How do people on HN feel about Arrow Electronics? https://www.arrow.com/ I don't see any mention of them ITT yet. I've used them a bit in the past for a project I was involved with. They were not the cheapest but they seem pretty ok from my experience.

I was initially (pre-covid) thrilled at how quickly they shipped and found their pricing reasonable. Orders came in the "you ordered 10 but our smallest box holds 10,000" style of packaging. Then, seemingly everything I wanted was out of stock and never seemed to come back. I get the sense that they know what they're doing, but aren't really serving the prototyping crowd.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#70

Post by purpleidea » Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:06 PM UTC

I've had crazy bad problems dealing with them. I ordered a part ($20 ish + shipping) and long story short, their fraud system went crazy and decided it was a scam order or something and cancelled the order. No email notification, nothing. I only found out after calling and calling and eventual some higher up explained why the order was cancelled. I was waiting two weeks and it wasn't even processed!

This happened a second time with the same item, and then eventually they _finally_ shipped it on try #3. Go with someone else until they prioritize customer service.