Introduction: Top / Best DIY Electronic Stores & Suppliers

By fuzzywobble.com
About: fuzzywobble.com
Over the last few years I have ordered countless items online for various electronics and DIY projects. Ordering stuff can be a pain - tedious, frustrating, and often, overly expensive. This is the first Instructable you should read before beginning any electronics-centric project!

Each step has specific details about the stores. 

These are just my opinions based on my experience. This is in no way definitive. I encourage you to leave comments about each store based on your experience so we can build a stronger evaluation. I can potentially add more stores upon request - I know I left many out. 


ELECTRONICS


MECHANICAL, MATERIALS & MANUFACTURING


This list is (as you can probably tell) North America specific.

Step 1: All Electronics (allelectronics.com)

The Good
  • Amazing prices on tools and small components
  • Good selection
  • They have a storefront 
The Mediocre
  • Surplus parts are sometimes a bit odd
The Not-So-Good
  • No datasheets and limited part descriptions
  • Slow shipping 

Step 2: Futurlec (futurlec.com)

The Good
  • Amazing prices!
The Mediocre
  • Site search and navigation is a bit odd
The Not-So-Good
  • Some knock-off and bogus products
  • Slow shipping to USA
  • I have seen others leave terrible ratings and reviews

Step 3: Adafruit (adafruit.com)

The Good
  • Great resources and code samples
  • Unique products
  • Strong community
The Mediocre
  • Small inventory
  • Customer service
The Not-So-Good
  • ?

Step 4: Sparkfun (sparkfun.com)

The Good
  • Great resources and code samples
  • Unique products
  • Strong community
  • Open Source
The Mediocre
  • ?
The Not-So-Good
  • Some of the small parts and components are insanely expensive 

Step 5: Sure Electronics (sureelectronics.net)

The Good
  • Holy hell they have some cheap stuff
  • Unique items
The Mediocre
  • Very unusual inventory
The Not-So-Good
  • Search and navigation is rubbish
  • Expensive shipping to USA

Step 6: Newark/Element14 (newark.com)

The Good
  • Customer service
  • Fast shipping
  • HUGE selection
  • Rasberry-Pi 
The Mediocre
  • Pricing 
  • Searching and filtering
  • DIY community
The Not-So-Good
  • ?

Step 7: Digikey (digikey.com)

The Good
  • Holy hell they have fast shipping
  • Good customer service
  • HUGE selection
  • Great prices for ICs
  • Lots of datasheets
The Mediocre
  • Searching and filtering 
  • Interface
  • Photos of products
The Not-So-Good
  • Some stuff is just insanely overpriced
  • No community, resources, coding samples

Step 8: Radio Shack (storefront)

The Good
  • They have a storefront! All over the country.
The Mediocre
  • Selection is limited
The Not-So-Good
  • Expensive
  • Staff doesn't know much about electronics 

Step 9: Mouser (mouser.com)

The Good
  • HUGE selection
  • Many unique ICs
  • Lots of datasheets
The Mediocre
  • Searching and filtering
The Not-So-Good
  • No community
  • Unreasonable shipping rates

Step 10: Octopart (octopart.com)

Not a store, rather, a search engine.

Very handy when searching for specific parts!

Step 11: Findchips

Another parts search engine, similar to octoparts. Findchips.com tends to have better search results than octoparts at times. I use both equally.

Step 12: Pololu (pololu.com)

The Good
  • Great selection of motors and motor controllers
  • Lots of details and descriptions
  • They offer laser cutting services
The Mediocre
  • Shipping is a bit pricey
The Not-So-Good
  • Searching engine 

Step 13: Solarbotics (solarbotics.com)

....have yet to order from here yet but heard great things.

Please share your experiences in the comments. 

Step 14: AliExpress (aliexpress.com)

....have yet to order from here. Appears you can get some amazing deals. I am planning to make an order very soon. 

Please share your experiences in the comments.

Step 15: Seed Studio (seeedstudio.com)

....have yet to order from here. Looks like a great site!

Please share your experiences in the comments.

Step 16: Electronics Goldmine (goldmine-elec.com)

....have yet to order from here.

Please share your experiences in the comments.

Step 17: McMaster Carr (mcmaster.com)

The Good
  • HUGE selection
  • Super fast shipping
  • Great customer service
  • Amazing website. The best online shopping experience I have ever had. 
  • Download almost every part (2D and 3D)
The Mediocre
  • A bit overwhelming.  
  • Pricing
The Not-So-Good
  • ?

Step 18: Ponoko (ponoko.com)

The Good
  • Great material selection
  • Laser cutting and 3D printing services
  • Good customer service
  • Track the progress of your design
The Mediocre
  • The selling thing has not really taken off yet
  • Pricing
The Not-So-Good
  • Metal prices are through the roof

Step 19: Inventables (inventables.com)

....only made one small order here. Not much to say yet. Seems quite expensive, but they have a great selection. 

Please share your experiences in the comments.

Step 20: Shapeways (shapeways.com)

....have yet to order from here.

Please share your experiences in the comments.