I live in the Netherlands and I am a newbie in electronics. The last couple of months I started ordering the basic stuff for this new hobby. It took me a while to find the right (web)shops for ordering components/other parts. So I am curious where people from Europe buy their electronics from.
I order most of my stuff from:
eBay (often the cheapest, not always)
Farnell / RS Components (for more basic parts like resistors and IC's; often unbeatable prices and very fast shipping)
SparkFun / Adafruit / Solarbotics, shipping costs are a big disadvantage for me
Seeedstudio, I am a bit hesitant to order something from them again, last time it took more then 30 days.
Some Dutch webshops
It took me a while to find the best place to buy stuff for my new electronics hobby ;). Still not sure if I found all the right places. Some more basic stuff is really hard to find for me (like stripboard or wires). Did not find a local store that carries that kind of stuff for reasonable prices yet. Don't always want to order more stuff then I need just to save on shipping costs ;).
There is a local store (well sort of local - I'm in a rural area, not a lot is very local) called Maplin Electronics, if I am getting a couple of cheap-ish things, it will be there but they are outstandingly dear, so otherwise it is Mouser/Farnell. They ship in europe and don't charge an enourmous premium for the privildge. I will get one off components like GLCDs from eBay, cheap as erm, chips?
Lately (last three orders) for ICs I have been using Newark Electronics on line. They seem to not charge for shipping (maybe free below a certain weight?) and their prices are OK so far on the chips I wanted.
Most of my parts come from surplus outlets (All Electronics, Electronic Goldmine, or the like); those that don't come from either DigiKey, Mouser, or SparkFun. Sometimes I might use Ebay, depending on the part and need.
If I need a part quick, and I want it "new", I will check local stores like Frys Electronics. If I don't mind surplus for the item, then its a Saturday trip down to Apache Reclamation and Electronics in south Phoenix for me (hmm - maybe I'll go there tomorrow for the hell of it!)...
Er... there's a few more but I think they're the main ones. Bitsbox is the one I use most, oomlout is my favourite - most of their stuff comes with a circuit diagram and a link to example code. I wish all sellers did that!
e-bay for RGB LEDs, arduino boards and as the last poster mentioned, capacitors, specially hard to find ones like 20pf and 33pf.
I also buy from bliptronics.com .. the only retail outlet I have seen that has the RGBs with the IC included and already wired .. and has arduino code. Plus a really nice EQ chip.
For LED controller chips, no one mentioned avnet express. So I figured I add it to the list.
(I have found great deals on TLC chips here)
