Is Mouser good for non-US buyers?

aion · February 14, 2016, 07:37:16 PM

I noticed Mouser has several international locations and they have several different website variants for different markets (e.g. Europe, India, etc). But, while I hear about Rapid, Farnell, Musikding, etc. as go-to parts suppliers to non-US DIYers, I only ever hear Mouser mentioned by US folks. Are they any good for international buyers? Good shipping rates, prices, and parts selection?

davent · February 14, 2016, 11:39:14 PM

I'd say excellent for Canada too. As i understand it, better in some ways for those outside the US as we can get free shipping and the threshold is less for those outside N. Amerca.

dave

slacker · February 15, 2016, 03:18:32 AM

Last time I looked at the Mouser UK website you got charged international shipping rates even though you were supposedly buying from a UK based company. It was basically just the US site with the prices shown in £. This made it uneconomical for the size of orders that I make, if you hit the free shipping threshold its as good as Farnell or the other big suppliers. Things might have changed since then.

Ice-9 · February 15, 2016, 05:27:00 AM

Use the Mouser UK site, although the stuff still comes from USA, postage is free. (but you may have to spend a certain amount to get free postage which could be £30 ish) I can't remember if this is so, or if all orders qualify for free postage. Also the prices include customs duty that would normally get added.

Anyway you can add to your basket and go to checkout and before you finalise the order you will find out if the postage is free. Just make sure you put all the delivery info in first otherwise it will still show a delivery charge until all details are input.

I have never had a problem with mouser and for shipping from USA it is quite fast.

aion · February 15, 2016, 01:12:54 PM

Great, thank you guys!

GGBB · February 15, 2016, 01:55:11 PM

I've used Mouser a few times here in Canada and they are great. The free shipping minimum is a little high though ($100 but used to be $200), otherwise it's $19.95 for express pre-brokered (no additional duties or taxes) and there is a $7.95 snail mail option for those who want to worry about duties and taxes themselves (I've used that too without problems). The free express shipping is fairly fast (3 or so days) even though it comes from the US - snail mail takes about a week and a half sometimes quicker.

Digikey is even better in my opinion as they ship FOB from Canada for Canadian orders and have similar arrangements around the globe. Their minimum order for free shipping is still $200, but their overnight shipping is only $7.95 and they are extremely fast. I once ordered on a Thursday night at 8pm and it arrived before noon the next day.

MrStab · February 15, 2016, 02:47:27 PM

i can only speak for the UK, but presumably elsewhere in Europe as well. Mouser UK orders come from Germany via. FedEx, and countless times they've been on par with Royal Mail time-wise, despite being abroad. i guess that's partly a testament to FedEx, but Mouser do dispatch quickly. the minimum shipping cost is a deterrent for smaller orders, naturally. iirc there is a threshold for free shipping.

davent · February 15, 2016, 03:35:49 PM

GGBB, For Mouser shipping to Canada i've always used the $8 USPS shipping, usually 10 days and never any further charges... they've dropped the free threshold to $100, that's great news!

Digikey, last few orders at my door in just under 16 hours, international purchase.
dave

alanp · February 16, 2016, 01:29:58 AM

New Zealand here. Every order I've had from Mouser, despite being placed on nz.mouser.com, has come from somewhere in the USA.

Now that they've dropped their free shipping minimum, I'm ordering more from them than I used to.

RS, otoh, ship from within New Zealand, as in next-day, not next-week!

bluebunny · February 16, 2016, 02:49:49 AM

Thanks for sharing your experiences Grant and Mick (Happy Birthday Mick, btw!). I think I might give them a try: the free shipping breakpoint is £33, which is a similar ballpark to Rapid.

Ice-9 · February 16, 2016, 05:14:07 AM

If it is parts you can get from RS components or Farnells in the UK then they both offer FREE shipping no matter how much the order is.

I even ordered 1 pic chip from RS for 85p free next day delivery. (you may have to register to qualify for the free delivery).

(Cheers Marc)

MrStab · February 17, 2016, 02:29:48 PM

no problem, Marc!

85p, no postage?!! i must've really screwed up when i considered them a coupla years back. definitely grounds to reconsider buying off em, though Mouser have the fairly-obscure 9mm C500k pots and PCB brackets i need, which i could never seem to find elsewhere, so i might still stick with them.

patricks · February 19, 2016, 01:54:19 AM

Australia here (Sydney) - Mouser's good for range and quality, and delivery times are comparable with other similar suppliers. The stuff for Oz comes from the US, but you have the option of choosing US dollars or Australian Pesos in their web shop. I have to go with US dollars so that I can get things sent by USPS. If you go with AUD they ship via courier (DHL, from memory), and couriers don't work for me (I'm at work during the day, and we can't receive personal packages where I work).

RS Components doesn't have Mouser's range, but that next-day free shipping is great

bluebunny · February 19, 2016, 06:26:43 AM

I may never get that good reason to try out Mouser. I was BOM-gathering last night (one of many) and had a bunch of things I'd run out of, or was getting perilously low on. So I placed an order with Farnell to restock on a pile of caps and other things. It just arrived - about 15 hours from door to door. And gratis shipping.

Ice-9 · February 27, 2016, 05:28:42 PM

Quote from: bluebunny on February 19, 2016, 06:26:43 AM
I may never get that good reason to try out Mouser. I was BOM-gathering last night (one of many) and had a bunch of things I'd run out of, or was getting perilously low on. So I placed an order with Farnell to restock on a pile of caps and other things. It just arrived - about 15 hours from door to door. And gratis shipping.

Yeah Marc, I like both RS and Farnell for the quick free shipping. Oder late afternoon and get FREE next morning delivery usually. It is just a shame both suppliers don't stock some stuff I use.

You would think pots would be quite readily available from those two huge stockists, but neither sell a single pot that I use

Fazzer · February 28, 2016, 05:26:32 AM

I've just ordered from Mouser UK. The order arrived very quickly but like others have said you have to beyond the £30 order to make it viable. They are based in High Wycombe and I'd be interested to see if you can pick up the order without charge as I live near there anyway.

PorkyPrimeCut · February 28, 2016, 06:09:02 AM

Interesting to read that Farnell do free shipping on any amount now. A couple of years back I ordered from them, coincided with a trip to Leeds (my hometown) so I could pick the stuff up without having to pay their pretty high postage fees.

I got stung with Mouser, but it was partly my own fault. I saw they had UK and German addresses so ordered a couple of enclosures on a whim. I ended up asking if I could return them & was told it was fine, if I shipped them back to Texas!! Ouch!! I was told that all their stock is shipped from the States, even though there's no sign of it on the packaging.

Fortunately I managed to sell on the enclosures.

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Is Mouser good for non-US buyers?