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>offshore websites like digikey Digi-key has been based in Minnesota since they were founded 40+ years ago. Sure a lot of their parts are manufactured in other

>offshore websites like digikey Digi-key has been based in Minnesota since they were founded 40+ years ago. Sure a lot of their parts are manufactured in other countries (just like Sparkfun), but their main distribution center is in the US, and they have thousands of employees working there.

dylan604 8y ago
watch me eat this big bowl of crow. honestly, had no idea, and made a huge assumption. will actually have to rethink order from there. still don't like their website though ;-)
- stryk 8y ago
  Digi-Key has what has to be a top contender for fastest order processing & shipment of any company that does e-commerce ever. No exaggeration, it's almost inconceivable how quickly they will pack up and ship out your order. Especially when considering most orders likely contain many different, intricately small parts each of varying quantities. For example, I've seen YouTube videos from AvE who lives in Canada, where he ordered a few ICs late-ish the previous night and UPS dropped them off at his door the next afternoon. And this isn't a one-off occasion, it's consistent.
  - hatsunearu 8y ago
    McMaster-Carr might be comparable, though. At Georgia Tech, a MC order at like 9AM could realistically be received at like 1PM with the cheapest shipping option. Usually the slow link was GT Post Office. But that's because MC has a warehouse really close to Atlanta.
- markrages 8y ago
  What? They have the best website of all the electronics distributors. Which distributor has a better website?
  - sandl 8y ago
    I personally prefer mouser over digikey.
  - elijahparker 8y ago
    It's not electronics, but for many years now McMaster-Carr [1] has impressed me as a highly practical and efficient website. [1] McMaster.com
- taneq 8y ago
  Funnily enough, when I first stumbled on them (about 15 years ago) I too assumed they were a China-based company for some reason. It wasn't until the first shipment arrived and I finally noticed the sender address that I realised they were States-based. I still use them for most of my parts, they're amazingly quick to process and ship, and the free shipping for $50+ orders is awesome.
Zuph 8y ago
Their only distribution center, at that! They ship everything out of the Thief River Falls warehouse. They also run a great tour, if you're ever in the area. Fun fact, they can take just about any combination of the 1million+ SKUs they stock from order reception to in a box waiting for a truck in under 15 minutes.
- blt 8y ago
  another fun fact, they will ship for free if you pay by check.
- exikyut 8y ago
  > They also run a great tour, if you're ever in the area. Hearing this made me very curious, then sad, as I'm 8953mi ( 14408km) away. But then I found https://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/semiconductors/devices/slideshow-a-day-in-the-life-of-digikey https://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/semiconductors/devices/s.... The tiny little blue arrows on the slideshow weren't immediately obvious!
- tokipin 8y ago
  They have (had?) a local warehouse I think off 101 in the Bay Area, don't remember exactly where. You could walk in with a list of parts and they would grab them for you right there.
  - bronson 8y ago
    You're thinking of Jameco?
    - tokipin 8y ago
      Yep thanks I just remembered that's what it was ("it had a J in it"). Woops. Not sure why I've had them confused for Digi-Key the last few years. Maybe the Digi-Key branding is just more memorable.
lsllc 8y ago
Digikey is great -- so is Sparkfun! I use them both extensively.
- HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
  BTW: you can order a lot of Sparkfun (and Adafruit) stuff from DigiKey. I do this a lot since Digi-Key ships faster and I already live in MN so it gets here next day.
HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
I live in MN now, but when I lived on the East Coast, I remember talking to a Digi-Key order taker on the phone (pre-web days!) about the weather. It was winter and all the roads were closed, but many of the employees came to work on snowmobiles. I have to add that in the (holy cow!) 30 years that I've been buying parts from Digi-Key either for personal use, my own businesses, or employers, I remember them making exactly three mistakes! Two of which I didn't care about, the third, since the order was for the company I worked for, they corrected immediately. I can happily live with 3 errors in 30 years!

dylan604 8y ago

watch me eat this big bowl of crow. honestly, had no idea, and made a huge assumption. will actually have to rethink order from there. still don't like their website though ;-)

stryk 8y ago
Digi-Key has what has to be a top contender for fastest order processing & shipment of any company that does e-commerce ever. No exaggeration, it's almost inconceivable how quickly they will pack up and ship out your order. Especially when considering most orders likely contain many different, intricately small parts each of varying quantities. For example, I've seen YouTube videos from AvE who lives in Canada, where he ordered a few ICs late-ish the previous night and UPS dropped them off at his door the next afternoon. And this isn't a one-off occasion, it's consistent.
- hatsunearu 8y ago
  McMaster-Carr might be comparable, though. At Georgia Tech, a MC order at like 9AM could realistically be received at like 1PM with the cheapest shipping option. Usually the slow link was GT Post Office. But that's because MC has a warehouse really close to Atlanta.
markrages 8y ago
What? They have the best website of all the electronics distributors. Which distributor has a better website?
- sandl 8y ago
  I personally prefer mouser over digikey.
- elijahparker 8y ago
  It's not electronics, but for many years now McMaster-Carr [1] has impressed me as a highly practical and efficient website. [1] McMaster.com
taneq 8y ago
Funnily enough, when I first stumbled on them (about 15 years ago) I too assumed they were a China-based company for some reason. It wasn't until the first shipment arrived and I finally noticed the sender address that I realised they were States-based. I still use them for most of my parts, they're amazingly quick to process and ship, and the free shipping for $50+ orders is awesome.

Zuph 8y ago

Their only distribution center, at that! They ship everything out of the Thief River Falls warehouse. They also run a great tour, if you're ever in the area. Fun fact, they can take just about any combination of the 1million+ SKUs they stock from order reception to in a box waiting for a truck in under 15 minutes.

blt 8y ago
another fun fact, they will ship for free if you pay by check.
exikyut 8y ago
> They also run a great tour, if you're ever in the area. Hearing this made me very curious, then sad, as I'm 8953mi ( 14408km) away. But then I found https://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/semiconductors/devices/slideshow-a-day-in-the-life-of-digikey https://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/semiconductors/devices/s.... The tiny little blue arrows on the slideshow weren't immediately obvious!
tokipin 8y ago
They have (had?) a local warehouse I think off 101 in the Bay Area, don't remember exactly where. You could walk in with a list of parts and they would grab them for you right there.
- bronson 8y ago
  You're thinking of Jameco?
  - tokipin 8y ago
    Yep thanks I just remembered that's what it was ("it had a J in it"). Woops. Not sure why I've had them confused for Digi-Key the last few years. Maybe the Digi-Key branding is just more memorable.

lsllc 8y ago

Digikey is great -- so is Sparkfun! I use them both extensively.

HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
BTW: you can order a lot of Sparkfun (and Adafruit) stuff from DigiKey. I do this a lot since Digi-Key ships faster and I already live in MN so it gets here next day.

HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago

I live in MN now, but when I lived on the East Coast, I remember talking to a Digi-Key order taker on the phone (pre-web days!) about the weather. It was winter and all the roads were closed, but many of the employees came to work on snowmobiles. I have to add that in the (holy cow!) 30 years that I've been buying parts from Digi-Key either for personal use, my own businesses, or employers, I remember them making exactly three mistakes! Two of which I didn't care about, the third, since the order was for the company I worked for, they corrected immediately. I can happily live with 3 errors in 30 years!