Aliexpress prices - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: fmaimon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 29, 2013, 06:53:20 pm
content: I'm looking for some atmega328p-au (tqfp package) and, as digikey's shipping prices are high, I've looked in eBay and Aliexpress for good prices. The sellers from eBay have prices a little below $3, as I expected, but Aliexpress sellers have prices way below that, even below digikey's volume pricing! The lowest volume price I've found, using findchips, is $1.49!This seller, with lots of sales and good feedbacks, is selling them for $1.38 each! There is one selling for $1.32 each (50 pcs). How do they do that? Fake parts? If so, how do they get that good feedback?

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2013, 08:08:35 pm
content: Some sell recycled components as well. I would just buy the digi-key part if you plan to do reflow soldering.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2013, 09:07:07 pm
content: While they could be fake, its unlikely.As long as the aliexpress seller has a good number of sales before and has good feedback the parts will work fine.They would have to be fake but fully functional.They will likely be one of the following.- Left oversParts left behind on reels or in alignment reject trays from pick-n-place machines which the seller got cheap or for free and is now selling.- Unauthorized productionWhen a FAB company is contracted to produce 100,000 chips for a client and someone at the company unofficially made more to sell themselves.- Just cheapChina culture is all about knowing people and making 'deals' so its possible they have a legit source for cheap chips- StolenLegit components but stolen.- Test batchesChip manufacturing companies do a few initial runs to check they have the machines setup correctly everytime they gear up for a new run of a chip. These chips usually work but may not meet their specs or can have faults. They're supposed to be thrown away but people sometimes grab them to sell for obvious reasons.- RecycledUnsoldered, cleaned and repackaged. Could be risky if the fuse bits are set weird. But i very much doubt they would bother recycling a ATMega. It's more for expensive chips.- FakeUsually fake parts don't work right or don't work at all. So anyone selling fake chips on aliexpress quickly gets bad feedback.It's not like fake clothing, which works fine.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 07:45:02 am
content: For $3 you can get single quantity shipped on a board with a resonator and LDO. Simply amazing.http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arduino-PRO-MINI-ATMEGA328-5V-16M-MWC-avr328P-Development-Board-/271251071444?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f27d2e1d4You can find a few explanations and opinions herehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/how-come-this-board-is-so-cheap/

author: iloveelectronics
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2014, 08:40:59 am
content: I don't know the exact figures but I believe the commision and payment processing rates for sellers on Aliexpress are significantly lower than eBay and Paypal. I would have signed up as a seller there if they allowed sellers from outside of mainland China (Hong Kong is a special administrative region and does not qualify).