Wow. I apologize for existing in the same world as you...
There are quite a few of us here who build electronics on a professional scale. There are also DIYers who are interested in the inner workings of an audio company. That's why I share my experience. Quite a few seem to appreciate that.
DIY takes many forms. I think there's room for all of us.
Tom
There are quite a few of us here who build electronics on a professional scale. There are also DIYers who are interested in the inner workings of an audio company. That's why I share my experience. Quite a few seem to appreciate that.
DIY takes many forms. I think there's room for all of us.
Tom
Well, it does seem perfectly reasonable that between folks like me buying 10 of some part and the professional builders with assembly houses, there is a lot of room for errors in determining who is trying to distribute. Errors seem very few and far between and the Mousers of the world should be forgiven.
This is a very real situation I’ve encountered, and multiple times. The order goes through, and about a day later you get an email informing that XX P/N have been removed from your order due to distribution agreements with the manufacturer.
I’m now ordering the bulk of my parts from Digi-Key as much as I possibly can, and if Mouser is the only place to get a specific P/N, I have my wife order it in her name.
I’m now ordering the bulk of my parts from Digi-Key as much as I possibly can, and if Mouser is the only place to get a specific P/N, I have my wife order it in her name.
Wow. That is so weird. That's like Starbucks refusing your order because you bought four cups of coffee for "just-in-time distribution" to your friends/coworkers. That's also a bit unfortunate as Mouser often has better prices than Digikey for low quantities (1-10).
Maybe Jameco will see a revival. They used to cater a lot to the hobbyists. Maybe they'd be worth a look.
Tom
Maybe Jameco will see a revival. They used to cater a lot to the hobbyists. Maybe they'd be worth a look.
Tom
Why do you think manufacturers would want to prevent retail customers from operating as retailers or distributors themselves?
Tom, your analogy is absolutely what it feels like.
I’d love to use Arrow, particularly as thier HQ is less than 4km from my house, however, thier website induces brain damage from use. It’s awful. (AND this is after they’ve improved it quite a bit!)
I’d love to use Arrow, particularly as thier HQ is less than 4km from my house, however, thier website induces brain damage from use. It’s awful. (AND this is after they’ve improved it quite a bit!)
Back in the day (when Jameco, mouser and Digikey were about the same size mail order operations) the distributors used to encourage resellers marking everything up thru the ceiling. Many refused to do business with end users, or at least made it difficult. Getting a transistor rated over 80 V without a valid tax ID meant getting gouged to the tune of twenty or thirty bucks through a TV service shop. I certainly hope we are not going back there. Maybe the Mousers of the world are doing what they can to prevent that from happening all over E-bay.
I also wonder if tax status is one of the things they are looking at when their AI decides whether a customer is a reseller or not. A lot of users file tax exempt because they have a business - and run literally everything they buy through it (Including groceries).
" A lot of users file tax exempt because they have a business - and run literally everything they buy through it (Including groceries)."
That will not end well.
That will not end well.
I started my business in the US before I moved to Canada. I really can't relate to what you're saying. It's pretty hard to justify groceries as a business expense in an electronics business. Sure. Some people commit tax fraud. But I doubt business owners are more likely to commit tax fraud than other individuals.
If it's such an enormous benefit to have a business, why don't you just register one? I'm sure the cost varies. In Federal Way, WA, where I was at, the cost of applying for a business license was $75. The renewal was $50/year. This was 2010-2015. The cost may be different now. Self-employed taxes are pretty easy with TurboTax.
FWIW: There's no mention of my business number in my Mouser profile.
A few years back I happened to play hockey with the local Arrow rep. He said Mouser, Digikey were for low quantities, Future for medium quantities, and Arrow for larger quantities. I seem to recall his words were something like, "No offence, but come back when you're ready to spend $100-200k/year".
Future's website is quite awful as well. I only check with them when I buy a full reel of something and have a manufacturer's part number (that I get from Mouser/Digikey).
It could be because of control over the product quality. For example, if I was a manufacturer of semiconductors I would want to ensure that my distributors followed ESD-safe procedures when handling and packaging my products. After all, it would reflect poorly on me if the parts failed in the customers' hands, even if it was because of ESD damage in the distributor's hands.
Tom
Maybe it has to do with the chip war currently taking place with China. Wouldn’t be surprised if new retail accounts were on the uptick in an attempt to bypass restrictions.
Mouser’s software could do a better job if that’s the case.
Mouser’s software could do a better job if that’s the case.
It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was a response to the various grey market vendors/distributors who gobble up all available inventory so they can sell it at 10-100x the cost.
Tom
Tom
It might be an advantage again some day, but for now I can get pretty much any electronics I need and don’t run enough “business” to go through the hassle. I’ll still be working drawing a decent paycheck for about the next 2 and a half years. They didn’t want me to leave entirely so I’m just dropping the hours in phases. It would have been a BIG help to have a business back when I was 16 and trying in vain to buy 2N6609’s. You just couldn’t get it. That all changed with “The MCM Era” - being able to get Toshiba and Sanken was a game changer. And not too long after, you could actually get Motorola’s entire line through Mouser. Including 2N6609’s. Then, the internet - and the floodgates opened. Then in recent years, manufacturers started cutting back their lines and things like the 6609 went EOL. That’s when I did a lot of buying - probably in the same patterns as the scalpers on EBay. Not to do that, but to ensure I have a supply of parts I can see and handle for the next 20 years. After stuff could very well be NLA, or when money may be too tight to buy anything but an occasional roll of solder.
Todays problems are because nobody wants to have inventory sitting on hand anymore. If they did there wouldn’t be anybody trying to gouge at 100x on EBay. They wouldn’t sell ****, because Mouser would have it.
True that. And FWIW the grey market prices have come down from their peak. At least judging by prices on the LM3886. Last year grey market vendors wanted $300+/each. Now they're down around $5-7/each depending on quantity. That's down from ~$35/each a month or two ago. That's Mouser-level pricing, except the grey market vendors have stock.
Tom
Tom
My last small order I bought from Newark. Not the cheapest overall but what they didn't have in stock in the USA was in stock in the UK ( the overseas search just happened in the background. I didn't need to do anything extra) and the shipping was free on the total amount. Faster delivery by a day or two from the UK BTW. Maybe seems geared toward us smaller users than the big boys we've been discussing.
Newark (Farnell overseas) is pretty good. The only beef I've ever had with them was a $20 shipping charge during checkout changed to something absurd like $97 when the package shipped. I gave them a good earful about that and they waived the shipping charge.
Tom
‘Money is the alienated essence of man's labor and life; and this alien essence dominates him as he worships it.’
Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Mouser just did it again, they cancelled an order with an explanation that I couldn't buy the items for resale.
EDIT: just took a look at my order history at Mouser. Looks like the last order I actually made was one that had to be reinstated by them after the Accounts department changed my account type status. Whatever they did to reinstate that order appears to have got caught in a loop in the order system and automatically keeps reordering the same parts. I had tried ordering the same parts two or three times as we were getting things sorted out, so I initially figured they just reinstated each of the cancelled orders.
EDIT: just took a look at my order history at Mouser. Looks like the last order I actually made was one that had to be reinstated by them after the Accounts department changed my account type status. Whatever they did to reinstate that order appears to have got caught in a loop in the order system and automatically keeps reordering the same parts. I had tried ordering the same parts two or three times as we were getting things sorted out, so I initially figured they just reinstated each of the cancelled orders.
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