Price discrepancy at Guanghua for electronic components

[Cesar Ivanix]

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone here who works with Arduino can help answer.  It seems that prices for some Arduino related items have a big mark up in Guanghua compared to prices back in the US.

As example, I was trying to get a low cost USB to TTL dongle to program an Atmega328 on breadboard.  The lowest ones I could find are the labeled as having a PL2303 (fake?) which go from 75NT up to 100NT which is about 2.50 - 3 USD.  The better ones like the CP2102 go for about 150NT and up to around 200NT, about 5 to 6 USD.

However at the forums over at Arduino, some members were quoting the PL2303 as going for about $1 USD and the CP2102 about $2 or so and this was back in 2013.

I keep finding this in a lot of different items, even the Atmega328 is marked up at 150NT at retail.  same for the ESP8266 and ESP32.  

I feel prices here quite a bit are higher in other countries.

[Guillaume]

I found the same prices (I bought a Attiny85 for 100nt if I remember well, on Aliexpress they are about 30-35nt) and therefore had the same questions. 

The answer I was given is "buy online..." :(

I am interested in your conclusions. 

Guillaume

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[Pineau Timothée]

Yeah Guanghua is a little expensive for that sort of stuff. Too low volume.

Online is the way. Aliexpress or Runten sometimes works.

Tim

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[Cesar Ivanix]

Yes,   I have started ordering online for some items, as I am teaching a class and need items in small quantity usually 10 or 20.

However, must be sure the item is the actual one and will work.   As example, I was about to order 20 of a  PL2303  USB to TTL, luckily I tested one of the retail samples before taking the plunge.  Seems the PL2303  will not work on Window 10 (long story) which is what most laptops are running in the classroom. 

At other times, I just enjoy picking up something on the spot the same day without having to wait.

So a couple hair brained thoughts: 

- Would the members here be interested in some type of coop where we could just drop in to the hackperspace and pick up some small parts at a small markup over that found online?  The markup would contribute to paying for hackerspace. 

- Adding insult to injury,  I was thinking the inventory could be self service using coin op toy dispensers  like these: 

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Factory-price-NNL-118S-gashapon-capsule_60341063006.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikehoz.6.3a16d36fZ6OfUL

On Thursday, February 1, 2018 at 9:57:18 AM UTC+8, Pineau Timothée wrote:

Yeah Guanghua is a little expensive for that sort of stuff. Too low volume.

Online is the way. Aliexpress or Runten sometimes works.

Tim

On Feb 1, 2018, at 8:25 AM, Guillaume <guil...@geekworldtour.com> wrote:

I found the same prices (I bought a Attiny85 for 100nt if I remember well, on Aliexpress they are about 30-35nt) and therefore had the same questions. 

The answer I was given is "buy online..." :(

I am interested in your conclusions. 

Guillaume

On 1 Feb 2018 08:16, "Cesar Ivanix" <ivani...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone here who works with Arduino can help answer.  It seems that prices for some Arduino related items have a big mark up in Guanghua compared to prices back in the US.

As example, I was trying to get a low cost USB to TTL dongle to program an Atmega328 on breadboard.  The lowest ones I could find are the labeled as having a PL2303 (fake?) which go from 75NT up to 100NT which is about 2.50 - 3 USD.  The better ones like the CP2102 go for about 150NT and up to around 200NT, about 5 to 6 USD.

However at the forums over at Arduino, some members were quoting the PL2303 as going for about $1 USD and the CP2102 about $2 or so and this was back in 2013.

I keep finding this in a lot of different items, even the Atmega328 is marked up at 150NT at retail.  same for the ESP8266 and ESP32.  

I feel prices here quite a bit are higher in other countries.

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[Cesar Ivanix]

I now feel behind the curve, having just found USnooBie, http://eleccelerator.com/usnoobie/

Seems you don't really need a separate USB to TTL to talk to the ATmega chips

Not sure if it can work on Windows 10, will give it a try.