When working on electronics projects I tend to order parts from Mouser or Digi-Key, with a preference given to Mouser because of their lower costs and my familiarity with their site. However, the experience I’m having right now with selecting parts for building the AMB γ1 illustrates the complications one often runs into when ordering a large BOM.
Here’s the assumptions I must work under:
· Mouser is usually cheaper than Digi-Key.
· Mouser often has particular parts available in smaller quantities than Digi-Key does.
· Digi-Key has a wider variety of less common parts, like (in this case) a TOSLINK receiver.
· Digi-Key has what amounts to a $25 minimum order. Mouser has none.
· Almost every part I need is available from Mouser, making it difficult to reach the Digi-Key minimum.
This, combined with a 74-line BOM, makes for quite a bit of work just selecting parts for a hobbiest device.
Just so you know, Digi-Key dropped their handling fee for orders less than $25 last year…
digikey: Oh really? Thanks for letting me know… I wasn’t aware of that, or I’d somehow forgotten. If Mouser can’t come through on the switch which they unexpectedly backordered on me I’ll have to order it from Digikey. Five were in stock when I placed the order, and since the price was $2.50 less at Mouser I threw it on that order list. If Digikey’s prices had been a little less I wouldn’t have had this problem.