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

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#161

Post by platevoltage » Thu, May 11, 2023, 6:28 AM UTC

crooked-v wrote: post #60

JohnFen wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ever since, I look at what the pros use and buy those tools. One of the best pieces of business advice I ever got was to identify the core pieces of equipment that really impact the quality/efficiency of your work and go as high-end as you can afford on those. Then go as cheap as you can tolerate for everything else.

See also: Professional chefs with extremely expensive personal knife sets alongside basically disposable $8 tongs and $20 pans.

And for the car people, 1/4 inch Snap-On ratchet set, and Harbor Freight for the big stuff you don't use often.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#162

Post by alibarber » Thu, May 11, 2023, 8:02 AM 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)

I've had a reasonable experience with Reichelt but their shipping charges were high, and it still took longer than 48 hours to arrive (even if they dispatch on the same day)

For some reason DigiKey seem to have absolutely perfect timing with UPS, you can track it going state-to-state in the US, and then seamlessly to Germany and on to the connecting early morning flight to Finland (via Sweden).

Now I've said this I'm prepared to have my heart broken on my next order as it goes the long way round by ship or something ;)

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#163

Post by WalterBright » Thu, May 11, 2023, 8:31 AM UTC

trogdor wrote: post #156

WalterBright wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also watched an electrician do some wiring. He used a Milwaukee right angle drill to thread the wire through the studs. I bought one, and used it to do the low voltage wiring in my house.

What low voltage wiring do you have in your house?

Ethernet cables and coax cables.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#164

Post by fest » Thu, May 11, 2023, 9:45 AM UTC

fpgaminer wrote: post #113

fest wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lcsc.com. But keep in mind that their prices for Western companies ICs is often worse than DigiKey/Mouser. The passives and connectors are a lot cheaper.

I agree, the few times I've used LCSC it's been a perfectly fine experience. But LCSC parametric search is worse, and their product photos and data are often wrong. Mouser/etc have decent parametric search which, for me, makes them the best place to find parts. LCSC has so much garbage data, a bad UI, multiple languages, etc. When I need a cheap, china specific part I usually just have to resort to manually searching…

For certain parts, https://github.com/yaqwsx/jlcparts can be useful to find what you need quicker.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#165

Post by jimnotgym » Thu, May 11, 2023, 12:13 PM UTC

erremerre wrote: post #76

Trying to buy from either Mouser or Digikey from Europe is very misleading. They have European shops in European domain. But when you are going to pay. You get smashed with a ridiculous delivery price and the uncertainty of how much customs will charge you... Wish we had a good alternative rather than having to get components in ebay/aliexpress.

RS?

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#166

Post by mmac_ » Thu, May 11, 2023, 12:14 PM UTC

You can get a business account with Mouser/Digikey and then they just become another distributor. Your login gets discounted pricing (it's not much though) which is good for quick prototypes, and you can sometimes get an account manager to negotiate and troubleshoot directly.

I'm not sure how you qualify but you get to the point where you just RFQ to an email address and don't use the webpage. You don't need to be a $million+ purchasing outfit. They'll also schedule orders etc. at least I've seen Mouser do it.

Mouser is quite good on automated notifications - most importantly if anything in your order has changed (99% of the time it's a delivery date). Most of the other distributors do manual back orders in excel.

But their website is filled with annoying quirks. Here's such a basic use case: 1. Bring up a list of items from a search, say 100nF 0402 caps. 2. Sort by price low -> high (you'll see the icon, click that it'll work) 3. Now type in a quantity of say 100000 and find the best price on this part... yes the icon disappears when you fill in the quantity input field.

Download the CSV doesn't give price breaks.

Amusingly I just went to the digikey website which implements this functionality and.... something is broken. Can't even apply a quantity to a search. Also getting some strange loading page with a countdown clock... anti bot?

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#167

Post by ThePowerOfFuet » Thu, May 11, 2023, 12:54 PM UTC

erremerre wrote: post #76

Trying to buy from either Mouser or Digikey from Europe is very misleading. They have European shops in European domain. But when you are going to pay. You get smashed with a ridiculous delivery price and the uncertainty of how much customs will charge you... Wish we had a good alternative rather than having to get components in ebay/aliexpress.

I bought two $40 components from Digi-Key last year and had them shipped to the EU for like $25, and the taxes were prepaid so UPS handed me the box and walked away.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#168

Post by bananapub » Thu, May 11, 2023, 1:08 PM UTC

nightfly wrote: post #71

gnicholas wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like there shouldn't be a shipping option that, when used, results in the customer hating the company. The fact that it took this customer so long to decide he hated the company indicates that he is quite patient — other customers might have changed their mind about Mouser sooner.

I will totally take low-priority shipping + cheap product occasionally. Like when ordering from Aliexpress where I know I won't get the item for 4-8 weeks

> I will totally take low-priority shipping + cheap product occasionally.

did you not read the article? the problem was items just disappearing entirely and Mouser being dicks about refunding or reshipping things that got lost.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#169

Post by kayodelycaon » Thu, May 11, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

marshray wrote: post #144

Aside from anything specific to Mouser, How does a large business keep its (usually commission-oriented) sales organization from reverting to such completely pathological and short-sighted behavior for "small" customers? I put "small" in quotes, because it's entirely likely that today's college student will be next year's engineer recommending parts for new designs. Digi-Key never seemed to lose touch with their orig…

Usually by having two levels of support. If you’re a high-volume business, you get an account manager. If you’re low volume, you get the customer service line.

Re: Why I'm done with Mouser Electronics

#170

Post by JohnFen » Thu, May 11, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

tomxor wrote: post #108

crooked-v wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See also: Professional chefs with extremely expensive personal knife sets alongside basically disposable $8 tongs and $20 pans.

This is pretty good advice in general. The cost value curve of different things is different, and as you suggest, for the majority of things the functional value cut off is at quite a low cost point. What I find particularly amusing is when the cost value relationship invert, often after a stupidly high price point, especially when they introduce complexity.

> What I find particularly amusing is when the cost value relationship invert, often after a stupidly high price point

See "audiophile" equipment.

It's true that you often can't reliably tell quality from the price tag. I remember in marketing classes learning about what companies do when their product doesn't provide value commensurate with the cost. One approach is to reduce the price. Another approach is to increase the price, make it look pretty, and sell it people who are really buying status. That it sucks won't hurt your sales as much as you'd think, because functionality isn't really the reason people buy it.