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Hey, thanks for the feedback. As for ATMEGA328P-PU-ND, did you try using the optimization slider? :) Drag it all the way to its "Aggressive" setting, it will bump the quantity up to 25, and the total down to $48 - just like you said. As for package deals - you are right, this is what needs to be done. We're thinking about that.
Awesome, didn't see that before. Maybe turn it on by default, then have the option to back it off? Why is the quantity bump represented as an error with big warning signs? Shouldn't it be a good thing? Is there any way to represent shipping as well? That seems like the killer - sure something is $2 cheaper on Mouser than Digikey, but if I have to pay $5 for shipping, that breaks the deal. Something else that would be…
The quantity bump gets shown as a warning because at some extremes the optimizing algorithm may choose to increase the overall quantity even if it costs you more than at a lower optimization level. Lets say you picked $100 worth of MCUs, and it knows it can get 30% more MCUs for 10% of additional cost - it may go for it. In such cases we thought the user would like to know.
Unfortunately we have no way to calculate the shipping at present... but the generic parts locator is a great suggestion, we'll do it!