Top / Best DIY Electronic Stores & Suppliers

by Fuzzy-Wobble

181K35351

Intro: Top / Best DIY Electronic Stores & Suppliers

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.

40 Comments

WillyC6 6 years ago

Any websites for audio components in Europe for Dayton audio

jmsaavedra 6 years ago

https://www.parts-express.com great for audio components

AidanM5 6 years ago

Digikey, Newark/Element14 and Mouser are not maker sites. They are real-deal chip distributors that have expanded into maker-land so that the transition is easier once hobbyists become more serious. Just so ya know.

jmsaavedra 6 years ago

true. they're distributors creeping into the "maker sites" space.

get them out!!

oh wait, no, that JST connector is $.50 cheaper on digikey than on Adafruit!!

keep them in!!

TunerFreak 7 years ago

Some input on Tayda Electronics:

I started using them a few years ago and they've been the cheapest source of basic electronic components I've been able to find, short of ordering direct from China. Their cheapest shipping typically takes a week and a half and usually only costs $1-$5. They occasionally have coupons on their facebook page. The only catch is you must place a $5 minimum order. I've placed 14 orders with them at the time of writing this and haven't had a single issue. They've even started stocking breakout boards and Arduino Uno and Nano clones. I've bought both the accelerometer and Nano and both have worked without any issues. The Nano is currently $3.69 and the adxl335 is $1.59, plus resistors for less than a penny a piece. My only complaint is that I wish they had a rating from the Better Business Bureau, but again I've yet to have any problems with them. Great website, would recommend.

AnjiB6 7 years ago

farnsworthelectronics.com

WillJ26 7 years ago

Try http://www.MROstock.com for all PLC and CNC products

thefilipinoexperimenter 8 years ago

Thank you very much for this list! I found DX.com and Tayda Electronics very nice shops where I may order parts someday. Thanks again!

bufahad 8 years ago

www.fasttech.com

bufahad 8 years ago

How about
Fastech.com

gfranz 8 years ago

Jameco is great, low prices and fast shipping!

mouseas 8 years ago

I've had some quantity items with defect rates of up to 10%. I had some nuts with no threads, some washers that had been sheared in half. I also ordered 3 threaded rods for a CNC mill, and 2 of them were bent slightly, which I didn't notice until I had already cut them to length and started installing them in my mill.

mouseas 8 years ago

The Mediocre:

- Eclectic, constantly-shifting inventory. You might find something awesome, or spend hours browsing with nothing to show for it.

Not-so-good:

- Prices vary from slightly overpriced to ridiculously overpriced.

ShuyangZ 8 years ago

Seeed's link doesn't work.. do you mean their OPL？

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/OPLopen-parts-lib... i think they define OPL as a list of commonly-used components. the good things of opl is cost effective and Seeed allows you to purchase in small qty. But the selection i have to say is not enough...

Logo1101 9 years ago

add also this good resource website for electronic components : www.brooks-maldini.net

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