Is Digikey marketplace no different from Aliexpress?

[tchicago]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

[coppercone2]

at oceangate it is better. because the board room figured the chinese have more experience doing it right now

[brucehoult]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

[Teledog]

AliExpress takes a week or 3..may or may not be good parts (see  https://youtu.be/pMjhJ9kcaU4  @13:45 )
Ordered parts from DigiKey last week (late night order) , ..needed 1W resistors (tube amp repair) they sent 1/4 Watt  - from Winnipeg.
I've found with Digikey, ..if one orders earlier in the day, it gets picked & shipped form Thief River Falls, USA. Never a problem.
If you order later (from Canada) & it gets picked by, umm, from Winnipeg by, well, umm.... just don't expect to get your correct order.
Happened several times, just  sayin'..

[brucehoult]

AliExpress takes a week or 3..may or may not be good parts (see  https://youtu.be/pMjhJ9kcaU4  @13:45 )

As it says right there in that video, the 4% of RGB LEDs (in that video) that work but don't have the correct colour balance are sold, but at much lower prices.

You get what you pay for. If some vendor on Aliexpress has prices well below the majority of vendors for the same part -- ask yourself why that is before you order...

[ArdWar]

needed 1W resistors (tube amp repair) they sent 1/4 Watt

Did you order very low amount? Like 10pcs each or something?

[Teledog]

needed 1W resistors (tube amp repair) they sent 1/4 Watt

Did you order very low amount? Like 10pcs each or something?

Ordered 25..did the RMA thing. Replacements arrived this AM.   Lo & behold..25 more 1/4W resistors!
Looks like someone dumped 1/4 W resistors in the 1W resistor bin, ..and the parts pickers ain't engineers.
RMA again/refund time & yes, ordering from Ali now.
I can't imagine what this is costing them for couriers to ship 25 cents worth of resistors back & forth.

[wraper]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

The problem with Aliexpress and Alibaba is that "official" often is not official at all.

[wraper]

AliExpress takes a week or 3..may or may not be good parts (see  https://youtu.be/pMjhJ9kcaU4  @13:45 )
Ordered parts from DigiKey last week (late night order) , ..needed 1W resistors (tube amp repair) they sent 1/4 Watt  - from Winnipeg.
I've found with Digikey, ..if one orders earlier in the day, it gets picked & shipped form Thief River Falls, USA. Never a problem.
If you order later (from Canada) & it gets picked by, umm, from Winnipeg by, well, umm.... just don't expect to get your correct order.
Happened several times, just  sayin'..

Did you check the datasheet? Unless they came with different resistance, I'd first assume you just bought super miniature series and received a correct part.

[wraper]

Yep, you just screwed digikey for nothing.

[Teledog]

Yep, you just screwed digikey for nothing.

Could be right! But they have an awfully glossy 1/4 W like finish, like every other 1/4 W I've seen.
I would not trust anything that small pressed against a phenolic board to dissipate 1W continuously.

[wraper]

I would not trust anything that small pressed against a phenolic board to dissipate 1W continuously.

Because they shouldn't if you actually want to dissipate 1W. Nor should be a larger resistor either. Note that in particular circuit large resistors could be used not due to power dissipation but due to maximum voltage rating.
EDIT: Looks the same https://www.lcsc.com/product-detail/Through-Hole-Resistors_YAGEO-FMP100JR-52-1R_C914807.html

[wraper]

But they have an awfully glossy 1/4 W like finish, like every other 1/4 W I've seen.

Out of regular resistors, only carbon film resistors usually come in somewhat similar color, and they have more brown tint. Also they have more pronounced features due to thin paint.

[ArdWar]

Looks like someone dumped 1/4 W resistors in the 1W resistor bin, ..and the parts pickers ain't engineers.

Well they are indeed not engineers. Just warehouse staffs scanning SKU barcodes trying to match your order's packing list.
Check your packing list part and mfg#, and do back search to see if it indeed match. And as usual, parametric values and part descriptions can be listed incorrectly. Mfg part number and datasheets still take precedence.

From my experience, they sometimes drop the ball when order amount is very low, but that's usually minor inconvenience like frayed tapes, bent leads, etc. Not outright wrong SKU.
Then again I always get my order shipped from thief river.

[brucehoult]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

The problem with Aliexpress and Alibaba is that "official" often is not official at all.

How it is not official when the manufacturer's own web site has a "BUY" link to their Aliexpress store??

e.g. first link on https://banana-pi.com/en/buy/

[wraper]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

The problem with Aliexpress and Alibaba is that "official" often is not official at all.

How it is not official when the manufacturer's own web site has a "BUY" link to their Aliexpress store??

e.g. first link on https://banana-pi.com/en/buy/

Does the word often mean anything to you?

[ArdWar]

You really need to be vigilant with Chinese (and indeed most Asian) marketplace. There aren't really any enforcement with store names. Any random seller can pick any known brand and put any qualifier and it'll usually be fine until someone request a takedown.

[brucehoult]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

The problem with Aliexpress and Alibaba is that "official" often is not official at all.

How it is not official when the manufacturer's own web site has a "BUY" link to their Aliexpress store??

e.g. first link on https://banana-pi.com/en/buy/

Does the word often mean anything to you?

It means to me that if you take the word of claims in random web sites and emails then you're a fool.

All the Aliexpress examples I gave (and others I buy from) have links from the manufacturer's official web sites. So, no, if you do elementary research then it is not "often". Certainly it's never happened to me and I've never had any problems buying (with basic precautions) from Aliexpress vendors.

[Teledog]

EEVblog has turned into nothing but a a b*tch-slapping forum.
What happened?
sad.

[floobydust]

Teledog, you have fallen into the "super-mini" power resistor trap as I call it. Manufacturers have lines that are physically quite small for their claimed power rating.
1W examples: Yageo FMP100 (the worst), Stackpole ASMR1, KOA MFP1, TE RR01 etc. Then smaller are the Vishay SFR25S, 16S for 1/4W.
I went down the rabbit hole in a couple EEVblog threads complaining about these and got beat up by some assholes who know-it-all that didn't know it all, about why these parts can exist and the noob traps they are.
It's unfortunate. Here, you can't hammer out the knowledge, figure it out - instead it's personal attack over fucking resistors, soiling your "reputation" and a load of other garbage.
I'd compared about 100 different ones for size, power. Ended up contacting Vishay and got the answers because nobody here knew shit. Myriad of complicated reasons but I did not share them, to waste less time fending off bitchslappin' 

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/resistor-sizes-vary-greatly/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/mfr0623-axial-resistors-are-only-14w-rated/

[brucehoult]

EEVblog has turned into nothing but a a b*tch-slapping forum.
What happened?
sad.

Apologies. I get tired of sour people with a consistently negative, if not insulting, attitude to almost everything and everyone.

Recent other example, one of many: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/reballing-a-bga-intel-hx-chipset/msg5552525/#msg5552525

[wraper]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Aliexpress has nothing to do with getting fakes. They are just like Amazon -- just taking orders for independent vendors.

If you buy from reputable vendors on Aliexpress then the risk of fakes is zero.  For example, I buy on Aliexpress from the official stores of WCH, Sipeed, Banana Pi and others.

If you search Aliexpress by generic product and choose the lowest price then, yes, you may be at risk of fakes.

The problem with Aliexpress and Alibaba is that "official" often is not official at all.

How it is not official when the manufacturer's own web site has a "BUY" link to their Aliexpress store??

e.g. first link on https://banana-pi.com/en/buy/

Does the word often mean anything to you?

It means to me that if you take the word of claims in random web sites and emails then you're a fool.

All the Aliexpress examples I gave (and others I buy from) have links from the manufacturer's official web sites. So, no, if you do elementary research then it is not "often". Certainly it's never happened to me and I've never had any problems buying (with basic precautions) from Aliexpress vendors.

I said literally nothing about your examples. Even if all of them are telling the truth, it does not mean that most of the others are. It's like saying: I got hit by mains voltage multiple times and nothing serious happened to me, therefore its safe to tinker with it and arguments against that are stupid.

[wraper]

EEVblog has turned into nothing but a a b*tch-slapping forum.
What happened?
sad.

Apologies. I get tired of sour people with a consistently negative, if not insulting, attitude to almost everything and everyone.

Recent other example, one of many: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/reballing-a-bga-intel-hx-chipset/msg5552525/#msg5552525

Society is so stupid these days that not outright agreeing with you and asking more questions somehow became insulting and hurting your feelings, and it's OK to freak out and whine about that.

[tooki]

Does buying from Digikey marketplace have same risk of getting fakes as purchasing from Aliexpress?

Realistically, Digikey claims their marketplace vendors are vetted, and given Digikey’s track record for excellence, I see no reason to doubt them about it.

With that said, it’s easy enough to select the “exclude marketplace” checkbox.

(I do wish DK had a way to set default filter settings. I would set “in stock”, “exclude marketplace”, exclude obsolete items, and set the maximum number of results, for example.)

[LinuxHata]

I shifted from digikey to LCSC
Digikey asks too much questions about the parts you're buying.
You have to fill in a lot of forms, like you're buying a firearm.
I would accept that if these were some specific components, which can be used in military or questionable areas.
But recently I needed current sense resistors and switching power supply (LOF750). They cancelled my order because information I provided "was not enough"
So I gave up and ordered them elsewhere.