PCB Manufacturing help needed - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: simijames3104
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 22, 2025, 11:36:13 pm
content: Hi everyone, I’m a student working on a PCB for a group project, and the shipping fees are eating into my budget. The fabrication cost was reasonable, but the $27 shipping on a $78 order feels pretty high. I ordered a 2-layer board (60x110mm, 30 pieces) since we need spares for parallel testing. Does anyone know of PCB manufacturers that offer more affordable shipping, particularly for small production runs like this?

author: simijames3104
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 22, 2025, 11:36:57 pm
content: I forgot to mention that I need them to ship to france

author: Jackster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2025, 11:45:41 pm
content: I presume you have boards that are too big for registered mail from the likes of JLC?

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2025, 11:50:14 pm
content: stupid question,but you did click on the shipping to see all the possible options?

author: simijames3104
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 12:46:27 am
content: Quote from: Jackster on September 22, 2025, 11:45:41 pmMy board size is 60x110mm, not that bigQuote from: themadhippy on September 22, 2025, 11:50:14 pmCalling a beginner's question stupid is the real stupidity, don't you think?

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 12:59:40 am
content: Quote from: simijames3104 on September 23, 2025, 12:46:27 amNobody was calling your question stupid here. You are advised to check all shipping options. JLC ships as cheap as $8 to the US. It is slower, you can't have it both ways.Aisler is manufacturing in Germany, they may have cheaper shipping, and they are generally not outrageously expensive on the manufacturing side.

author: Georgy.Moshkin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 02:43:23 am
content: Asking your educational institution about funding can be a smart move. Start with the teacher/professor directly involved in the project. You need the full reimbursement, not only shipping costs. Makes sense to me

author: onesystem
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 04:13:25 am
content: Quote from: simijames3104 on September 23, 2025, 12:46:27 amIt is an English language phrase thing: when someone starts a sentence with a "stupid question, ..." and ends it with a question mark, they mean that the question they ask may sound stupid to others or too obvious. So if you do not know that, you may think that this was a comment about your original post - which it was not. So no worries mate.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 05:48:08 am
content: That shipping cost seems pretty typical due to packaged weight, assuming international shipping (China to France).For 30 pcs at approx 40g each, that is about 1.2kg in PCB material, and postage charge of $20/kg is not unusual.

author: ahsrabrifat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 07:37:52 am
content: Quote from: simijames3104 on September 22, 2025, 11:36:13 pmYeah, I can feel the heat, I had been there myself ..... What you need is the beginner's discount? .... Many pcb houses offer such deals for beginners to solidify their customers ..... This might help you;https://www.allpcb.com/lp/prototype-4.html

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 08:21:39 am
content: PCBWay have a facility in Francehttps://www.pcbway.fr/

author: simijames3104
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 23, 2025, 05:34:36 pm
content: Quote from: Georgy.Moshkin on September 23, 2025, 02:43:23 amNot an option, we have to do it ourselves.Quote from: ahsrabrifat on September 23, 2025, 07:37:52 amYeah that's the kind of deal, I was looking for, how long does it take to get the pcbs? and does this discount affect the quality?Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on September 23, 2025, 08:21:39 amI have checked it but they are still charging $25 for shipping, I think its just the site, they are not manufacturing in france

author: sokoloff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2025, 09:51:05 pm
content: Quote from: simijames3104 on September 23, 2025, 05:34:36 pmI've never used allpcb, but I've used others (mostly jlcpcb) and for my day job I oversee software development for the manufacturing and logistics in a high-volume mass customization business. It would cost usway moremoney to somehow provide lower quality based on a customer acquisition discount coupon and I suspect the same is true in making large PCB panels in prototype quantities and chopping them into customer orders.Your quality attributes might change based on the items you select (2 layer, 4 layer, HASL/ENIG, castellated hole support, etc.) and some of the 2-layer processes have more strict design rules to follow (in terms of larger sizes/clearances), but whatever process you pick, you're going to get the same high quality whether you used a discount code/coupon or paid full price for your order.

author: Aspartame
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 02:00:40 pm
content: Pick global direct line with JLC, also their pcb quote seems much lower then yours.

author: Rat_Patrol
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 09:25:49 pm
content: Quote from: Aspartame on September 29, 2025, 02:00:40 pmAgreed. This screenshot is for a 2 sided, 65x65 board, 10 pieces.

author: gnif
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 09, 2025, 11:22:18 pm
content: @simijames3104is a marketing shill account driving people to `ALLPCB`. This is the second time we have seen this method advertising now.Banned.Edit: Note that the user was flagged as a sock puppet account of the other user that also did this, which further confirms this.