Sourcing parts in Europe
Nov 1, 2008 at 2:40 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

tvkalvas

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Hello!

There has been some talk here and there about the problem of sourcing parts in Europe, but there is not a real thread/discussion about different solutions to this problem. I think sharing ideas would benefit everyone.

I live in Finland and here we mainly have small local stores, which have most of the stuff but then there are the more exotic ICs... The solution would be to use Farnell, ELFA or RS Components, but in Finland these companies only serve companies unfortunately. Then there is Digi-Key, which will send also to private people and also to Europe but largish shipping expenses and the additional 22% import VAT hurts!

So... if there was a company somewhere in the EU, I could order from I would probably get the shipping for less and no VAT to pay! Does anyone know if there are any companies in the EU that serve DIYers (Farnell in UK, RS Components in UK)???

What is your solution?
 
Nov 1, 2008 at 5:19 PM Post #2 of 10
Well, if you are an hobbyist in the EU, you will have to pay the VAT.

This said, you can get quite a lot of parts from reichelt.de. Sadly, they don't stock high quality parts. They also don't stock all exotic IC. Finally, they are not very helpful to pick parts accurately (they mix different grades of transistors, and so on).

But they're cheap, especially if you buy in big quantity.
 
Nov 1, 2008 at 5:42 PM Post #3 of 10
Edit: Sorry, my post was a bit off-topic. Only wanted to say that Elfa does sell to consumers. I don't know any European electronic shops as I haven't needed anything our domestic shops don't have.

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A lot of small local electric shops get their parts from Elfa. Many times I have ordered parts from Elfa through my own local shop with great success. THe parts come within few days and without any shipping charges. They've even applied the same prices you see at Elfa's site.

[size=xx-small]Another good is Vekoy.com. I haven't ordered from there yet but they carry many items you don't see elsewhere. Yleiselektroniikka (yeoy.fi) also sells to consumers. Few times I've bought stuff from their shop without any pre-order what-so-ever.

Partco is also a great shop who carry the best collection of transistors and other active components in Finland (at least according to my knowledge). Please correct me if I'm wrong.[/size]
 
Nov 1, 2008 at 8:08 PM Post #4 of 10
From my experiences after so many projects over the years, even with the high shipping cost and VAT, it cheaper to get parts from the US (Digikey, Mouser...). Parts in Europe are generally much more expensive than Asia and the US. Transformers are the only part I buy locally due to the high weight (sometimes I need transformers up to 1000VA).
 
Nov 1, 2008 at 9:03 PM Post #5 of 10
What ferrari says - even with the shipping etc, its still cheaper to buy from Mouser. They have been very fair for shipping expenses, compared to digikey who are much more expensive. Also, many times if you are buying for a project often you will be given the mouser part number - very handy. The other thing is that they have such a huge range of items, even a lot of the more exotic ones like schottky diodes or Dale resistors.

I use farnell or sometimes RS components for the heavier stuff like transformers. Shipping from mouser usually takes about a week to get here from the US.
 
Nov 1, 2008 at 9:17 PM Post #6 of 10
Digikey offers free shipping on orders of €65+.
smily_headphones1.gif


And have a look at this: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...01:0002:EN:pDF
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Nov 1, 2008 at 9:25 PM Post #7 of 10
Nov 1, 2008 at 10:03 PM Post #9 of 10
Oh... nice to hear that also Mouser sends to Europe. I've noticed that they are cheaper. And a more complete set of parts for PPA v2 can be bought from there compared to Digi-Key. I have to try them out... maybe this time Mouser could be the one.

And to tharenth and other finns: I buy mostly from PartCo or Sp-elektroniikka. They have all the basics but you always miss something. I have a feeling that Yleiselektroniikka is darn expensive. Nice to hear that Elfa also serves us DIYers.
 

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