What's a fair price for breadboards? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: bitman
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 04:00:03 am
content: I do a lot of small electronics with microcontrollers like Arduino, 3D printing circuits etc. and I find my collection of odd breadboads to be a bit lacking, in particular when more advanced setups are needed. I realize that a lot of the Chinese and very very cheap boards are a waste of money and effort. But what is a suggested price for a breadboard? I look at Digi-key (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/twin-industries/TW-E40-1020/438-1045-ND/643111) and $9/each seems high? Amazon isn't much better, Ebay isn't an option here - is there a better source for small bulk purchases (ie. 10 or less items) for basic electronics, from ICs to breadboards?

author: FlyingHacker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 04:19:27 am
content: I have had no troubles with the cheap Chinese ones off eBay. I have a pile of them, and just leave experiments on them for later? Are they of exceptional quality? No... but they work fine for experimentation, and you don't have to tear your project down all the time to make use of the expensive breadboard.Something like thishttp://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-MB102-Solderless-Breadboard-Protoboard-830-Tie-Points-2-buses-Test-Circuit-/331828357432?hash=item4d4282e938Though it was not that seller. My seller does not carry then any more.

author: ProBang2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 04:41:31 am
content: There was a interesting video, regarding "fake breadboards", published some days ago.Look yourself:The "right stuff" don´t must be expensive.E.g. I have no problems with thissource for breadboards.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 04:54:34 am
content: There are multiple grades of Chinese stuff ranging from excellent all the way down to garbage. The trouble is that it can be very difficult to know what you're getting. $9 for a breadboard doesn't sound too bad at a glance, I remember paying a lot more than that for one years ago. The direct from China stuff has really skewed the price expecations.

author: bitman
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 05:15:58 am
content: Quote from: FlyingHacker on April 09, 2017, 04:19:27 amFrom what I read, it's not worth the trouble. Or rather, the quality varies so much it's a pot-luck kind of thing. As someone posted the youtube with Julian covering common issues with the cheap boards, I've watched that a lot more to know what NOT to do. It's not worth the trouble being unable to insert components properly. I could live with the broken connectors, but I've also come across stories where even the rails are broken inside.All that said, I look at $9 a board as high as I was considering 5-6 boards at least.Thanks all for feedback!

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 05:54:48 am
content: I like these:https://www.pjrc.com/store/breadboard.html, not bad at $7.50and I stumbled on this: 3 for $9.99https://www.amazon.com/Solderless-Breadboard-Prototype-Circboard-Prototyping/dp/B01DDI9N26/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1491716992&sr=8-13&keywords=breadboard

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 08:03:46 am
content: Quote from: bitman on April 09, 2017, 04:00:03 amOnce you factor in the value of peoples' time spent debugging the breadboard (rather than your circuit), the suggested price should be negative.Use the techniques favoured by experience professionals such as Jim Williams, or radio hams.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 11:14:27 am
content: Quote from: ProBang2 on April 09, 2017, 04:41:31 amLove that:"Shipping: Americas, Europe ""Excludes: " Goes on to list 50-60% of European countries as excluded

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 12:35:56 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on April 09, 2017, 11:14:27 amTypical for some items on ebay.I looked at his other items, and found this:http://www.ebay.com/itm/252726488310

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 01:24:32 pm
content: Quote from: neslekkim on April 09, 2017, 12:35:56 pmI am not looking for a breadboard, have plenty of them. However, that one has also list of exclusions long like a roll of toilet paper - but, curiously, this time France is missing from the list. Has to be a french special, I guess.It is also funny he explicitly excludes a ton of African countries, even though he doesn't ship to anywhere in Africa anyway. Belts and braces, he is obviously an engineer

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 03:43:06 pm
content: Cargo-Cult manufacturing at its worst. The manufacturer isn't even competent at doing 'Chinese Copies', and obviously no-one responsible for designing the production line ever used a breadboard in anger. Ten minutes with a good product photo of a genuine breadboard from a leading Western distributor would have sorted out the grid lettering/numbering and a day assessing a selection of locally produced breadboards in actual use plugging in simple resistor and LED circuits would have picked up the contact forming issue. I doubt it would have cost any extra to specify a better shape for the contact forming dies with more flare on the contact tips. With a little luck they'd have got actual dimensions and locations of the interlocking studs and slots so would have specced a moulding that actually mates properly with the brand-name breadboard they are tying to clone.If you cant do a personal inspection before purchase, I'd be demanding a good closeup photo of a couple of contact holes under a magnifier if I was intending to order more than I could gamble on. I'd also reject any with badly formed contacts as "Not fit for purpose".See previous topics:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/good-breadboards-where-do-you-get-them/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/what-is-so-great-about-3m-breadboards/Edit: replaced duplicated link with 3M one.

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 10:12:12 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on April 09, 2017, 11:14:27 amEven better with the first part:"Shipping: Americas,...""Excludes: ..., Central America and Caribbean, ..., South America, ..., Canada, Mexico, ..., United States, ..."Anything left of the Americas?

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2017, 11:14:58 pm
content: Quote from: bitwelder on April 09, 2017, 10:12:12 pmLOL, didn't notice that!I do wonder how much he manages to sell.

author: Iwanushka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2017, 09:36:49 pm
content: My 0.02$ from experience I'd say they exclude countries that open most disputes for stuff not delivered/fake (vero stuff).

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2017, 10:14:33 pm
content: I've seen where the same seller sometimes had an item listed with my country on the exclusion list, then another identical item listed that will ship to me. I don't know why they do that.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2017, 08:49:01 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on April 10, 2017, 10:15:52 pmThat would work on AliExpress and such where the comments are per-item, but on eBay the feedback is common for all items. Some vendors use multiple separate accounts - if one gets too much bad feedback they abandon it and use another one. However, that doesn't seem to be the case here - they are all the same account.

author: Paul Moir
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2017, 09:16:38 am
content: Quote from: bitwelder on April 09, 2017, 10:12:12 pmSaint Pierre & Miquelon?

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2017, 09:27:39 am
content: Quote from: Paul Moir on April 13, 2017, 09:16:38 amI didn't know that!For similar historical idiocy, look at the enclaves (and enclaves within enclaves) here:https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4407084,4.9366322,13.13zIt is worth looking at exactly where some of the boundaries are, e.g.https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4417128,4.9262435,3a,75y,195.17h,75.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swh0iGF5XeLpLC3oRywOiEg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2017, 09:40:18 am
content: Quote from: Paul Moir on April 13, 2017, 09:16:38 amStrictly speaking that is not America but France (it is a French overseas departement), so despite the geography likely similar rules as for mailing stuff to France would apply.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2017, 11:16:42 am
content: Quote from: bitman on April 09, 2017, 04:00:03 amAmazon and eBay seem to share a lot of sellers anyway.Maybe I've been lucky with breadboards from China but I've avoided the MB-102 style boards, perhaps staying with the less common types leads to better quality?