Farnell re-reeling? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: daddario
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 07:53:39 am
content: So yesterday I noticed that all RL products suddenly have a note under them stating that for every re-reeled product, a 5€ additional charge shall be added. I just checked an invoice from last week and found nothing on it. Am I missing something or is this really some sort of a refreshing Distrelec policy?EDIT: Typo.

author: valgamaa
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 08:10:01 am
content: Another reason to avoid Farnell then. They are doing everything they can to loose customers, which seems to be the same business plan as Elfa - a marriage made in heaven. Have you ever compared prices between the different Farnell regional sites? The prices on the UK site are always cheaper, sometimes by a factor of 2 (look at the SMA cables) but they will not let you order from the UK site unless you are in the UK.Take a look at TME in Poland for reels of passive components as they seem to be far cheaper than Farnell and Elfa.

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 08:21:13 am
content: I don't know the exact case for Farnell, but for what it's worth, here in the US vendors like Digi Key and Mouser will sell you less than full reel quantities of parts and will supply them as either cut tape (simply cut from the reel and coiled up in a plastic ziplock bag), or, for a few extra dollars, will supply them on wound onto a reel (Digi-reel or Mouse reel, respectively). Is it possible that this is what the charge you mention is for? If so, it wouldn't apply to full reels as there is no additional effort involved on the vendor's part, but instead covers their cost to cut and spool the smaller quantities.-Pat

author: daddario
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 08:37:11 am
content: Well, yes, TME's nomenclature and ethics have gone better by an order of magnitude in recent years, but they still suffer with stock issues a lot, IMHO. We mainly buy mechanical stuff from them, but it seems their electronics part and packaging has evolved also. Why I haven't really been keen to buy components from them in the past is that their ESD measures have been very questionable. But do they offer re-reeling? I can't actually recall if I've ever had something from them like that. If not, then there's no-where to run, either - mouser also charges a fiver per reel.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 09:10:50 am
content: Quote from: Cubdriver on July 05, 2016, 08:21:13 amIs not only wounding on the reel but also adding leader and trail tape. I didn't notice such service from TME but recently ordered very late at the night. And managed to order few types of 0603 capacitors @ quantity of 5000, the same as resistors on the reel. I received full reels of 4000 + re-reeled 1000s with leader added. Why they cannot make ordering full reels easy, should at least add a comment like "for ordering full reels order in quantities multiple of 4000". Instead of making me running through cycles to (hopefully) figure out how many parts there are on the reel.

author: valgamaa
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 09:58:14 am
content: I don't know if TME do re-reeling, but the price of their full reels of Samsung capacitors is so low that buying the full reel is still cheeper than buying a partial reel from Farnell. I haven't checked the price of resistors (I use MELF metal-film Beyschlag resistors, which I can only buy from Farnell - unfortunately). I fully agree that it isn't always obvious what the reel size is when ordering.This biggest irritation with farnell is when you order a reel of parts and they deliver it as all the offcuts of previous reels to make the full quantity, all shoved in a big bag. If the reel size is 3000 and I order 3000 isn't it obvious that I want a full reel?

author: daddario
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 10:28:56 am
content: Yeah, they have this odd system where 1234567 is the SKU for cut tape, 1234567RL is re-reeled and with an another, unrelated, SKU it is sent as a full reel, but still priced as individual compnents. I have fallen in that trap before.

author: jc101
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 02:21:12 pm
content: It's true, I had this e-mail from them stating they would charge for re-reeling from 29 June.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 02:55:39 pm
content: Quote from: jc101 on July 05, 2016, 02:21:12 pmSo they changed to min 10 pcs instead of 150. So if you need some expensive IC on the reel, it is better deal that was previously, not for cheap resistors and other cheap stuff though. On the other hand, if you buy cheap resistors, you don't need re-reeling IMO.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 03:11:31 pm
content: Just had a call from my Farnell rep ( I seem to get a new one every 1-2 years) , asking if I'd seen the email, explained that as my machine doesn't need tape leaders I had no interest in the re-reel service. She then asked if she could re-send the email just in case...This one does seem to be more clueless than usual....

author: Howardlong
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 05, 2016, 08:08:37 pm
content: I noticed this too a few days ago. Free re-reeling has been a reason to use Farnell over Mouser for example. My assembler (to whom I supply parts free-issue) doesn't actually charge me for re-reeling, but as it was free I used their service.