One challenge for the beginning electronics enthusiast is sourcing components. You can always go to the big guys but the shipping costs are usually $7-8 and the shear volume of components can be daunting. It’s always hard to justify half the cost in shipping for small orders. Sparkfun is inspirational and informative but their prices are ridiculously high IMO.
It’s very hard to find free shipping but many sources are very reasonable. It’s equally hard to find a good selection. Here are a few shops that I’ve purchased from in the past year.
Unicorn Electronics – This place seems to be less well known but there’s free shipping over $25! They don’t have everything but this is an excellent source for passives, semiconductors, connectors, etc. It can take a while to fill up your cart so be prepared to take a few days if you don’t already have a list.
Electronics Goldmine – You can get some very good deals at the goldmine but it can also be hit and miss, you really need to read the descriptions carefully. Sometimes the free gifts are good enough to offset the shipping costs. If you’re a bit crazy like me in the sifting and sorting department then the surprise boxes can be a good time suck (and they’re always a huge value).
All Electronics – Very similar to Electronics Goldmine. I happen to live within driving distance so that’s a huge plus. The storefront is exactly how you would imagine it, a bunch of shelves with boxes of random electronics, only semi-organized. A fun place to visit.
Thai Shop etc. – This is just an Ebay store but I’ve been very happy with their service, selection, and shipping costs. Stock up on those female headers and crystals. In general I’ve found it hard to source electronics components on Ebay but 5x Atmega8 for ~$9 has been a good buy from other vendors.
Futurlec – Great selection, prices, and reasonable shipping costs. The downside is that it can take forever and a day to receive your order. They’ve also botched one of two orders so far and didn’t inform me of out of stock items, instead just letting the order sit until I contacted them.
Seeed Studio – I’ve only purchased here once but they have some harder to find items at reasonable prices. Shipping is also not bad.
Modern Device – Some nice alternatives to the Arduino and a decent selection of LCDs. I also bought 5 RBBB bare boards from Wulfden for $11, not bad.
