RS Components

[Sam Spoons]

I've just being looking for a few 5.5 x 2.1 mm DC power plugs and PCB sockets to repair a couple of pedals. Mouser and Farnell are charging £12 and £15 carriage on these making the total cost for 10 of each £35+ , RS have free next working day delivery so they will cost me £20 and arrive on Monday

[James Perrett]

I've been using Ebay a bit more for stuff like this - Switch Electronics seem to have a good selection of bits and 10 of those power sockets would have come to less than a fiver from them including first class postage.

[Sam Spoons]

Even cheaper, I tried ebay but didn't find anybody who did both the plugs and sockets together. Happy enough though and RS stuff should be a bit less hit and miss than Chinese stuff bought off ebay.

Will bookmark Switch for next time though.

[MOF]

Maplin still trade on line, free delivery on £20+ Orders https://help.maplin.co.uk/en/article/1/delivery-options

[Sam Spoons]

There's not much on the website, certainly no discrete components, just a few gadgets. Apparently Peter Jones from Dragon's Den has bought the name, web domain and IP rights but none of the hard assets so he is building the business up virtually from scratch.

[DGL.]

I needed a German/French plug for an adaptor I was making and RS were the cheapest, total cost was £1!, still got Parcelforce next day delivery, for free!

[N i g e l]

CPC are worth checking out.
Online orders >£8 ex VAT get free delivery

[Sam Spoons]

You're right, I thought CPC Farnell were one company so when Farnell wanted £16 postage I didn't bother with CPC........

[nathanscribe]

I think Farnell only charge £15.95 postage supplement when the item is in their US stockist? There's a way to filter those out with the tickboxes on the left. Otherwise, yeah, their sister company CPC are often cheaper for the same parts and you get free shipping at a lower breakpoint.

I used to use Rapid, but Farnell's my go-to these days, along with CPC.

[Nazard]

Farnell only charge £15.95 postage supplement when the item is in their US stockist

I think that is very likely, Mouser is essentially a US company. But I do use them as their RF bits and pieces catalogue is excellent.

Well worth comparing Farnell and CPC, especially on a big build, as there are often significant differences in pricing, and CPC is not always cheaper, (plus availability too, sometimes).

[N i g e l]

Mouser UK & DigiKey UK - Dispatched from New York I think but only takes a few days.

I like Rapid too but their minimum order charge is, <£30 add £4
not so good for small orders


Ive used UK Farnell before; 1 order came in several packets from different locations, including Belgium (still next day though).

[Sam Spoons]

That can't be good for the planet.....

Yes It was the Mouser.co.uk website I was on and the Farnell one listed the £15.95 carriage (admittedly per order) on every item on the page I was on. They don't make it clear and so lost the (very insignificant) business to RS.

[N i g e l]

That can't be good for the planet.....

It gets worse ! if the USA order contains somthing sophisticated, it has to take an extra flight to a controlled technology export center.

As for European distribuition centres (and "stack 'm high music warehouses") that mode may well change shortly.

[Nazard]

ESR Electronic Components at Cullercoats are also excellent, and not being one of the main distributors, have a lot to offer.

For example, I recently bought a lot of NPO low capacitance ceramics for RF filters plus some 100 microamp, moving coil meters.

Great, knowledgeable staff and very helpful.

[N i g e l]

ESR Electronic Components at Cullercoats

Thanks, they look interesting, I wasnt aware of them.
Cullercoats looks nice.

[Nazard]

"To rock away rock away from Cullercoats and Whitley bay out to rock away"

Dire Straits, Tunnel of Love.

I was at Uni in Newcastle for six years and the Spanish City was somewhere we often visited!

[wireman]

Even though I have purchased from more than one variant I find Farnell a bit confusing.

https://uk.farnell.com/
https://www.element14.com/
https://cpc.farnell.com/

[Sam Spoons]

I got the delivery confirmation email this morning and had forgotten I changed the order to 10 sockets and 20 plugs at the last minute, total cost £20.80p

[James Perrett]

Even though I have purchased from more than one variant I find Farnell a bit confusing.

https://uk.farnell.com/
https://www.element14.com/
https://cpc.farnell.com/

You can add

https://onecall.farnell.com/

to the list as well (it combines the Farnell, Newark and CPC ranges but is only available to certain customers).

[N i g e l]

I was at Uni in Newcastle for six years and the Spanish City was somewhere we often visited!

That looks like it was an inspiring venue

I always wanted to visit the black beaches further south for photography but by the time I eventually got round to making plans they had received the £10milion cleanup !

[Martin Walker]

I've used Bitsbox in the past for small component orders, and they do seem to have what you were after, as well as only charging £1.90 for UK first class postage & packing:

https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?mai ... th=225_232

Others on-line companies that I've used are:

http://spiratronics.com/

https://www.brimal.co.uk/

Martin

[zenguitar]

+1 for Bitsbox. Excellent for hobbyists with great service too.

Andy