Ridiculous packaging from Arrow - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: piguy101
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 10:32:04 pm
content: I am aware of the crazy packaging from Arrow, but I thought you all would enjoy this story.I took advantage of Arrow's free shipping deal and ordered some parts along with 1 liter of isopropyl alcohol. The parts came separately and the alcohol was delayed for one day because Arrow said it had to go through hazmat. No worries. This is the package I got.My goodness. This is for a little bottle of alcohol and the box is enormous and covered in red warning labels.I open the box and I see it is filled with some kind of shredded fiber substance (presumably to prevent fire?), kind of like hamster bedding. At this point, I knew that I shouldn't open the package inside.Behold the little bottle of alcohol in the middle of the bag filled with the shreddings!

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 10:37:51 pm
content: It looks like it was packed for shipment by air. Those regulations are very stringent. There are even rules for where the labels must be placed. Just to be safe, some companies will package for air shipment no matter how it's actually being sent.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 10:54:47 pm
content: Always buy solvents, sprays, etc. locally because its a huge hassle to get these shipped online now. Most of the time they won't even offer to sell to Canada. I get my 99% isopropyl from the local grocery store.Hard to tell but the material could bevermiculite, same stuff used in potting soils, can handle very high temperatures and is absorbent.They probably lost money on selling that to you.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2018, 11:36:55 pm
content: Sorry never seen isopropyl 99% in grocery stores. What store was it?

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 12:07:39 am
content: Sort of hit or miss in grocery/drug stores. Ask the pharmacist if you don't see that concentration on the shelf...sometimes it's behind the counter. If you can't find it locally, I suggest Amazon or Walmart as easy sources, at least for US buyers (you tell me if it works for Canada too). Search for "99% isopropyl alcohol".For board cleaning purposes, denatured alcohol is a fine alternative. Find that at your hardware store.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 01:20:12 am
content: I had a similar experience with Digikey once. I ordered something like 5 SO8 ICs and a handful of bits and pieces. A few days later I got home and there was about a 3 foot long box on my porch. I opened it and found inside a small bag of parts along with a gigantic IC tube with the little SO8 ICs at one end and a big strip of foam filling the rest of the tube. This was put in a long anti-static pouch and the whole thing was wrapped in about 8 square feet of that perforated paper padding stuff they use. The whole order could have easily fit in a box the size of a VHS tape had they cut down the IC tube to something sensible.I seem to recall ordering some samples from ON Semi once which arrived in a similarly overkill manner.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 01:22:20 am
content: Quote from: Bud on August 09, 2018, 11:36:55 pmhttps://www.saq.com/page/fr/saqcom/alcool/global-94-/12209012?selectedIndex=2&searchContextId=2730080899212011711Yeah yeah ... close enough...

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 01:45:29 am
content: QuoteThose jerks shorted you a chip!?

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 02:40:34 am
content: Quote from: thm_w on August 09, 2018, 10:54:47 pmYes, and if it weren't for the cancer, they'd probably use asbestos instead.

author: AlfBaz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 02:43:27 am
content: I once bought a couple of pal chips from a mob in the US. Postage was based on size and weight, which ever was greater. I figured it would cost about 30 bucks to ship the 2 16 pin dip ic's. It arrived in a 2 foot long tube, postage cost $129 for 2 4 dollar chips!To their credit I contacted them about it and they refunded me the difference with an apology

author: Paul Moir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 02:59:17 am
content: Quote from: Bud on August 09, 2018, 11:36:55 pmI get my 99% from Sobey's.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 03:25:22 am
content: Thanks, I will go check it tomorrow, there is one near me. Not that I need IPA (I buy from a different place) but just curious.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 04:31:19 am
content: For shipment by air, secondary containment with absorbent to contain any leakage is required. That is the reason for the vermiculite.

author: blackfin76
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2018, 12:43:31 pm
content: It's normal they pack it this way if it was send by airplane. I once ordered a CR2032 lithium battery from Farnell and it arrived in a special box with all sorts of labels and warnings. The rest of my order came a day earlier in a bubble envelope, the lost money on sending that single CR2032 for sure.

author: Cthulhoid
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2018, 10:10:43 pm
content: I just got an order in from Arrow that I spent $50 on. $40 came from the US, in one box that's a bit large but not terribly so.The rest... 5x BNC connectors and 2x LM1806 voltage regulators. A small padded envelope would be sufficient, but they came one SKU to a box. Two lunchbox-sized boxes, shipped from the same warehouse in NL, with customs form and invoice envelopes in English and German.Sent priority overnight, although it actually took two days.I'm having a very hard time believing they spent less than $20 on shipping this order. But I guess the free overnight shipping offer got me to order from them... once, because their website is a three-alarm dumpster fire.

author: chickenHeadKnob
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2018, 05:29:33 am
content: Quote from: Bud on August 09, 2018, 11:36:55 pmQuote from: nusaI live in the backwoods of Vancouver Island. The local Walmart and the Real Canadian Stupid-Store (yes its a thing,stop laughing you yankies) are midget versions of the regular size ones and both carry 99% but more often than not the 99% is missing. The 70% stuff is always there. Someone else must be buying them the moment they appear, which is what I do. Every once in awhile I swing past the shelf and if a bottle is there I grab it as a crime of opportunity. Part of the sacrifice I make for my hobby.

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2018, 10:29:34 am
content: If that’s vermiculite, it can go straight in the garden for retaining moistureI had one plug send from TC Connectivity (I think they are called), which arrived in a box the size of a TV set top box.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 06:34:40 am
content: I ordered ten 9v NiMH rechargeable batteries some years ago from Conrad Direct.Each battery, already blister packaged, was sent in their own very large pizza size cardboard box.The only thing was packaged with the battery was the invoice and no bubble wrap so they had all that space to move about.What a waste of cardboard.

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 01:14:07 pm
content: Quote from: chickenHeadKnob on October 01, 2018, 05:29:33 amI buy 99% IPA at Costco, four 500 ml bottles for under $10. Always in stock.I had a similar over-packaging incident from Arrow a couple years ago, the only time I ordered from them. Just ten TO-220 Schottky rectifiers in a 3 foot long tube, itself packed inside a large box. Packing fail, but free shippingFTW.

author: grifftech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 02:10:42 pm
content: resistors and pin headders in esd bags

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2018, 05:18:47 pm
content: Resistors in an ESD bag sometime can make sense (e.g. LT5400).I remember BNC connectors and 10 mOhms shunt in ESD bags - but an LM399 just in a simple bag (though different order).

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2018, 03:51:49 am
content: Actually, the one & only time I purchased anything from Arrow, was 4 edge connectors,and they came wrapped in a lifetime of SPAM! I hate that crap. Must have been a ticked box I missed somewhere.I should start sending them my eBay listings because they haven’t opted out of receiving them.

author: maukka
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 05, 2018, 10:25:26 am
content: At least the shipping was free:Non-therapeutic unboxing:https://imgur.com/a/IneSpzV

author: Peabody
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2018, 06:03:40 am
content: I ordered a small amount from Arrow today, and at the last minute added a dollar's worth of LEDs. I got emails later with shipping information, and it was two FedEx overnights, both free, one of which contains only the LEDs.