DigiKey: Free international shipping -- but no free USA shipping ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: michaeliv
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 06:32:01 am
content: I saw somewhere mentioned that DigiKey ships free internationally which is surprising since there is no free US shipping no matter the order size.I decided to check it out. Here is what I found:USA - No free shipping, no matter order sizeCanada - Free shipping $144US+ (200CAD+)EU countries - Free shipping $72.40+ (65EUR)UK - Free shipping $72.54 (£50)Taiwan - Free shipping $89.961 (NT$3000)All orders ship from USA (MN)This seems the opposite to what I would expect. Why have free shipping where it is more expensive ( International ) and no free shipping where it is significantly cheaper ( US ).Can anyone makes sense of this ?PS: On a side note I suspect DigiKey makes a lot of $$$ on shipping charges ( I wonder if this is why they overpack everything ?). At least for US shipping.The rates that they offer are standard retail rates but what they actually pay is significantly less.Here are some examples of what they quote vs what actual pricing I've seen with a corporate account to a business address ( as most orders probably are ):FedEx 2nd day air 1lb : Quote $23.43 -- Expected ~$5FedEx 2nd day air 5lb : Quote $38.43 -- Expected ~$8FedEx Overnight 1lb : Quote $52.82 -- Expected $9FedEx Overnight 5lb : Quote $77.03 -- Expected $15Add $1-$3 for residential delivery.They most likely get even lower rates as they have high volume coming from a single warehouse.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 06:44:17 am
content: I also find they charge a premium on the currency conversion. I am surprised there is no US free shipping though at any amount spent.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 06:45:28 am
content: Just pay by check. Of course, that will take a while longer because of mailing time for the check.Quote

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 06:45:36 am
content: Compare prices though.UA741CP DIP-8 /1000 lotsDIGIKEY.CA c$0.30245 (us$0.21792)http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/UA741CP/296-11107-5-ND/382197DIGIKEY.COM us$0.19890http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/UA741CP/296-11107-5-ND/382197So there's already a built-in 10% surcharge on C$ pricing. 10% on a $200 order nicely covers the shipping.As for shipping, the nearest major city (>500k) to the home of Digikey in Thief River Falls MN, is actually Winnipeg, MB CANADA. Canadian orders are trucked to YWG, and put on FedEx there.

author: michaeliv
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 06:51:59 am
content: Quote from: TheSteve on February 08, 2016, 06:44:17 amQuote from: boffin on February 08, 2016, 06:45:36 amHmm I actually did look at currency conversion and price differences.But I checked for 10 pieces of ADS1262IPW from USD to EUR and the difference was $189.68 to 192.971(XE.COM) which is 1.8% which seemed fair considering currency volatility + their own conversion fees. I guess it varies by product / country. I see CAD is at a disadvantage currently indeed( probably because it's very volatile ?).

author: PTR_1275
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 10:41:11 am
content: I had to do an order for work the other day, the diodes I needed were AU$8.50 each on their Australian site, or US$6.48 through their American site. This worked out cheaper in its own right just with currency conversion. The whole order (with a few other little bits and pieces) was $213 so we got free shipping. Ordered on Thursday, arrived today (Monday).I am not sure if we will get a GST / import bill, if we do it was still cheaper to order through the Australian site.A few months ago when I did a personal order, it was quite the opposite. My order came out at about AU$250 including shipping through the American site, the same order through the Australian site was close to AU$350 (then you got free shipping).

author: hs3
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 11:58:55 am
content: When I looked into it once it seemed like the EUR prices were about 10% higher typically. But it wasn't like that for all items. Some parts might have been even slightly cheaper on the euro site but then some noticeably more expensive. So maybe some kind area based pricing due to distribution agreements or something.But in general the prices seemed to be higher in Euros so that difference should cover and explain the free shipping.

author: michaeliv
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 09:25:28 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on February 08, 2016, 06:45:28 amHow does that work ? Do you print out your cart and include a check for the total amount in your cart ? Do you somehow place the order online and send the check with a reference to the order ?Thanks!

author: breadbox
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2016, 10:05:56 pm
content: Here's a link to the order form:http://www.digikey.com/US2011/order.pdf