electronics component source in Ontario?

[coffyrock]

Hi all

I need some help... I want to build more fx but can't find a reliable (or close) source for electronics components in Ontario. I am in Central ontario, north of toronto. I'm just looking for a store that sells resistors, caps, enclosures etc. I'm not talking about crazy specialty parts, either, just common ICs and pots etc, and I can't stand radio shack.

Any help? I've found a place in mississauga, Ontario, but it's a bit of a drive for me.
Any other ontarians??

[jeff g]

I live in SW Ontario.  For me, it's much easier (and probably no more or only slightly more expensive) to buy online, even though there are a couple of local electronics places. 

Do a search for suppliers, but Mouser and Futurlec are probably good bets, SmallBear if you need more pedal-specific stuff.  The local electronics places look at me like I have three heads when I ask for something like reverse log pots, so I don't even bother, unless I want something immediately.

[coffyrock]

do you ever run into any duty problems shipping from the US? I've bought a few things from the states on ebay and the border people dinged me with duty and handling fees, whatever that means. 

my fear of hidden border costs is the sole reason I don't just order online, because the prices/shipping seem reasonable for most things. anyone else in ontario had problems shipping from USA?

[jrc4558]

Best places to shop in Toronto, if you know what to get and how many pieces (i mean over the counter, not to order from catalog and wait) would be:
Honson (college&spadina, ~50meters west on south side of spadina) - many resistors, caps, excellent line of 1/2watt potentiometers ("like" 16mm alphas), some ICs
Creatron  (255 College St.) owner is a pro EE, can get things for you, has good selection
Active Surplus (Queen, between Peter and John, on the south side) - many a weird thing, old testing gear (sometimes), TV tubes galore, lots of wire.
Good luck, fellow Ontarians!

[The Tone God]

www.digikey.ca

Nuff said.

Andrew

[jeff g]

yeah, duty is sometimes a problem, but I'd say maybe 10% of the time my stuff gets checked.  I think the last time was a small order from this site - it seems to be mostly random, but I wonder if the little transistor bags are not x-rayable or something.  Anyways, for me it's been pretty rare (and that's including a whole bunch of ebay frivolities over the last couple years)

But, always ship by USPS if you can, never UPS / FedEx etc. - you'll always get charged with couriers.

[Mark Hammer]

Supremetronic (now Honson, refferred to above), used to have the cheapest prices for pots just about anywhere; 16mm Alpha for 70 cents each in just about any value/taper.  Almost worth driving there for what you save on pots if you were going to buy any sort of reasonable number.

[strangerock]

there's a-1 electronics 196 north queen st. too.

[RollingElbow]

I live in Ottawa... there are two major electronic places but you get hosed.. two .0022 mf caps cost 73 cents. A pack of 4 resistors cost 2 bucks and change. You can buy 10 of them through mouser for under a buck... not huge money but almost more convenient to just order on line through mouser. to canada will take about 5 days. Small bear was great, my order was sent on Friday and arrived Wednesday afternoon. Quicker than Mouser. Just go that route because certain things like enclosures will be cheaper.

[RollingElbow]

Pretty sure digikey still ships out of the States though.. but handled through Canadian warehouse. So won't exaclty get there any quicker..

[krisdoering]

For some stuff, www.rpelectronics.com is good.  If you think it is tough to source parts in Ontario, try Saskatchewan...

Kris

[coffyrock]

I found a place called SAYAL electronics, which is beside 2 or 3 other electronics places in the same plaza at Dixie and Matheson in Mississaga, ON. SAYAL is good for resistors etc, and there is another place that has lots of great soldering stuff (active electornics?? looks like a franchise?) and a place called AA electronics which has some cheap parts and lots of junky so-called "pro audio" things like speakers. 

My biggest problem is that these places are a 2 hour drive for me, prolly about the same as going downtown toronto, but without the hassle of parking. I used to live there and don't miss the lack of parking one little bit.

[RollingElbow]

Yeah we certainly do have it easy here in Canada eh? haha.. and to think we can never even get in on ebay bargains on sweet tube amps because 80% of folks won't ship to Canada or we pay 65$ for shipping! Life is sweet indeed! But atleast we have our health and this is a nice country to live in. 

[coffyrock]

amen to that!

[The Tone God]

I found a place called SAYAL electronics, which is beside 2 or 3 other electronics places in the same plaza at Dixie and Matheson in Mississaga, ON. SAYAL is good for resistors etc, and there is another place that has lots of great soldering stuff (active electornics?? looks like a franchise?) and a place called AA electronics which has some cheap parts and lots of junky so-called "pro audio" things like speakers. 

I used to live near that strip mall that was full of electronics shop. One went bye bye (which was amazing for discreets like resistors and caps) and became a cell phone place. There is another shop down which is also good for things like jacks, plugs, lights, fuse holders, cable, and Asian components.

There are a couple of other Sayals including one in Burlington. Good for hardware but is starting to get into the computer networking side (CAT5 and the like) and surplus equipment which is taking attention away from the component portion of the business IMHO which I mentioned to Mr. Sayal directly at one point.

Active is not a part of Active Surplus of Toronto fame. Different group with a few stores across Canada. I believe they got bought out (Future electronics ?) about five years back. Used to be a good source of ICs and specialized tools. I haven't been there for awhile so I can't comment. I just remember being told by staff when looking for some oddball parts that when the switch over happens the parts probably won't be carried.

Pretty sure digikey still ships out of the States though.. but handled through Canadian warehouse. So won't exaclty get there any quicker..

I have to disagree. They do have a Canadian warehouse which things are shipped from. The nice part about doing things this way is that they have already cleared duty, brokerage, and customs so the less stuff you have to deal with. As they bring in large lots for their warehouse the costs are differed amongst the large shipment thus you pay practically nothing for those costs verses getting hit with all charges at full amount when you bring parts in from the outside directly (i.e. Mouser). I get my parts at the front door (Southern Ontario) the next day with their standard Purlator shipping option. There have been others here who have similar opinions.

Digikey is pretty much it for me. Rarely do I go out and by parts these days.

Andrew

[Mark Hammer]

I live in Ottawa... there are two major electronic places but you get hosed.. two .0022 mf caps cost 73 cents. A pack of 4 resistors cost 2 bucks and change. You can buy 10 of them through mouser for under a buck... not huge money but almost more convenient to just order on line through mouser. to canada will take about 5 days. Small bear was great, my order was sent on Friday and arrived Wednesday afternoon. Quicker than Mouser. Just go that route because certain things like enclosures will be cheaper.

Where the hell are you shopping?  Go to Reset, or Gervais, or A.D.D.  Any of those places are cheaper than what you describe.

[Gilles C]

yeah, duty is sometimes a problem, but I'd say maybe 10% of the time my stuff gets checked.  I think the last time was a small order from this site - it seems to be mostly random, but I wonder if the little transistor bags are not x-rayable or something.  Anyways, for me it's been pretty rare (and that's including a whole bunch of ebay frivolities over the last couple years)

But, always ship by USPS if you can, never UPS / FedEx etc. - you'll always get charged with couriers.

I agree with that. They are checked at random, and can cost too much sometimes.

The last thing I ordered from Japan was a camera I paind $1 + shipping & handling. It costed me over $40 in the end because it was shipped via FedEx which always charge the max.

I'm lucky to have an electronic store close by where they try to keep many things stock. But I'm always asking for things they don't have...

Active electronics has more of the parts I need, but they cost more, and they closed the store here in Quebec where I live last year.

And I don't like to order online because I never know in advance what I will need.



Gilles

[coffyrock]

I think I'll try to order some things through digikey then, if they do indeed ship from within canada. I don't mind waiting a few days to get what I actually want, and the savings on gas for me to drive 2 hours to pick up parts is more than enough to offset any shipping costs they may charge.

thanks all for your wonderful help!

[coffyrock]

FYI: I talked to a rep at digikey about customs fees and this is what they said to me...

here is the transcript from my live text chat with digikey canada help center:
Ashley ext. 1875: Welcome to Digi-Key Live-Help. How may I assist you?
ME: for shipping to canada, do you ship from USA or from within canada? I am concerned about duty fees at the border.
Ashley ext. 1875: If you pay in Canadian Currency we ship packages Purolator. Most customers see there packages the next day other wise in 1-3 business days. The cost is $8.00 per package. If you pay in U.S. currency you choose if you want UPS, Fed Ex, Or the mail... And duty fees would apply and the shipping fees.
ME: my question is: does the package cross the canada/US border and go through customs?
Ashley ext. 1875: Not if the package ships Purolator.  It ships from the US but on a plane- so it does not go through customs.
ME: awesome! thanks for your super-quick help!

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else was wondering about this question...