5 ms·

Alas, for some reason they only cater to the US market and have no presence in the EU, for example. So while it is possible to order from them, it's rather inco

by jwr 4y ago

Alas, for some reason they only cater to the US market and have no presence in the EU, for example. So while it is possible to order from them, it's rather inconvenient as you need to deal with customs/taxes. Digi-Key got this right: you can order DDP, which makes things quick & simple. Incidentally, I am amazed that they don't have a meaningful competitor in the EU. It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s and dedicate next to zero effort to their web ordering process.

donbox 4y ago
and Canada, though only to business and school addresses only.
- bookofjoe 4y ago
  Pro tip: Use M.D. after your name and you're a business. I AM an M.D. but friends I've given this advice to over the years have had success in impersonating a business with this title.
  - iancmceachern 4y ago
    You could also put "Trucking". Joe Blow Trucking
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Sole proprietorships are businesses. One could just put their name in the “company name” field.
    - bookofjoe 4y ago
      Sometimes there is no company field. In that case go to M.D.
lokimedes 4y ago
The B2B vacuum of Europe. So many voids to fill, for the ones daring to share product details and, gasp, prices, online.
- tinco 4y ago
  Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? It's absolutely bonkers, I have been renovating my house the past 6 years, and to even get into the stores I had to get a business account (by cheating and using my IT business registration). None of the websites show prices if you don't have an account, and some of them even check if your business is legit so I just get refused. The one that rejected me also seems to only allow loading goods by fully sized truck so maybe it wasn't going to happen anyway, but it's so strange.
  - duckmysick 4y ago
    > Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? Is it that much different from SaaS companies that instead of prices show a "contact sales" button?
    - mikepurvis 4y ago
      But most of those have multiple self-serve tiers (maybe even a free one) below the must-call “enterprise” option.
  - Cthulhu_ 4y ago
    I wonder if it's down to having an opportunity to negotiate the price. It's either that, or things like handling get calculated to fine points - a single screw being more expensive than a box of screws, for example. Shipping is complicated as well. Maybe it's about setting up invoicing accounts as well? Anyway, lots of barriers, makes you think it's either a requirement that I as a layperson don't understand, or a hole in the market. That said, what about German electronics parts sites like Conrad or Reichelt?
  - Tade0 4y ago
    I'll do you one better: I had to create a verified business account just to download software(ladder logic IDE for a sewage pump) from one such site. I even got a call from a nice, older gentleman who asked me why do I want a business account and could this be avoided somehow. Funny he should ask. To me it appears that these companies see presence in the web as a necessary evil and would rather do business the old fashioned way: calling and in-person meetings. Apparently so far they hadn't had any incentive to change.
stdbrouw 4y ago
I often use Conrad for its huge collection of small parts (mechanical as well as semiconductors) most of which can be ordered individually, with an interface with lots of filters and easy access to manuals and data sheets. Sometimes their categorization is a bit off, and they don't have CAD files, but it's decent enough.
- sydd 4y ago
  Conrad is a shitshow in my country. - Almost nothing is on stock, most items have 10+ weeks backorder time. - Ridiculously expensive, its common to find 2x prices than in other shops. - Full with Chinesium crap (but some high quality items too), one can never be sure what they will get. Its like a shitty Aliexpress
  - yardie 4y ago
    LOL. I discovered Conrad before I found out about AliExpress. I thought AE was a shitty Conrad with much better pricing but slower delivery.
kuon 4y ago
There is misumi but it is not exactly the same market
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  Musumi is great too, they're cool because they have a lot of semi custom parts like plates with holes in them where you can spec the hole locations, rotary shafts with custom lengths and end finishing, etc.
dejerpha 4y ago
Maybe because the site is hard-coded for the US imperial system? Quoting the article: «Bolts are commonly specified by their thread size (e.g. 1/4"-20), and their length. I'm looking for a 1/4"-20 x 1" bolt, meaning that the bolt's diameter is 1/4" and its length is 1", so I select these filters.»
- dagw 4y ago
  Maybe because the site is hard-coded for the US imperial system? Why not go to the site and take a look. They, obviously, sell both metric and imperial bolts (and everything else). It's not like Americans don't occasionally need metric bolts.
  - jsjohnst 4y ago
    > It's not like Americans don't occasionally need metric bolts. It’s becoming a lot more common than not in fact. Automobile industry for example is pretty heavy on using metric bolts / screws. It’s not a recent thing either, a 2004 F-250 I used to have had many (most?) bolts as metric.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      The US automotive industry started their metric push in the 1970s, and was mostly done in the 1980s for everything new. There are still a few parts from the 1960s and before that work just fine and so haven't been redesigned (and thus the bracket it goes on in a mix), but if there was ever need to redesign that part it would be all metric.
    - yardie 4y ago
      This only helps the tool makers. I wrench on Japanese and European cars yet every toolset comes with Metric and SAE sets. It seems to only inflate the parts count without giving you more functionality. The SAE and Metric bits are practically interchangeable.
      - jsjohnst 4y ago
hownottowrite 4y ago
DDP is probably the only good solution here for most EU customers, but frankly the hassle and expense of doing business in the EU is what keeps most US e-commerce companies from entering the market.
- situationista 4y ago
  I tried googling DDP but couldn't find it - do you know the URL?
  - Luc 4y ago
    It stands for 'Delivery Duty Paid', i.e. customs charges, import tariffs, taxes, handling charges are included in the price and don't arrive as an unwelcome surprise.
  - zrobotics 4y ago
    It is a shipping term, it stands for deluvered duty paid. Basically, customs duties are paid by the shipper and the item is delivered directly to the customer. From a logistics perspective it is a massive PITA, but for DTC sales in the EU it's the preferred option. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delivery-duty-paid.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delivery-duty-paid.asp
  - hownottowrite 4y ago
    I see a couple other folks jumped in. It’s basically a way to estimate duties and taxes up front so the EU customer knows the full price before they order. The reality it that most EU customers already know the price before they order (or have a good idea it’s going to be 20% more). But they like to pretend they don’t.
auxym 4y ago
> It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s and dedicate next to zero effort to their web ordering process. I'm so glad we can order from mcmaster here in canada, even though shipping is two days and usually min 30 USD even for tiny orders. All local industrial suppliers are truly stuck in the 80s. They have a paper catalog, without prices (if you're lucky you can get a PDF too). If you want prices, you have to call a salesperson, or send an email with an item list and wait a day or two to get a quote back. Then you get your quote, and some items are in stock, some others in stock "nearby" (next day delivery), others are backorder (1-X weeks). Then you have a lengthy phone or email back and forth to try and figure out what's in stock as a replacement. So yeah, McMaster whenever possible and I'll gladly (have my employer) pay more for it. Shout-out to Misumi, too, however. I do mostly prototyping and I use so much of their customizable items, like rotary shafts. Much cheaper and faster than doing a drawing, sending it out to 3-8 local shops to try to find one that is quiet enough jobwise to take on a tiny one-off project and waiting 4 weeks for it, at a high price.
- mcnugget 4y ago
  10/10 agree for Canadians McMaster Carr is a godsend. Can order random stock material and have it tomorrow and have a certificate telling me exactly what stuff is with a nice cad model. Their search is the best though, can write some half assed description of what I want and it'll just deisplay what I want. Their mobile website is garbage though.
  - mycombacct 4y ago
    not for long ;)
- Forgeties79 4y ago
  >without prices What in god’s name what!? How much business are they losing from that I wonder haha
PinguTS 4y ago
We hade a competitor in Europe. It was called Zoro. Maybe not THAT clean but overall they also had a good website and great prices. But they folded some years ago. In B2B we have Fabory: https://www.fabory.com https://www.fabory.com
- 83 4y ago
  That's unfortunate you lost Zoro. They still operate in the US - I use them a lot.
jon_adler 4y ago
I used accu.co.uk (in the U.K, not EU) for a project, and they were fantastic. I’m only a hobbyist though. Can someone explain what it is missing?

by jwr 4y ago

donbox 4y ago

and Canada, though only to business and school addresses only.

bookofjoe 4y ago
Pro tip: Use M.D. after your name and you're a business. I AM an M.D. but friends I've given this advice to over the years have had success in impersonating a business with this title.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  You could also put "Trucking". Joe Blow Trucking
- kube-system 4y ago
  Sole proprietorships are businesses. One could just put their name in the “company name” field.
  - bookofjoe 4y ago
    Sometimes there is no company field. In that case go to M.D.

lokimedes 4y ago

The B2B vacuum of Europe. So many voids to fill, for the ones daring to share product details and, gasp, prices, online.

tinco 4y ago
Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? It's absolutely bonkers, I have been renovating my house the past 6 years, and to even get into the stores I had to get a business account (by cheating and using my IT business registration). None of the websites show prices if you don't have an account, and some of them even check if your business is legit so I just get refused. The one that rejected me also seems to only allow loading goods by fully sized truck so maybe it wasn't going to happen anyway, but it's so strange.
- duckmysick 4y ago
  > Yeah what is going on with B2B in Europe and not showing prices? Is it that much different from SaaS companies that instead of prices show a "contact sales" button?
  - mikepurvis 4y ago
    But most of those have multiple self-serve tiers (maybe even a free one) below the must-call “enterprise” option.
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  I wonder if it's down to having an opportunity to negotiate the price. It's either that, or things like handling get calculated to fine points - a single screw being more expensive than a box of screws, for example. Shipping is complicated as well. Maybe it's about setting up invoicing accounts as well? Anyway, lots of barriers, makes you think it's either a requirement that I as a layperson don't understand, or a hole in the market. That said, what about German electronics parts sites like Conrad or Reichelt?
- Tade0 4y ago
  I'll do you one better: I had to create a verified business account just to download software(ladder logic IDE for a sewage pump) from one such site. I even got a call from a nice, older gentleman who asked me why do I want a business account and could this be avoided somehow. Funny he should ask. To me it appears that these companies see presence in the web as a necessary evil and would rather do business the old fashioned way: calling and in-person meetings. Apparently so far they hadn't had any incentive to change.

stdbrouw 4y ago

I often use Conrad for its huge collection of small parts (mechanical as well as semiconductors) most of which can be ordered individually, with an interface with lots of filters and easy access to manuals and data sheets. Sometimes their categorization is a bit off, and they don't have CAD files, but it's decent enough.

sydd 4y ago
Conrad is a shitshow in my country. - Almost nothing is on stock, most items have 10+ weeks backorder time. - Ridiculously expensive, its common to find 2x prices than in other shops. - Full with Chinesium crap (but some high quality items too), one can never be sure what they will get. Its like a shitty Aliexpress
- yardie 4y ago
  LOL. I discovered Conrad before I found out about AliExpress. I thought AE was a shitty Conrad with much better pricing but slower delivery.

kuon 4y ago

There is misumi but it is not exactly the same market

iancmceachern 4y ago
Musumi is great too, they're cool because they have a lot of semi custom parts like plates with holes in them where you can spec the hole locations, rotary shafts with custom lengths and end finishing, etc.

dejerpha 4y ago

Maybe because the site is hard-coded for the US imperial system? Quoting the article: «Bolts are commonly specified by their thread size (e.g. 1/4"-20), and their length. I'm looking for a 1/4"-20 x 1" bolt, meaning that the bolt's diameter is 1/4" and its length is 1", so I select these filters.»

dagw 4y ago
Maybe because the site is hard-coded for the US imperial system? Why not go to the site and take a look. They, obviously, sell both metric and imperial bolts (and everything else). It's not like Americans don't occasionally need metric bolts.
- jsjohnst 4y ago
  > It's not like Americans don't occasionally need metric bolts. It’s becoming a lot more common than not in fact. Automobile industry for example is pretty heavy on using metric bolts / screws. It’s not a recent thing either, a 2004 F-250 I used to have had many (most?) bolts as metric.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    The US automotive industry started their metric push in the 1970s, and was mostly done in the 1980s for everything new. There are still a few parts from the 1960s and before that work just fine and so haven't been redesigned (and thus the bracket it goes on in a mix), but if there was ever need to redesign that part it would be all metric.
  - yardie 4y ago
    This only helps the tool makers. I wrench on Japanese and European cars yet every toolset comes with Metric and SAE sets. It seems to only inflate the parts count without giving you more functionality. The SAE and Metric bits are practically interchangeable.
    - jsjohnst 4y ago

hownottowrite 4y ago

DDP is probably the only good solution here for most EU customers, but frankly the hassle and expense of doing business in the EU is what keeps most US e-commerce companies from entering the market.

situationista 4y ago
I tried googling DDP but couldn't find it - do you know the URL?
- Luc 4y ago
  It stands for 'Delivery Duty Paid', i.e. customs charges, import tariffs, taxes, handling charges are included in the price and don't arrive as an unwelcome surprise.
- zrobotics 4y ago
  It is a shipping term, it stands for deluvered duty paid. Basically, customs duties are paid by the shipper and the item is delivered directly to the customer. From a logistics perspective it is a massive PITA, but for DTC sales in the EU it's the preferred option. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delivery-duty-paid.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delivery-duty-paid.asp
- hownottowrite 4y ago
  I see a couple other folks jumped in. It’s basically a way to estimate duties and taxes up front so the EU customer knows the full price before they order. The reality it that most EU customers already know the price before they order (or have a good idea it’s going to be 20% more). But they like to pretend they don’t.

auxym 4y ago

> It seems most companies here are stuck in the 80s and dedicate next to zero effort to their web ordering process. I'm so glad we can order from mcmaster here in canada, even though shipping is two days and usually min 30 USD even for tiny orders. All local industrial suppliers are truly stuck in the 80s. They have a paper catalog, without prices (if you're lucky you can get a PDF too). If you want prices, you have to call a salesperson, or send an email with an item list and wait a day or two to get a quote back. Then you get your quote, and some items are in stock, some others in stock "nearby" (next day delivery), others are backorder (1-X weeks). Then you have a lengthy phone or email back and forth to try and figure out what's in stock as a replacement. So yeah, McMaster whenever possible and I'll gladly (have my employer) pay more for it. Shout-out to Misumi, too, however. I do mostly prototyping and I use so much of their customizable items, like rotary shafts. Much cheaper and faster than doing a drawing, sending it out to 3-8 local shops to try to find one that is quiet enough jobwise to take on a tiny one-off project and waiting 4 weeks for it, at a high price.

mcnugget 4y ago
10/10 agree for Canadians McMaster Carr is a godsend. Can order random stock material and have it tomorrow and have a certificate telling me exactly what stuff is with a nice cad model. Their search is the best though, can write some half assed description of what I want and it'll just deisplay what I want. Their mobile website is garbage though.
- mycombacct 4y ago
  not for long ;)
Forgeties79 4y ago
>without prices What in god’s name what!? How much business are they losing from that I wonder haha

PinguTS 4y ago

We hade a competitor in Europe. It was called Zoro. Maybe not THAT clean but overall they also had a good website and great prices. But they folded some years ago. In B2B we have Fabory: https://www.fabory.com https://www.fabory.com

83 4y ago
That's unfortunate you lost Zoro. They still operate in the US - I use them a lot.

jon_adler 4y ago

I used accu.co.uk (in the U.K, not EU) for a project, and they were fantastic. I’m only a hobbyist though. Can someone explain what it is missing?