Digikey and Mouser are cheaper than Adafruit (For example, http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/SN74HC595N/296-1600-5-ND/277246 http://www

Digikey and Mouser are cheaper than Adafruit (For example, http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/SN74HC595N/296-1600-5-ND/277246 http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/texas-instruments/S... vs https://www.adafruit.com/products/450 https://www.adafruit.com/products/450). Adafruit's advantage (and the reason they are in business) is that they specifically market to hobbyists, selling stuff that's easy to use and giving you instructions on how to use it. And some of their stuff is straight from Aliexpress (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1150 https://www.adafruit.com/product/1150). As a side note, I prefer to buy Chinese components from eBay. Some of the time, you can find high quality new-old-stock on there too.