From now on, it's Digi-Key for me!

if you would of filed a complaint thru ebay you would of also gotten your shipping which he never did so he should not keep it 

Ebay normally sides with buyer not seller

It was a "free shipping" listing, and I did go through eBay's Resolution Center.

He got his shipping back, the point was that it is more expensive to order from Digikey, but you are sure you'll get what you order promptly.

You can't beat Digi-Key, it's a great place. I always use their USPS shipping and I get the stuff the 2nd day after ordering. Rates are very low as well. I get lots of stuff there. I would recommend them to anyone.

I also get things through the Asian suppliers on ebay, but when I want something faster and better I always use Digi-Key. I have also used Mouser for an item or two they had and Digi-Key did not, but much prefer Digi-Key.

Kind of like supporting your LHS, if you find a place you like and they give you good product and good service, you should help keep them in business.

I have purchased loads of parts and accessories from vendors, sellers in China, Hong Kong and have never experienced a problem. The parts are being made there anyway, that's where the US distributors buy, so why buy from the same sources. By eliminating the "middleman" and buying direct you save money but deliveries can take 2-3 weeks.

While I have not had any problems with the less expensive Asian parts, I think Digi-Key also has a better quality product. If I needed something I had to depend on, I would get the parts from Digi-Key. You get what you pay for.

I buy parts that I don't require an exact fit for from the cheap Chinese sources.  For my projects like the Super-Chuffer or Lighting Modules, I buy all the parts from a large distributor and I specify exactly what I want.  The problem with designing anything for Chinese parts is the next time you go to order, they may not be available.

Dear Carl

I agree with you and I am sorry to hear that it did not work out with the E bay vendor. I myself and a few others have gotten burnt on the LED from China as well. But it is buyer be aware. I do not purchasing as a general rule if GRJ or Stan2004 have not tested themselves or other forum members. If you want "EL CHEAPO" and a long trans time China is the way to go if you already have done business with the in the past.

Digi-Key is a fine company and there are others venders as well located in North America.

Another BIG PLUS is that DK charges actual USPS postage--no "standard" $9.00 s/h charge. In other words, they're willing to cater to a hobbyist like me who only may need components in very modest quantities.

I'll continue to buy from Hong Kong/China vendors I've used previously for the modules/power supplies that I've used previously and provided excellent service.  But for the small components, it's DK for me.

True I forgot about the shipping that DK charges at cost or very close to it.  Since RK is almost gone this a great vendor to have near by. For small order GRJ swears by them and has given them the seal of approval in the past.

John makes it so easy for someone like me.  He not only posts what parts are needed for converting to LEDs, he includes links to the exact product on DK's website.

I thought they had a minimum $25 border??

Helichuck, thanks for bringing my thread to the top.  I ordered the capacitors that gunrunner john had identified, and I ordered last Friday, and they arrived today!!!

The caps were in a box w/ invoice; yes, they could have been mailed in an envelope.  But I was charged actual USPS postage--not some standard $8.00 or $9.00 s/h charge that we see frequently.

Hi Carl

Yes, John and Stan make it very easy for us to order the parts be it DK or any other vendor. If you look up parts yourself it can be a little over welling sometimes. Since they know all the detail it is very easy for them but for us non electrical folks confusing to say the least. DK is great for small orders. I like Mouser because they accept PayPal.

Nope, when I've needed parts, I've ordered stuff for as little as $3 and they've processed it with no additional surcharge.

No minimum that I know of, I have also placed some pretty small orders with them. They also keep a list of your past orders available to you at all times. You can name your orders like 'LED parts' or whatever and refer back to that list whenever you need to order more of the same parts.

And they have quite a few other services on their site that are free for customer use. Probably for the more advanced electronics folks, but if you poke around on their site you might just find some interesting services that you can use as well. I haven't tried any of these other services, but they are there for anyone to use.

You get what you pay for.

Paying for good parts & service is worth an extra $1-$2 bucks to an order. to me

You have a good memory - they used to have a handling charge for small orders but that was maybe 5+ years ago.  Starting last year or so they also provide a Tracking Number for the First Class USPS shipping option which is a nice touch though the orders come so fast you don't need to track it.  I started buying from DigiKey in the 1970's when you used to fill out and mail in a paper order form...and send a money-order if you didn't want to wait for check-clearing.

Here's a recent Wall. St. Journal article that gives some interesting info about working at DigiKey.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in...s-are-not-1424977919

Edit: for some reason worked for me, but re-did link above.  if not, google "wall st. journal article digikey" and it was the first article that came up.  has picture of lady sitting on bus to Digikey at beginning.

Your link isn't good Stan, at least it doesn't work for me.

Same as grj.

Well, the link works, but they want money to read it.  I'm not paying WSJ to read articles, they are available other places.