Where can I get electronic components very cheap, fast, and easy?

[Dylon124]

I checked digikey and element 14 all ready.

[adam1213]

What type of components / quantity / location?

[Toble_Miner]

Hi,
what is the problem with Digikey? Aren't they cheap enough or are you searching for some really special parts?
Tobias

[Mr Smiley]

The draw in the component cabinet 

 

[free_electron]

simply strip down your tv, dvd player computer, anything electronic you see. there will be stuff fin there. and cheap.

[c4757p]

simply strip down your tv, dvd player computer, anything electronic you see. there will be stuff fin there. and cheap.

Not a bad idea TBH. If you're a destitute hobbyist, pick up every "FREE!" shitty television and whatnot you see on the curb, and strip 'em.

[deth502]

cheap, fast and easy?

pick only 2.

i usually make my first stop ebay for easy and cheap. (im in the us) i can get most anything cheap and easy in quantity from china, tiwan, singapore, ect... i can narrow my search down to "us only" if i want easy and fast, the prices go up a bit, but it decreases the shipping time exponentially.

failing ebay, my next goto is digi-key, so if your not happy with them, i dont know what to recommend.

[azi]

I almost always buy from Mouser and I just wait for it. I think ahead and often, I have the parts lying around for days before I actually need to use them. The trick is to have several projects active at a time so you can just work on the one that is ready for you at the time. And patience, patience.

It's not worth trying to save money or time and risk getting poor quality or counterfeit parts, or semiconductors that have been mishandled.

[JoshDS]

Pulling the computer screen in front of you apart for bits is pretty fast and reasonably easy, as for cheap maybe not so much. But no one needs VCR's anymore and CRT TV's are like stray shopping trolleys at the moment.

[joet]

I agree with the posts about stripping appliances back - I've saved a lot on components like Infrared remote receivers, etc, by desoldering them from a DVD player/TV.

[simpson]

Taiwan or China via eBay (not very fast though  )

[Robertmaks]

Jamico electronics sell pretty cheep parts , if you need more items for your lab you can by 1 10 100 or 1000 pieces for cheep  with decent quality.

[MrAureliusR]

I got 50 555 timers for $5 (that's 10 cents each!) from a seller on eBay. Normally I wouldn't promote a seller on any website, but man -- gc_supermarket and dipmicro are two from Szechuan that seem to have exceptional prices, and I haven't been burned/received fakes from either...

dipmicro has tons of ICs including many Atmel parts (even some with Arduino bootloaders already burned), op-amps, STMicro MCUs, MAX232 type level shifters, etc etc. As already mentioned, if you type the part you're looking for into eBay you'll almost always find a Chinese/Hong Kong/Taiwanese seller that has them for cheap. The only downside is shipping -- or rather waiting for it. However, sometimes I receive packages in under 10 days here in Canada! Usually it's less than 2 weeks (which is faster than SparkFun for god's sake!)

[deth502]

....................gc_supermarket ...................

ive gotten SEVERAL items from them as well and have always been satisfied. i wouldnt hesitate getting anything from them .

[dacrawf]

For jelly bean parts like resistors, capacitors(cermaic), diodes, transistors, and linear regulators I stock my parts drawers from ebay. I usually look for sellers located in the US as I am in Michigan and do not have the patience for international shipping... Ebay can also be a good source for cheap connectors... I will not buy micro controllers from Ebay...

I also buy a lot of components from Newark(Element 14) and DigiKey, I don't find there prices to be to bad especially on passives... I like DigiKey because they ship same day and USPS priority mail usually get to me in two days...

I do not care for the selection at Jameco, and the shipping time from southern California is to slow for my taste... Again, I am kind of an impatient person. Eventually my F5 key is going to break from refreshing the UPS tracking website... 

I have also been successful at getting small numbers (<10) of silicon devices (micros, CAN controllers, and CAN transicers) as samples for free (including shipping), having an edu email address helps with that...

[Greyersting]

I use Mouser mainly because they are within 1 day shipping range of me no matter what shipping option I choose.

[buster7]

Tayda electronics is cheap not a lot of parts but good for starting out join on facebook and they have discounts

[buster7]

and electrodragon for modules etc

[potatogun96]

I don't know if any of these are what you are looking for, but these are sources I use personally for 95% of my projects. I can't really comment on shipping times because I usually just pick UPS ground or whatever is the least expensive. I typically don't need to get my parts the next day or anything. Shipping times will also vary depending on where you live.

The first place I usually look is Jameco. The website is very easy for beginners to find what they're looking for, and the prices are reasonable.

I haven't ordered anything from Mouser, but they are located near me so I could get parts within 3 days with the least expensive shipping option. If you are new to electronics, the major distributors (Digi-Key, Mouser, Element-14) have websites where it is difficult to browse for parts. You have to know exactly what you are looking for to easily find parts.

I use MPJA and All Electronics for more obscure things. I browse for interesting stuff here, and usually just buy random parts to have on hand for projects. Have found good deals in past.

I haven't ordered from Tayta, but prices are very cheap. They are located somewhere in Asia IIRC, so shipping takes weeks.

Finally, I get a lot of basic parts (resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.) out of old electronics that I have torn apart, de-soldered, and "organized". That is the cheapest and fastest way I have found to get parts, but you can't expect to get the part you are looking for if it is a specific IC or something.

[poorchava]

Digikey and Mouser have too high shipping fees anywhere outside US (and probably Canada).

Believe me, I'd be their most loyal customer if they didn't charge $60 for shipping anything to my country (which is sort of mid-eastern Europe btw).

People from Europe ara usually stuck with Farnell and RS-components, who have like 2 orders of magnitude smaller range of parts than Digikey.

I think Digikey and Mouser would totally kill the competition if they offered some low cost (like simple air mail) packages to Europe for people who care more about the cost rather than timing.

[BobbyK]

In the US:

Resistors, caps (except electrolytics): Ebay sellers, buy the collections that have say 25 of each value

Connectors: ebay - straight from china (that's by the way where all the supplier get connectors these days)

Wire, cables: ebay - US suppliers, there are only a couple of good ones

PCB: Ebay has a few US suppliers that are well known and cheap, you can't miss them

Electrolytic Caps: don't use old ones, and don't get nobrand ones from ebay. Electronic Goldmine or Mouser are your best bet. Sometimes digi-key has them cheaper than mouser, but that's extremely rare.

IC's: Mouser - end of story. There is such huge variety in IC's and desoldering them is such a hassle, that you almost never find what you want. Also the tech moves so fast, that anything you scrounge up, is really not on par with any new product. On the other hand, Mouser rarely carries e.g. LT parts, so you will end up paying the premium. A last resort is Element 14. They charge crazy shipping and tax to the US, but they have some really exotic parts that you just cannot find here.

Transistors, diodes, etc. and other discrete parts: Mouser in small numbers. Digi-key in large numbers (though you probably never need more than 100 of one type just for experimenting)

LCD's: ebay US suppliers. The stuff coming in from china breaks all too often on the way, and you really won't be able to return faulty ones.

LED's Ebay - buy the value packs with 100 different color LED's for 3-4 bucks!

Chassis and boxes: let me know if you find a good supplier. The most common ones (Hammond, etc.) are very expensive, and with the eBay stuff you pay 20 bucks for the box and 60 for shipping!

Transformers (Toroidal) Antek Inc
Transformer EI and smaller VAs: look on eBay, but don't waste too much time - if it's not there for cheap, just get it from Mouser. They have a lot of Variety, though not as much as Digi-key, but they still are cheaper, if they have it. If not - Digi-key will have anything you need.
IMPORTANT: if you ever take something apart for parts, keep the transformer. They are almost always good (and easy to test) and you can never have enough variety. They don't go bad for hundreds of years, and by that time, we probably won't be using electric power anymore

So why don't I buy from All Electronics, or radio shack, or other websites? I actually do, rarely and only for oddball components - but the packaging is always suspect, and the parts are rarely good brands. Hope this helps. If someone disagrees, Let me know, and you might save me a buck or two.

[mrflibble]

Digikey and Mouser have too high shipping fees anywhere outside US (and probably Canada).

Believe me, I'd be their most loyal customer if they didn't charge $60 for shipping anything to my country (which is sort of mid-eastern Europe btw).

People from Europe ara usually stuck with Farnell and RS-components, who have like 2 orders of magnitude smaller range of parts than Digikey.

I'm in Europe and I mostly order from Mouser + Digikey. I always make sure I am above the limit for free shipping, and below the limit for juicy package for customs to fsck with.

[BobbyK]

The problem with stripping down junk electronics is that you can only be assured of the proper operation of only a few parts E.g. Transformers, toroidal cores and heatsinks and all the other components might have been stressed or damaged, and that might be the real reason you got that Tv/Receiver/Stereo for free in the first place.

Some parts like relays and resistors are easy enough to test for faults, but with other like ICs and transistors it's very hard to tell for sure. The same goes for most cheap suppliers who don't package stuff right. I have gotten linear ICs from two of the cheap suppliers mentioned here, packed in little sandwich bags. Pins were bent, and there is no guarantee that they didn't get damaged from static. I also doubt the personnel there know about static prevention measures. With  Mouser on the other hand, even ordering a single very low drift opamp (say for 4 bucks) will lget you anti-static packaging with silicone desiccant in there and a recorded expiry date for the desiccant. That is service I am happy to pay for, as it saves me time, wasted money and worries.

[hedgewallace]

I have a huge collection of components by desoldering components off faulty PCB's. I have many relays, resistors, capacitors, regulators, 555 timers, switches, buttons, etc. It also taught me some soldering skills along the way!  As i work at a repair shop, i bring home heaps of faulty PCB's to get components off! 

If your after new components, ebay would probably be your answer. Here in Australia, i found 200 pcs 1/4W Metal Film Resistors in many different values for only $1! (with free shipping)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lot-200-PCS-1-4W-Metal-Film-Resistors-1-10-47-100-470-680ohm-1K-10K-100K-1M-10M-/300836254879?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&var&hash=item460b3cf49f&_uhb=1

As they are from Hong Kong, they may take a very long time to get to your country, so it wouldn't be fast!

While Dave was in America, he went into an old Apex Electronics store! I'm not sure if you live near one, but i recon they would have very cheap components.

[WhiteWolf]

Dylon124: If you ever get to hear about a company called "Elfa Distrelec" (former swedish company or partly still are). They might have sometimes cheap components or electronic tools. But they aren't fast. Even I who lives180km from their storage building can be waiting over a week sometimes for a package... If you're not a registred company at their homepage then the ship whiting a week... But in general they are a shitty supplier of components.

I just wanted to warn you about them.
I usually buy from Farnell, Arrow, Mouser, Digikey. But Digikey is most of the times cheaper than the others. And they all ship fast your order