Electronic Component Suppliers

finnpark

Hi every1,

I want to buy electronic components online. I cant use farnell or RS because you have to set up an account. I just want to use my credit card to buy ICs, stripboard, sensors etc on the net. Any1 got any websites where you can buy components without setting up an account?

Thanks

Specky

you don't have to set up an account with either RS or FEC, both accept credit card payment. RS has a trade counter at which you can pay by any means you like including cash.

you'll find that ringing people up and talking to them (outdated though this may seem) works a lot more efficiently than buying on line anyway.

finnpark

Do you fancy me or something Specky? please don't reply to any more of my posts.

Thanks and best wishes.

Specky

Do you fancy me or something Specky?

Yes I do, I think you're lovely. Mostly it's the way you make me smile.

please don't reply to any more of my posts.

sigh...if you can show me where (factually) I am wrong and you are right then I have no problem retracting anything I've said. The problem is, though, that your starting post on this thread is just plain wrong and your post on the other thread is unhelpful, contains erroneous information and contains evidence that you didn't read most of the preceding replies. If you have expressed opinions that are your own, you have every right to do so. However this is a public forum and I therefore have an equal right to express my opinions.

Do you "get" what forums are about? I haven't made any particular effort to track down your posts and nit-pick them (I also haven't taken the time to trace a selection of your posts and make inane comments about them....how utterly pointless and sad would that be?). If you don't like what people say about what you say then maybe you shouldn't be posting to a public forum, but if I see someone talking out of their hole I certainly am not going to be all shy about pointing it out to them.

ecksor

finnpark,

don't ask for help and then complain when someone offers it. I can see from another thread that you have a problem with Specky, but I can tell you that I don't want to read it.

finnpark

ecksor, Im sorry you had to read it. Yes some problems allright. Hopeflly no more though, I will be ignoring "him" from now on.

disponible

Just in case anyone is interested, I'm currently setting up a business called "Disponible" selling electronic components half the price of the larger companies.

I have a limited amount of stock, as I have an agreement with a distribution company to take their excess stock off them. I'll be adding more and more products on over the coming months, check out the prices, if you find a cheaper price, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to beat it, by a long way!


[Edit]If you wish to advertise on this site please contact the admins, specifically Vexorg[/edit]

disponible

Sorry,

Please could a moderator delete reply number 7, as I made a mistake!

Thanks.

finnpark

Yes I will certainly have a look. Good luck with your business, I hope it goes well.

disponible

Just to let you all know, I've added lots more products onto my website, still got lots more to add and you will see a lot of it appearing over the next 2 weeks. Please note everything I have on the website is in stock, I've just got rather a lot to stock check and it will be a while before its all counted.

I'd really appreciate any comments you have about the site or the prices, as I am quite new to making websites, ecommerce and electronic components so its a steep learning curve.

[Edit]If you wish to advertise on this site please contact the admins, specifically Vexorg[/edit]

Hope you all check it out, please don't hesitate to ask if you have any queries.

Specky

You wouldn't be the first company to go down the surplus stock trail, but that business is completely different to the Farnell/RS type business so I'm not sure how wise it is to try to compete with them on price.

As it is, you don't appear to come close to competing with them on price. I just took a quick look at your resistors ('cos they're a fair benchmark of price) and although you're site doesn't give a full spec for the parts, you appear to be considerably above the price of equivalent parts in Farnell (5p sterling = around 7.5c. Welwyn MFR4 series 0.5w 1% resistors from FEC cost 6.7c in 50up quantities... 4.6c in 500 up going down to 2.2c in 2k quantity).

ok, your 1 and 2 watt resistors are quite well priced (based on FEC prices) but I get the feeling you've picked the 5p a resistor figure off the top of your head, because the normal selling price of this power range of resistors varies by so much as the power increases.

I'd have to ask the question, what are you trying to be?

It's very hard to operate in the same space as Farnell and RS, especially if you're just a start-up. If you think about the breadth of their product ranges and the fact you can have whatever you want, almost invariably the next day, I don't think you can complain all that much about the cost. Their investment in stock is massive, at a level only possible for a multinational.

They're the Tescos of the electronics world, you pay a premium for the convenience of a one stop shop and next day free delivery.

Sure, when you're going into production it's worth shopping around. You'd be mad to go to one of these guys to kit a product.

You can't offer the convenience (which, to a business, is worth more than the cost of the components when you're putting together prototypes or buying for maintenance stock of whatever), you don't have the super-slick e-commerce site with data sheets and product photos I'd expect to see from a distributor, the range of components you're going to stock is going to be very dependant on other people's excess stock (and in these days of the popular parts going on allocation you're never going to get the popular parts because they are never surplus), regardless of what arrangements you have with people to take surpluss you are still going to run up against some of the major distributors who have very tight exclusivity deals that will prevent you re-selling or undercutting them on price so you will not be cheap on everything.....

...I think you need to think carefully about your business model. You have to be turning over the stock you have. These are very low value parts, you have to sell an awful lot of resistors just to pay the monthly coffee bill never mind pay your salary and the cost of the storage facility in which your stock is to be housed.

I get a lot of companies in the same business as you chasing me for orders but it just isn't very convenient. When I'm kitting to build something it is advantageous for me to use the fewest possible suppliers and to use the same suppliers every time where possible. We don't have the time to shop around on every production run, and we certainly don't have the time to ring up the surplus companies to find out what they have in stock then go through our BOMs and cherry pick odd components here and there, it's just too much hassle.

Can you guarantee continuity of supply with any of the parts you're stocking? If you can, you might at least have a chance of getting in the door with a manufacturer or a sub-contract assembly company based on price. You're up against the distributors so it's going to be hard but you certainly need to be in meeting all the buyers in all the electronics companies you can find.

Problem with this is that many places are going KANBAN and/or (worse still) consignment stock now so you really have to have the stuff very available and you have to be able to live with the cost of stock on your hands while you wait for the production schedule to come true.

If you have access to a reasonable range of components another option you might think about is kitting where people send you a BOM and you procure all the parts and bag 'em up ready for production. Companies are at least willing to pay a little extra for this service and you'd get the advantage of making a bit extra on parts that you could pick up as surpluss stock.

On the subject of your site, it's not bad but if you're aiming to make a high class e-commerce site you'd probably be better off investing in it a little rather than trying to piece it together on a shoestring. Have you got any investment or grant support for your company? I know you're in the uk and I don't think enterprise supports are all that good over there but depending on where you are and your circumstances you might be able to get something to contribute to the costs.

I don't mean to pick holes in your ideas and maybe you've already got a perfectly sound business plan (and sales plan) put together, but I don't get that impression, either from what you've said in previous posts or what is portrayed on your website.

...now we sit back and wait while finnpark wets his pants because I've posted to a thread he's "contributed" to...

finnpark

Just had a look at your website. :cool: Quite good. Colours are a bit hard on the eyes(always better with a white background) but nevertheless I can get my way round it. Good luck with your business and forget the sad begrudgers
I will be placing an order soon .

GuanYin

Disponsible, while your posts are no doubt intended to help, I'm afraid that advertising here isn't permitted.

As such I'm removing the links. Please PM Vexorg if you wish to advertise on this site.

thanks,

Syke