Parts Vendors Sorted By Low/Free Shipping Cost

I'm familiar with the usual vendors and their pluses and minuses related to selection, availability, etc. But I've not seen any posts which directly compare and contrast shipping fees?

Which vendors have free shipping?
If they have a minimum for free shipping, what is it and what regions?
Which vendors have low shipping fees and/or no minimums?
What vendors have promo codes available to reduce shipping?
Which vendors 'subsidize' their low shipping by raising the parts cost considerably (I don't mind a modest premium, I expect that)

-creatrope

Well since your familiar with the usual vendors then check out there web pages and look at shipping estimator. Often shipping is related to what your purchasing. So it will very based on the overall weight. Some vendors offer flat rate shipping. Since the USPS started offering flat rate shipping boxes companies are starting to offer those more and more. Often the free shipping is a limited time offer or you have to buy over $100 worth. Every site is different and shipping cost tend to change regularly. With many sites the sipping cost is where they get a good portion of the profits.

Which vendors have low shipping fees and/or no minimums?

Digikey. Their cheapest shipping (First Class Mail) is only a couple of bucks (for low-weight and size things), and it gets to North Carolina in about 3 days (just as fast as Priority Mail).

There is also no minimum, and I commonly only order 5-10 dollars worth of stuff at a time, because the shipping is so low and it's not a big deal to have to make another order.

digikey
newark
mouser

Don't forget Futurlec. Very low shipping, but it comes from Thailand, so it takes a while.

For orders up to US$29, Delivery Charge - US$4.00.

For orders US$30 to US$49, Delivery Charge - US$6.00

For order US$50 to US$99, Delivery Charge - US$9.00

For order US$100 and above, Delivery Charge - US$14.00

Here's my current experience with Futurlec... I placed an order Mar 25 for a bunch of stuff (headers, a PIR sensor, a few photo-transistors, a few AtTinys... just random stuff) with the main goal of getting the CO2 sensor they have, a total of ~ $100. I'm a patient guy, so I waited until Mon (4/5) to shoot them an email asking for a status update. They said:

Dear Matt

Only Gas Sensor Socket is unavailable from your order and is currently out of stock.

A new shipment will arrive at our warehouse on June when we will be able to dispatch your order.

Should you have any further enquiry, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards
Amp
Futurlec
www.futurlec.com

Not sure what they were thinking here, I guess they were going to hold up my order for 2 months just because they were short a socket. Without consulting me first. Craziness. I did some research on them beforehand, so I knew to expect long waits, but jeez, that's BEFORE mailtime. Keep it in mind.

I buy tons of stuff off ebay, basic ICs, transistors, (not caps or resistors, I've found better deals buying by the 100 alongside an order from a supplyhouse) most of the basics. A lot of times it's only $3 or $4 for 10, 25, or 100 of whatever item you want w/ shipping included. China, Hong Kong, even Thailand usually ships to me (NE USA) in two weeks, sometimes less. I think the tiny package size speeds things up. Buying it singly from a supplier would be cheaper if not for the shipping, except I find that having spares of everything outweighs that.

That's bad.

My experience is much better. I've ordered from them maybe 12-15 times. I've only ever had one problem - my credit card expiration date passed and there was confusion over that. It held up an order for a week.

Other than that, smooth, very smooth, but not fast.

Part quality, so far, has been excellent. Order fulfillment quality has been excellent; I've never had a missing item.

Yeah, I thought it was crazy, too. After I sent them an email, they dropped the socket off the list and mailed out the rest today. I can't wait to get it, the CO2 sensor they have is the cheapest I've found around, nobody else sells this by itself. Other than poor English (which I find mildly amusing, not annoying) they've been friendly and seem to want to help. Not sure why I would have wanted it held that long, though I really would have liked the socket.

Mine shipped with a Hong Kong post confirmation number, not Thai, too. I've heard they have multiple warehouses, so maybe it's luck of the draw.

http://www.robotsimple.com free shipping worldwide