Digikey Alternatives

[Mechanical Farmer]

Hello all. Mechanical Engineer here.

I am trying to develop some in house tooling. I am looking to perform bench testing of some ideas. I need to purchase electronic components and am looking at Digikey.com (the only distributer I have any familiarity with).
A lot of these components have minimum order quantities of 100. I only need a hand full. What are some other vendors that might give samples or not require minimum order quantities? My company does not have accounts with any electronics components distributers.

 

[3DDave]

Try -

Google Search

You are unlikely to get "samples", which I expect you mean "free" from manufacturers, though if a component is brand new and you are in a corporation the odds go up a bit. I don't believe Digikey has minimum order quantities for most components. The above search will turn up the more than a dozen major distributors.

 

[Mechanical Farmer]

Google Search

I mean sure, I can see Digikey right up at the top of the list. If someone who has experience with a company providing no minimum quantity orders, I'd love to jump right to them rather than going fishing.

 

[System Protection]

Mouser is another big supplier.

What types of electronic components are you looking for?

 

[Mechanical Farmer]

Mouser is another big supplier.

What types of electronic components are you looking for?

I'm talking to Mouser now.

Right now: piezo crystals, capacitors, resisters, probe terminals, maybe LEDS, A really basic circuit.
I'm window shopping now, working with tinkercad to design the circuit.

 

[JJ_Roy]

I used RS Americas when they were formally know as Allied Electronics.

You could buy a single component like one resistor... But it was cheaper if you purchased 100 resistors.....

They also had a really good selection of items as well.

 

[ema157]

You could try www.newark.com.

 

[3DDave]

It isn't like any of the major distributors are essentially terrible.

Post a list of the part numbers/component specs and quantities you are looking for, or, there are some that have an upload section where that can be posted and they will recommend suitable components.

See this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricalEngineering/comments/oa8zsm/where_to_get_electronics_components_suppliers

Best Electronics Distributors for best price & low Shipping

I've been searching around a little for a good distributor and thought there was no better place to find out than asking the people who buy from them regularly So what are the best distributors that have cheap components, low shipping rates & are easy to deal with? thanks and sorry if there...

forum.allaboutcircuits.com

From the latter:

Digikey is a hobbyist-friendly vendor that is also an authorized distributor for many semiconductor lines. You know that you're getting the "genuine item" when you buy from them, and in the USA they will also ship SMALL orders via 1st Class US Mail, which will save you money on shipping costs.

Mouser is another good vendor who's also an authorized distributor for a number of semiconductor lines. They don't ship via US Mail though.

 

[Comcokid]

There are also the outfits that are more for experimenters. Jameco Electronics, SparkFun electronics, and even eBay.

 

[IRstuff]

Avnet is pretty big electronics distributor https://www.avnet.com/americas/