Ordering components in Europe, digikey and import tax - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Mihemine
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 01:10:47 pm
content: Hello,I'm a student in Belgium, and would like to order some parts for a project, but I need enough to make 100 of my pcb, so ebay won't cut it,I prepared everything with digikey but they ship out of the US, and import tax is not clear ( It seems like I would have to pay 21% extra ), farnell requires a vat number ( that I don't have ) and mouser is way more expensive for the stuff I want.Where do you Europeans buy your stuff and how do you deal with the vat ? My school buys off farnell and other sites but they have a vat number :/This process has been a pain, because every site seems to have some problem or another, and out of sheer irritation I ordered enough components off of ebay to at least test my pcb, but it cost me 10x more then it should have, and they estimate shipping to be 3 weeks :sPS: I would like to order about 1600€ of stuff so 21% vat is a pretty large amount to just pile on top, especially since I'm the one putting this out of my pocketThank you !

author: LazyJack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 01:29:38 pm
content: Well. The purpose of the VAT is that someone pays it. If you have a VAT number, then you are probably a company, who will pay the VAT when selling the product to an end user. If you don't have a VAT number, then you are likely and end user and you pay the tax to the seller (who in turn pays it to the state). (VAT is a bit more complex, escpecially when dealing cross country trade, but you get the general idea.)If it were easy to evade paying tax, everyone would do it, don't you think?So, no, there is no easy legal way to evade paying VAT.

author: LazyJack
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 02:30:44 pm
content: Afaik Farnell has European warehouse and they indicate if the part will ship from there. Generally you pay the VAT of the country that you are in, where the goods are sent to.

author: fubar.gr
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 02:52:52 pm
content: TME.eu are based and ship from the EU (Poland I think)

author: Koen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 02:55:09 pm
content: You'll pay 21% + a fixed fee to UPS on or before delivery.

author: Wirehead
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 03:52:06 pm
content: RS components send stuff from Germany and UK warehouses as well.

author: Wirehead
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 03:54:29 pm
content: Also take a look at this:http://onderdelen.muxtronics.nl/about.htmlSome guy made this (and farnell approves), this enables ordering with them without a VAT in BE/NL.

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 04:28:32 pm
content: I'm afraid that if the components you need are made outside EU, one way or another you will end up paying VAT+ customs duties, either directly when buying from the extra-EU shop or indirectly with the higher price of the EU importer (which is charging his VAT and customs import costs).Sooo... pick your poison

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 04:35:35 pm
content: you can't evade paying VAT.farnell, mouser, rs don't charge import duties in europe. if you order a part that is in the UK or US warehouse you will have to pay a premium on the order (from RS and Farnell). Digikey i don't know

author: PartialDischarge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 04:45:14 pm
content: Quote from: Mihemine on August 06, 2016, 01:46:52 pmMouser will give you the total amount upfront including taxes, and free shipping over 50€ orders.Not sure why you say that mouser is the most expensive, when they are usually cheaper than digikey (although not in every part...)

author: Kilrah
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 08:00:49 pm
content: Most sellers I know in Europe are so much more expensive that you're still better off ordering from the US and paying shipping+VAT than ordering locally.

author: pyroesp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 08:17:43 pm
content: Ask your teachers if they can buy it from farnell and you pay them/the school back.I've done it a few times when needing stuff from farnell, altough never bought stuff for 1600EUR.Quote from: Kilrah on August 06, 2016, 08:00:49 pm+1PS: We have a few sellers in BE, but don't even think about buying anything from them. The prices are just ridiculous.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 08:47:13 pm
content: just buy from the distributors.again, i don't know about arrow or digikey but every other one won't charge you for import duties. My preferred distributor is mouser (best website IMHO and most of the time better prices for lower quantities)i heard somewhere that digikey will break your balls over anything because they are paranoid americans(an uk reseller told that he had to sign a release that stated he wasn't a terrorist or working for terrorists because he bought a reel of MCUs)

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 09:33:05 pm
content: Quote from: Kilrah on August 06, 2016, 08:00:49 pmWell, that is maybe because you are in Switzerland. Switzerland is not EU member and I remember having to pay customs and what not very often there thanks to that.Re ordering from the US - quite doubt it. Maybe for big ticket items where the shipping and customs are a small part of the overall ticket, but for components? Unless the Switzerland has special agreements with the US or lets you skip paying VAT on import, then you will be charged the VAT on delivery anyway and the customs + processing fees of UPS or whoever the company uses will often wipe out any savings you could have made by buying for US prices. For the major distributors the difference between the US and EU prices is mostly the EUR/USD exchange rate + VAT (i.e. the prices are very much the same):Random example: STM32F030C6T6/1pcMouser US: $1.74Mouser EU: 1.60€ (without VAT)Digikey US: $1.69Digikey FR: 1.59€ (without VAT)So I don't really see the point in ordering from the US.

author: PartialDischarge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 10:17:38 pm
content: janoc, there is no mouser EU. Its just a webpage, the company and the warehouse is in the US. So whatever you order from mouser will have a VAT added for you after that price you post.There seems to be a LOT of misunderstanding about vat, customs etc...Let me just say that thankfully mouser will pay the taxes for you in your home country, and no other import charges will be applied.However if another company ships from the US vis lets say fedex, and you only pay the shipping and the items, you will have to pay at home the for the taxes plus the customs+fedex fees.So when someone like mouser has agreements which each govt (and they have ppl workin in each country just for that) you JUST pay the vat.Other companies that dont have such infrastructure let "others" handle the import fees. And that others will make you pay not only the vat but additional,fees

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2016, 11:51:19 pm
content: Quote from: MasterTech on August 06, 2016, 10:17:38 pmOf course, I know that. The reason I was posting the prices without VAT is because otherwise it is difficult to compare them (the tax is different in every EU country - a Dane will pay more with their 25% VAT vs a Frenchman with 20% VAT or a Swiss who has only 8% VAT) and companies most often don't really pay it anyway (they pass it on to their client).As a private client I would get about 20% on top of those posted prices French VAT + shipping & handling (about 20 euro if I buy for less than 30 euro or so at Mouser, I believe). From my point of view Mouser acts as an EU company, how exactly they handle it, whether through a warehouse in Europe or through some sort of arrangement with the government I don't really care about. They don't charge any import fees/customs to me.Farnell and RS are the same story as Mouser for me, plus they ship from EU warehouses (except for items from the US stock - which costs extra), so I get only the 20% French VAT added as a private client + shipping & handling. No customs or anything like that, from my point of view they are local (EU) companies, same as if I was buying something from the mom&pop convenience store at the corner.The only exception from the major ones is Digikey. Digikey doesn't collect VAT in France directly, but it will be collected by UPS/DHL (or whoever they use to ship today) on delivery, along with customs (most likely none for components due to low total value) and then the UPS/DHL customs handling fee (a separate bill about a week later). That is the only case I know about where the final client has to deal with these details themselves. However, it depends by country - in the UK they handle it differently, same as in Denmark where I have used Digikey quite often without issues. Maybe it has changed in the meantime, I haven't ordered anything from Digikey in several years due to the treatment they gave me.Quote from: MasterTech on August 06, 2016, 10:17:38 pmThere is no misunderstanding, I am not arguing with you. Please read the comment I have been replying to - which was Kilrah's about the EU vs US prices. Trust me, I know what I am talking about - I have been ordering components and paying these bills for more than a decade, in 4 different countries.

author: Kilrah
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 07:04:42 am
content: Quote from: janoc on August 06, 2016, 09:33:05 pmNo, I mentioned Europe because I operate outside of Switzertland for some projects too. In Switzerland we're actually in a better position due to the lower VAT.Quote from: janoc on August 06, 2016, 09:33:05 pmLet me rephrase that, I meant orderingfrom US companies. Ordering from Mouser/DK US or EU is the same, it comes form the US with US pricing. The point is that European-based distributors will usually have higher prices on the same things even after all respective taxes and fees are considered e.g for that same part Distrelec (€2.01 without tax), Conrad (€4.31 with tax), Farnell (1.86€ without tax), RS components (site down, can't check...) etc. That's what the OP's question was about.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 07:13:53 am
content: To the OP: if the VAT # with Farnell is the issue, I could order them for you and invoice them with the VAT added.Would probably have to add 1-2% in order not to get in trouble with the bookkeeper. But if it helps...

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 09:18:53 am
content: 3945 HamJust to be clear: I'm not into this to make a buck, I'm trying to help out a student, a member of this community.If you need 5 resistors and a bc587 (so to speak): there are still a few component shops around (Rato in Antwerpen, Gotron in Hasselt and others) but for project/quantities where Farnell makes sense I'm willing to help you out.

author: larsdenmark
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 09:36:31 am
content: Digikey.be lists a phone number, email address and has support for live chat. Why not ask them directly?

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 11:05:47 am
content: Farnell has definitely a warehouse in Europe. (if you're a regular customer you can even get your things the next day)A guy from tweakers.net made a website where private people/non-business from NL and BE can place an order.http://onderdelen.muxtronics.nl/

author: Koen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 11:45:39 am
content: Farnell.be mentions "If you are not a company, please order from our partner sinuss.be". Crazy expensive though.Anyway, give a call first to Farnell sales in Grace-Hollogne, they'll be interested if the order is ~1600EUR.

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 11:53:57 am
content: Quote from: Koen on August 07, 2016, 11:45:39 amYes, sinuss is very expensive.For that reason, use the link I posted before.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 01:59:09 pm
content: mouser us vs mouser eu is just USD vs EUR for currencythey will have a european or national office, as every other distributor.if you have any question ask them, that's their job, to make any thing for you to become their customer.(also, farnell has same day shipping betore 17, period. if you are a business UPS will deliver before 11-12 of the following morning, period. for other customers ups delivers before 2 o'clock)Anyway, i remember having troubles ordering from farnell: some years ago, if you didn't have a VAT number you couldn't order from them at all. that's one of the reasons i made mouser my main distributor, along with the fact that farnell has very shitty prices for prototype quantities. simillar shit with RS for the first orders.When you order from mouser the delivery will start at most the next day and will be at your doorstep in 3 working days tops.

author: The Soulman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 05:05:29 pm
content: Quote from: Mihemine on August 06, 2016, 01:10:47 pmwww.reichelt.dewww.conrad.deTogether they have most of the components for me to repair audio stuff, for other stuff or larger quantities I usefarnell, for small quantities not really interesting.In NL a company (with a vat number) doesn't have to pay vat when buying stuff in Germany, if the same rules apply for Belgium maybe you could start your own company?But then if you sell your product you would charge your costumer the vat and pay it to the nice people in Brussels..

author: Koen
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 08:38:31 pm
content: You'll pay VAT whatever option you choose, either while ordering or before delivery.

author: oldway
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2016, 09:15:36 pm
content: For orders higher than 50€, you can buy directly from Farnell (Grace-Hollogne).You must use 906002 as number account.Very fast, easy and cheap.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2016, 07:09:12 pm
content: Quote from: Kilrah on August 07, 2016, 07:04:42 amActually, for me RS is usually the cheapest out of these, then Farnell or Mouser. Conrad is hopeless, they are basically a consumer electronics store that also carries (some) components. Kinda like european version of RadioShack.I have used Distrelec only in Switzerland, because at the time none of the major distributors were willing to deal with private clients. Most of these companies are only reselling parts sourced from the US distributors, only very few talk to manufacturers directly. And, well, then there are also the various EU-specific fees and expenses that the US companies simply don't have.

author: pelule
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2016, 07:53:17 pm
content: I followed the discussion here a while and like to make a statement as a typical German customer/seller.I did a comparison of an bay-offered VISHAY S102K 1K .01% PRECISION RESISTOR (Y00621K00000T9L).(Note: Bürklin does not offer that part, at Arrow I simply wasn't able to find it).Ebay US offers 2pcs for US $12,95 plus US $19,40 shipping. For Germany you need to add 19% VAT and 7% custom.Taking 10 pieces as a typical amount of order to get free shipping (DDP) at Digikey, Mouser and RS-Components.My finding:173,03 EUR @ RS-Components169,22 EUR @ Farnell 14158,87 EUR @ Mouser156,37 EUR @ Digikey96,80 EUR @ EbayTaking into account not all parts are available at the bay, DigiKey hits the race of a typical bying.Note: DDP means delivered duty paid, thus all inclusive no tax or VAT added later on.PeLuLe

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2016, 09:55:49 pm
content: Um, you can't exactly compare a bunch of resistors from eBay with something sold by the major distributors. It is not a fair comparison by any measure. You are comparing a price of a resistor sourced in China of unknown origin (you can only dream that it is Vishay ...), sold by a vendor who has perhaps 1/10th operating expenses due to not having to pay employees western salaries and you are not paying any tax on it neither - something the official vendor cannot do, because it is, surprise, illegal.So the 2x price difference is quite normal and to be expected. I am not sure what did you want to demonstrate by it. I can likely find even cheaper on AliExpress or Taobao - the eBay sellers are mostly just reselling that anyway.BTW, your DDP just means you have bought it with the VAT included inthe price already. That is how VAT is collected - it is part of the price to the final customer, it is only written out on the receipt separately for legal reasons.

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2016, 08:29:48 am
content: If you wanna make a fair comparison, you'll need to compare multiple products with different amounts.I don't know why, but some distributors are cheaper with IC's others with passives and the third with transistors etc etc

author: setq
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2016, 08:50:06 am
content: RS looks like a mugging on paper until you consider that you actually get some support with it. Having been screwed by Element 14/Farnell more times than I can remember, from things missing, incorrectly picked parts, packages doing a european road trip with UPS and being returned to their distribution centre and then getting ZERO support other than some vague promises from someone who has no power to execute them, you have to consider this. RS have screwed up a couple of times but resolved it next day unconditionally.

author: Assafl
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2016, 10:27:31 am
content: In Israel there is a minimum price above which you pay VAT and a higher sum where customs comes in.So I sometimes take a larger order an divvy it up between 2 or more shipments.I do it always with China and UseGoodBooks since shipping is free. In the case of mouser and the like sometimes paying double shipping is more than the tax. So it makes sense to check exactly what it would cost.

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2016, 08:36:45 pm
content: I order most of my comps from RS.If you are an individual, there is a dedicated websitehttp://www.rs-particuliers.com/and if you order on week-end, S&H are FREE.Note that the not pro website is a bit shitty, it's dumbed down so that you can't access all criteria to find parts.What I do is browse the pro site, and copy-paste order # in the particuliers site.A few items are not available for individuals.As for pricing, in my modest experience, generally RS is cheaper than Farnell.

author: Osirison
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 08:32:04 am
content: I am from Holland and always order from Mouser without any trouble.Their website is presented in Dutch and I believe their local office located in Eindhoven.Prices on the webpage are without VAT but this is calculated at checkout.I have never had any extra costs or import charges, even with packages shipped from Mexico, although most parts are shipped from the German warehouse.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2016, 11:25:07 am
content: Quote from: Watth on August 11, 2016, 08:36:45 pmAh, neat - didn't know about the free S&H over weekends! Thanks for the tip.Quote from: Watth on August 11, 2016, 08:36:45 pmYeah, I am doing that too. The "hobbyists" website is really terrible, basically only a shopping cart. And same experience with Farnell and Mouser pricing - RS is usually cheapest, even without the free S&H.

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 02:29:08 pm
content: RS for individuals could really be a better seller, with only a few improvements.They have a lot of references, but you can't sort them out (without resorting to the pro site); and their customer assistance is nil.They only help to process orders if needed, but you won't have a technical assistance to find parts. (Add to this the fact that some individuals spend more money on RS than some professionals do).I wanted to order their cheap multimeter RS-14http://fr.rs-online.com/web/p/multimetres-numeriques/8937896/(seen here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rs-14-multimeter-review-an-peek-inside/msg950638/#msg950638).For some unknow reason it was not available for individuals.I e-mailed the customer support, and argued that individuals are interested in cheap DMM with those features, and don't always care about brands; furthermore it's not like some products for which sell are restricted to pros...They replied that too bad, no cheapo DMM for you; and it's not planned to be sold to individuals.A few weeks later it was available for individuals, after I had bought an AM-500 from Farnell.(I still bought the RS-14 as a second DMM).

author: Iwanushka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 05:05:52 pm
content: Hi,My 2 cents, if you buy from mouser eu you will pay only VAT like with every shop in EU if you do not have VAT number (not a company). If you buy from digikey you pay VAT + customs crap which is fixed amount which is 30-40eu +VAT again, so if you buy 5$ part from digikey you will pay at least 40eur in taxes, on the other hand if you select free shipping via fedex on mouser eu, mouser itself will pay all customs crap in Germany and you only pay VAT. If you order from EU shop you pay VAT only like with mouser.Conclution there is no point in dealing with digikey unless part cannot be found elsewhere

author: sparx
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:09:05 pm
content: Have you looked at CPC (http://www.cpc.co.uk)?They're based in the UK, but do say they will ship internationally. Should be no VAT issue as inside the EU. May not have all the parts you need though.

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:31:57 pm
content: Quote from: sparx on August 15, 2016, 07:09:05 pmFTFY

author: sparx
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 07:57:58 pm
content: Quote from: Watth on August 15, 2016, 07:31:57 pmMinimum of 2 years once Article 50 invoked

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2016, 09:44:13 pm
content: Quote from: sparx on August 15, 2016, 07:57:58 pmWell, I think we are fairly safe for the foreseeable future, especially if the talk about the year 2019 is trueBut the website reminds me quite a bit of German Conrad.com

author: setq
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2016, 02:23:53 pm
content: They're actually a store front over Element 14 (Farnell) and sell some of the same lines. They're cheaper and far more competent than Element 14 though even on their shared lines!

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2016, 03:03:04 pm
content: Quote from: setq on August 16, 2016, 02:23:53 pmUnless you expect ICs to be properly packaged, or for orders or tens of hundreds of parts not to be individually bagged. Or for stuff to get shipped the same week. Or for a literal handful of parts to come in reasonable packaging, not a giant box the Royal Fail will happily leave in the van and make you pick up.CPC are even more half-arsed than Farnell most of the time. They do have better prices on small quantities quite often, though.

author: setq
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2016, 03:19:25 pm
content: Ah yes that is true. The bagging is TERRIBLE. I ordered 100 mmbt3904s from them, bear in mind they are supplied in min multiples of 10 and every damn one came in its own bag with one individual transistor's cut tape rather than one whole cut tape per ten transistors. Same with 50 bloody zener diodes, all neatly cut with tape ends and bagged.They usually send UPS to me and gets shipped the same day though.Although I tend to just use RS who seem to fuck up less orders than all of them even they are 3x the price.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2016, 07:05:00 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on August 16, 2016, 03:03:04 pmEh, you haven't seen how RS ships stuff yetCan't complain about things being improperly packaged, but I have received several times a large box containing a smaller box that contained individually bagged parts cut off from the tape - transistors, inductors, LEDs ... So buying 50 LEDs means you get 50 individual baggies. Not always, but tends to happen a lot. And almost every order gets split into several packages for whatever reason (different warehouses?). Sometimes they arrive on the same day, sometimes not.

author: setq
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2016, 08:07:39 pm
content: Indeed. I just ordered 11 line items items from RS and they sent 5x 10n polybox caps in a separate consignment... they're all crap!

author: Srbel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 07:20:09 am
content: Have you tried Comet? This is a Serbian website, but they are Bulgarian company (and based in Bulgaria, where their main warehouse is). I assume that they will ship to Netherlands. Comet is the biggest component distributor in this part of Europe (Balkans).http://store.comet.rs/en/Catalogue/

author: setq
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 11:55:02 am
content: Quote from: setq on August 16, 2016, 08:07:39 pmReplying to myself here. They weren't polybox - different order but they sell these in multiples of 5 min. This is what turns up, in a separate consignment WITH the main one this morning.Baaaarghghghg!

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 05:51:13 pm
content: Quote from: Srbel on August 17, 2016, 07:20:09 amWell, that is likely a bit impractical for people from EU (with Serbia not being EU member yet). Is there a free trade agreement with Serbia already? If not, people would have to pay customs/duties on top of their orders.Do'h, should learn to read.Bulgaria is in EU, so that makes my comment moot.Thanks for the tip, will check them out.

author: Stefan Payne
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 07:27:47 pm
content: Quote from: Wirehead on August 06, 2016, 03:52:06 pmYes, but not always deliver to end users, depending on region and so on....Here in Germany they only do B2B stuff, sadly...

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2016, 08:59:00 pm
content: Quote from: Stefan Payne on August 17, 2016, 07:27:47 pmHallo Stefan,have you checkedhttp://www.rs-online-privat.de/?It seems that it's like in France: nerfed-downed site for individuals, so you'd better make your selection on the pro site and copy-paste order numbers on the Privat site.

author: b_force
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 11:00:51 am
content: Maybe it's time for a sticky with a list of alternatives?

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 12:50:51 pm
content: Maybe a board dedicated to sellers, and have threads dedicated to each country, listing sellers and average opinions about the sellers.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 01:09:27 pm
content: Quote from: setq on August 17, 2016, 11:55:02 ammaybe they're just employing some disabled people (e.g. because of tax benefits) and your order happened to be packaged by a mentally disabled one ?

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 01:29:23 pm
content: Do some of you know how orders are managed by the seller in practice?I imagine they have some automated device that takes tapes of ammo packages or reels, and the warehouse worker punches the number of parts, and then the machine cuts the number of comp, seals them in the small plastic baggies and prints its references.So I guess if the machine is not set up correctly, it would deliver 10 baggies of 1 comp, instead of one baggy of 10 comps.But(!) I might be talking out of my chair interface, here.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 01:40:57 pm
content: Quote from: Watth on August 18, 2016, 01:29:23 pmi'm almost 100% sure it's a manual job... considering the packages i'm receiving. e.g. 2 soic8 packages in cut tube with plugs at the ends and then sealed in a bag would be kind of impossible using any machine...

author: Watth
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 01:56:06 pm
content: Quote from: rob77 on August 18, 2016, 01:40:57 pmWell, I was referring to reels and ammo tapes.