[gimmeheadroom]

Hey guys, is there anything like Heathkit available these days? I know "Heathkit" seems to be back somewhat but there really is not much on that site and anyway importing things is expensive to the point of hardly ever worth it.

So are there any good electronics kit brands or shops in EU?

Can people recommend good shops in the EU to buy components? Many of the big American companies have offices here but it turns out many of them just drop ship from America and we have to handle customs clearing and pay surprise charges. So hoping to find some good sources with goods already inside the EU.

My recommendations: I have good luck with eleshop.eu which is in the Netherlands. I had good and bad experiences with batterfly which is in Italy. I think the shop is good but if something goes wrong it can be frustrating. I am happy with ebay when they ship using the global shipping program. You know how much something will cost before you click Buy Now and it just shows up at your house in a few weeks.

 

[tomb]

I thought RScomponents was pretty much the electronics parts source in Europe. I think they carry plenty of the best stuff.

Sparkfun and Adafruit are actually more like the old Heathkit than Heathkit is now. The wonderful thing about Heathkit in the old days was that they legitimately offered top quality equipment that was competitive with anything made commercially. Radio Control transmitters, ham radio, and stereo components were very top-notch. Those days are gone since the Japanese takeover of electronics in the late 60's/early 70's and have gotten worse with China.

As for kits, there are several DIY suppliers in the US who will ship worldwide. Unfortunately, as you mention - they have no control over your local country's or EU's customs charges. My experience with the Netherlands has been particularly troublesome. I once had a package returned to me that I had shipped for almost $100, simply because the Post Office taped the customs forms on the bottom. The customs agent in the Netherlands never bothered to turn the box over. After much fighting over this, I had to pay the $100 to ship it again. I make certain that customs forms are always showing on the top of the box after that.

All that said, later shipments to Europe seem to have consolidated customs to a large degree in Paris. I'm not sure it's such a headache anymore. Could be that was a special setup due to FedEx, which is who I used at the time.

Don't even get me started on the VAT tax. I feel the pain for those of you in Europe. I'm surprised you order anything outside of the EU. Maybe that was the point?

Anyway - good luck. Hopefully someone else will post better information for you.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Thanks for reminding me about RS. I just checked again and it looks like they do have a lot of stuff and it appears to be in-country, unlike many of the big names (Newark, Farnell, Digikey etc.) that do have offices here but drop ship from America which causes havoc in customs and surprise costs. But to compare, a Panavise that costs 60 euros equivalent in America costs 120 euros here from RS. It makes buying things painful either way.

Right, I pretty much gave up ordering anything from outside the EU. Got burned too many times. And now that Brexit happened, the biggest economy in Europe is off limits and I can not longer do business with several of my favorite shops, many of which I used for over a decade.