Is it just me or is the pricing at Digikey getting ridiculous?

Since I know I can find the parts I need on Digikey, I usually don't worry about what they charge. Prototypes cost far more in labor than the parts cost. I give the production folks the makers part numbers for the parts and also the Digikey numbers.

The reason to give production the Digikey numbers is that it reduces to nearly zero how often I hear "we can't find the part". Some production parts get bought from Digikey just because they happen to be the ones who have them in stock.

Digikey also gives a quick path to the maker's data sheets. This makes designing easier. You can check that the part can be obtained while also getting the datasheet.

Exactamente. I have yet to find a company on this planet that has a search engine as good as Digikey. This is why I always default to them as well, and so do my clients in the US. I have the impression that 99% plus of the software guys in the database business do not understand how to program a proper search engine, only the guys who set up Digikey do.

I found their prices to occasionally be higher than for example Mouser but not by much. Maybe 10-20% on some parts. But Hammy: It's not necessarily the place to buy tools from, that I never did. Digikey is for electronic parts.

etc.

Well to me cost is the most important and Digikey is highest even in production T/R quantities.

Digikey search engine is good but what's wrong with using the actual manufacturer's parametric search and then verifying distributor stock and inventory? That to me is the most logical way to do it more so if you plan on making a commercial product. That way you know for sure beforehand if there are any problems in manufacturing and whether are not the actual manufacturer will sell you the product directly in the quantities you want.

I know time spent prototyping is high cost but then if you are dealing with a distributor who also charges higher then most for the same thing whether it be T/R or CT whatever you will lose a competitive cost advantage.

I could go on but here is just a few examples exact part numbers from a small distributor.

DOUBLE SIDED COPPER CLAD BOARD - 1/16' 1 OZ COPPER Canadian dollars

ACTIVE123 $18.99

Digikey $24.65

ACTIVE123 LM723CN 5 for $2.99

Digikey 1 for $0.82

A comparison of exact part numbers with Newark gets even more embarrassing for Digikey particularly transistors and PIC'S.

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:00:57 -0400, Hammy wrote: ...

This is not a fair comparison. At Digikey the same part for 10 is $6.3 so the difference is much smaller at comparable quantities.

Sure it is 10 for me from Digikey is $7.14 Canadian dollars 10 from active123 would be $4.98 Canadian dollars.

Forgot to add Active123 request you contact them for large volume pricing and availability.

What's your time worth? Digikey is a bit of a convenience store (more so for items that are not components). Getting the exact parts you want reliably next-day on a single P.O. with controlled and minimal shipping cost is worth something.

The m&p places are great for students or hobbyists but our best local one is best reached by subway or on a weekend when traffic is lighter, and it wastes prime hours of the day, plus gas and parking costs, getting a few parts (and they never have everything I need except for the most simple of projects). I'd rather pay an extra $50 or $100 to Digikey in most cases.

As to them not staying in business... they have over 2,000 employees and they've survived and prospered (they are currently hiring!) by providing a good service at a price where _they_ can make a profit. Good on them, I say. I really don't want to do business with companies that are just limping by.

--- I think Digikey's pricing structure shows that they're more oriented toward low volume production and prototyping than they are to balls-to-the-wall production like some of the "big guys".

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--- Nothing, once you've found whose parts you want, but their engine is a pretty good way to see who's got what.

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--- That's you, but you're not a distributor.

DigiKey doesn't make commercial product, they're a distributor, and they seem to be doing all right without lowering their prices to more conveniently fit your expectations.

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--- And DigiKey keeps you from finding that out, how???

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--- Bullshit.

I get $125/hr for circuit and prototype design, so if I supply a first article with stuff from Newark, say, that cost me $100 or from DigiKey, that cost me $150, I'll but whatever i more convenient at the time.

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--- So shitcan DigiKey and stop whining.

JF

For hobby projects maybe but not for guys like me. I need 2nd sourcing on (ideally) all parts. Having to trudge through 3-4 mfgs sites and then on to the distributors from there easily consumes 15 minutes. My clients have to pay those 15 minutes and I must be mindful not to waste their engineering Dollar. If Digikey charges 20c more on a few prototype parts, so what?

"An error has occurred" :-(

That's just peanuts in the grand scheme of things :-)

Errors too. Digikey's site rarely does, they never do maintenance during typical business hours (but they should start thinking about a mirror site).

Maybe. But in my daily life only this counts: The client needs to ideally be able to buy all parts at one place and there Digikey usually excels. My time spent wrestling search engines must be minimized and the search engines on pretty much any distributor sites other than Digikey are awful. Also, when keying in orders Monday late afternoon my clients often need the shipment to arrive Tuesday morning. And it does.

Active123 is in Canada. This may be a better deal if you are in Canada but that's not necessarily a fair comparison. Oh, and I just did a search on their site for the LT3757 I just used in a design -> They don't carry it. MIC4421, they don't carry it. BFP620, they don't carry it. LT6700, they don't carry it. Honestly, what good does that do? Digikey _has_ all that stuff.

All the more reason to want more competitive pricing.

That's fine but they can always make more if they were more competitive.

I never said they did. You missed my point entirely. I'm beginning to see why the Chinese are taking over more and more of our manufacturing and tech jobs.

If you have been doing this for a while you should know by now how to effectively search and where to find what you need so that you should be able to save both time and cost. I didn't think an attitude like that would provoke hostility I just assumed its common sense. Everybody most everybody wants value for dollar.

I have I rarely use them.

Sorry to upset you it was an observation and just to see if anybody else found the pricing out of line. Obviously you don't mind paying a premium so your position is clear.

If you're so concerned about that difference maybe you should check why you're paying C$1.13 per US$ when the rate is actually closer to C$1.02. I think you should use what ever service works for you.

I am and its another reason I rarely use them. They say it includes brokerage and duty in the price the likely cause of the discrepancy.

I don't pay brokerage and duty at Newark. I pay flat rate $12 overnight shipping. I do pay sales tax ; Digikey also collects sales tax off my orders.

I can't figure what to do with the telephone book. Maybe take it into the bathroom, not to read !

I can't see it without my DIGIKEY magnifiers.

I usually price with Chips.com. Whatever.

greg

I meant findchips.com

If your spec-ing a chip and the external components are not available from Digikey, you think twice about the chip. Any sucker can get a part from Digikey provided their IQ and body temperature exceed room temperature.

I can think of many products where I would pay a few hundred percent mark-up to be able to buy a unit or two. Murata filters are a good example. Disty want you to buy a few thousand. I end up getting samples from the rep. However, I'd gladly pay $5 for a 50 cent part rather than having to buy a few thousand units.

Only an idiot excludes a segment from their potential market. Considering they offer incentive for $200 buck they are trying to include people like me.

snip

For a business to remain happy were there are is ludicrous and a poor business model, take that mentality to your share holders and tell me how you make out when the companies stock plummets.

There was no mention of the cost of labour; did you see one or another assumption? It's called a mentality a poor one at that. The Chinese strive to cut cost in all aspects of business. They don't say oh its only 10 cents or for that matter $50.00. There's only a 1 cent or less difference between thick film 1% and 5% resistors yet they still sell

Then math basic addition and multiplication should be trivial.

Lets see your paying an extra $50 to $100 or more then necessary per order, how many orders per month times twelve , times what did you say

That money could be used for several things like investing in your business. In other words it's better in your pocket then Somebody's else.

It takes you an hour to find a part?

Dont go there for the same reasons.

Yep. Our Arrow rep is constantly trying to get me to use their search engine. I tell him 1) when you make it as easy as DigiKey and 2) that's what I have

For production quantities I consistently beat DigiKey by 20-50%. Disties get special pricing and sometimes disties will cut into that to make a sale. FPGAs are notorious for pricing by the customer. Never pay the catalog price for 'em.