Best Places to Buy Electronic Components in Germany? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: GnothHa
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 08:55:37 am
content: Hallo fellow electronics enthusiasts,I am recently moving to Germany for exchange semester, and I am in need of electronic components. I have come across Digikey as a popular online store, but I noticed that they ship from the US. As I am located in Germany, I am concerned about the potential import fees and taxes that I may have to pay.I have done some search and found a couple of Germany-based or European-based alternatives such as reichelt.de and tme.eu. However, I would like to hear your opinions and experiences regarding these websites or any other recommendations you might have, preferably located in Germany or nearby countries.Any advice on which websites to use or tips on how to avoid or minimize import fees would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

author: Traceless
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 10:08:57 am
content: Hi GnothHa,I'm not ordering enough stuff to give a well-founded recommendation but here is a list of shops you could look at:https://www.soselectronic.com/dehttps://de.farnell.com/https://www.conrad.de/https://www.pollin.de/https://de.rs-online.com/web/If your ultimate goal is to minimize delivery fees for small quantities you might want to look at aliexpress.

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 11:23:59 am
content: Bürklin is IMO one of the best:https://www.buerklin.com/en/

author: bastl_r
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2023, 12:39:12 pm
content: Digikey and mouser, if you don't reach the minimum purchase, have horrendous shipping costs. In comparison, the import sales tax is harmless. I don't know how it looks like if you order via the university.On mikrocontroller.de there are always collective orders for small quantities organized in which I have participated several times.Another German store that should be mentioned from my point of view is darisus.de.Regards

author: TassiloH
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2023, 11:07:02 am
content: For broadest selection:Digikey and Mouser. For both it is important to go via their German digikey.de and mouser.de pages so that you get prices displayed in EUR. At checkout, they will add VAT (19%) and stuff gets delivered without any customs hassle (incoterms DDP). Free shipping above 50EUR (the 50EUR is net/without VAT). Digikey free shipping is with UPS (2 days), Mouser with FedEx (also 2days). Do not use the US websites (digikey.com/mouser.com) - you would get free shipping above 60$, but VAT/customs processing is then not included...Lots of stuff (I mostly buy standard semiconductors, electrolytics, connectors there): Reichelt (reichelt.de). Beware, their displayed stock status is not always right, they don't have a direct link between their web shop and warehouse systems, they seem to do a batch update every day or two. Bigger orders ship slower (frequently 4 or 5 days).Someone mentioned Conrad: Better check out Voelkner (voelkner.de ) - they are owned by the same company, same warehouse, same items, most of the time considerably cheaper. Not really for electronic components, but they are often good for other workshop supplies, electro-mechanical stuff, various industrial supplies, oh, and they have good prices for MeanWell power supplies.Pollin (pollin.de) has a weird mix of surplus and China-import stuff, components, tools, etc. My source for hook-up wire and some other random stuff.TME (tme.eu) is a reliable distributor. I just don't buy there that often because they never haveeverythingI need for a project, and the other companies I have to order from end up having everything I could have ordered from TME. They have items that are hard to get in small quantities elsewhere, though.Farnell (farnell.de) is similar to Mouser/Digikey, but usually a bit more expensive. They won't ship to private individuals, though, only businesses or universities.Bürklin (buerklin.de) has been mentioned above. I rarely order there, but they have some items you can't get elsewhere in small quantities.Aliexpress and Banggood will now handle the VAT/duty stuff for orders below 150EUR according to new EU regulations (i.e. the seller will pre-pay and add a code showing that VAT/duty has been paid to the shipment), so no hassle there. Above 150EUR, import processing is more difficult, it depends on the shipping method how it works. Shipping time varies with selected shipping method, the slowest option has taken about 4 weeks for my latest orders).LCSC.com in China has good prices and has had stuff in stock that was unobtainable anywhere else during the semiconductor crisis, but shipping is expensive and customs/duty processing cumbersome if you don't have a DHL or FedEx account that can be billed directly.