DirtBiker:
Aztec probably carry some common parts as a convenience to their customers.
This is exactly right. While we can compete with Mouser on some items, we cannot in most cases and we offer components on our site as a convenience for people buying other things so that they do not have to go to another site to get a few common parts and have to pay additional shipping. When compared other MCU enthusiast sites, our prices are very competitive (as was pointed out by DirtBiker in another thread).