As the subject line asks, where do you buy your Ardunios and other stuff and why?
A couple of months ago I was going to buy 2 Uno's and a bunch of other stuff and was looking for a seller. I was half thinking of Sparkfun, but their price on some stuff was fairly outrageous. A friend suggested another place, and when I checked with them, the order was going to cost about $20 less! And I got more stuff, so, of course I went with them.
Now here's the thing. I was recently in a email conversation with on of the folks at the shop I bought that order from about some questions I had (yeah, try that with Sparkfun) and somehow we got around to how many Arduinos they sell. They said that since December their Arduino sales have completely tanked. Only 1 to 2 a week, if that! Then I checked the stock index at Sparkfun, they sold 200 in 2 days!! Now, Sparkfun charge $30 for an Uno and Aztec (the other store) only charge $28.
So, I'm a little confused. There are all sorts of other examples too from that order I had.
2N3094 - Sparkfun $0.75 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 15
ATmega328 w/bootloader - Spakfun $5.50, Aztec $4.25
ATtiny85 - Sparkfun $2.84, Aztec $1.80
12mHz Crystal - Sparkfun $0.95 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 4
LEDs - Sparkfun $0.95 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 5
RGB LED - Sparkfun 1.95 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 2
10K trimpot - Sparkfun $0.95 for 1 single turn pot, Aztec $0.99 for 3 multi-turn pots
400 point breadboard - Sparkfun $5.95, Aztec $3.99
0.1uf capacitor - Sparkfun, $0.25 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 10
CDS photocell - Sparkfun $1.50 for 1, Aztec $0.99 for 3
There was more, but I think you get the point
Given then that Aztec sells the Arduino for $2 less than Sparkfun, and pretty well everything else, what's going on? I mean, I could understand if they sold maybe 10 times as many, after all Sparkfun has been around long time and are better known, but 1000 or more times as many, and at a higher price? I don't get it.
:~