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Cheap Ebay Stuff — Parallax Forums

Cheap Ebay Stuff

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
in General Discussion
Take a peek at https://www.ebay.com/sch/industry4.0-ppd/m.html

Cheap stuff from a new seller! Only 16 feedback ratings but all 100%. Either a scam, mistake, or a new seller moving parts at cost to build up a reputation. All guaranteed through Ebay either way, so if you want to take a risk like I did, stock up! Between prototyping and teaching, I'm burning through parts these days like never before... and thus hoarding more than ever!

74 cents ($1 Canadian) for ultrasonic sensors, 40pc male/male jumpers, FTDI adapters, much more.

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    BTW, I'm not a hoarder, I'm an Archivist!

    $1.50 Peltier modules: https://www.ebay.com/itm/312519249801
    ($2 canadian)
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    No one here erco would make that mistake. Heck! The family knows I collect unusual things. A former professional life assistant, did make that mistake. She's now retired and lives in a location best known for really bad music.

    Now why are you being stared at by two sleepy green eyes?
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2019-03-30 20:38
    Alternative viewpoint about to be offered on these deals. These super cheap purchases from China are bad for the American economy and domestic electronics industry. I recognize they are good for the consumer, though.

    First, this "free shipping" isn't really free at all. You are paying for it through domestic USPS shipping charges and your taxes which may support the USPS. Back in the 80's the USPS established shipping tiers for developing countries which enabled a handoff to USPS with free delivery inside the country. Countries like China and Bangladesh received these arrangements. Further, the Chinese government subsidizes the China side of the expense. So it's subsidized on both ends. See https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/11/05/how-the-usps-epacket-gives-postal-subsidies-to-chinese-e-commerce-merchants-to-ship-to-the-usa-cheap/#7c85a48140ca It's not up to us as individuals, but the federal government to end the nonsense.

    The low-quantity purchases from Amazon and eBay are not subject to tariffs. Tariffs are levied on Parallax electronic component imports from 10-25% when they go through proper import channels. We have no alternative but to buy some components from China as well, but our material goes through Customs and we get to argue tariff categories quite often. There is no tariff on these same small purchases. Further, the new tariffs don't apply to finished electronic goods - that's to say all the stuff you get from Best Buy had no tariff. But if you try to make it on your own here in the USA your BOM costs (excluding labor, manufacturing and gross profit) will far exceed the sale price of the electronic gadget.

    Many of the Chinese direct-ship products are just copies of American products. It's really easy to find Adafruit and SparkFun direct copies being imported. These are made from their open source files, but the spirit of improvement isn't part of the redo; it's just to get to market cheaper and faster.

    I am not suggesting erco hold off from his "super deal" posts, but want to be sure we're all aware of these realities when we click "add to cart". Post on, erco, and I might even buy a few things here and there but I'll feel guilty with every purchase.

    And could somebody provide a counter-argument to why the current arrangement is good for our electronics industry?

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax Inc.
  • Wuerfel_21Wuerfel_21 Posts: 5,053
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    [...] the new tariffs don't apply to finished electronic goods - that's to say all the stuff you get from Best Buy had no tariff. But if you try to make it on your own here in the USA your BOM costs [...] will far exceed the sale price of the electronic gadget.
    Cue politicians complaining about how all the electronics come from China and may or may not be spying for the CCP.

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    I am not suggesting erco hold off from his "super deal" posts, but want to be sure we're all aware of these realities when we click "add to cart". Post on, erco, and I might even buy a few things here and there but I'll feel guilty with every purchase.

    Ken Gracey
    Parallax Inc.

    Noted. All good and true points, Ken. I definitely enjoy and benefit from the current China situation, but I don't expect it to last much longer. That's why I say git while the gittin's good... guilt free.

    Related, I still don't understand how Amazon ships things for free... the volume argument doesn't work there. The electric scooters I ordered for my twins for Christmas were $75 each, free ship- big & heavy. I couldn't even ship one for $75.

  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    No problem here.

    Now why erco are you still being stared at by two sleepy green eyes?
  • pmrobertpmrobert Posts: 673
    edited 2019-04-01 01:16
    In a similar "How DO they do that?" observation: I've been able to purchase car and truck tires via tirerack.com, always delivered within 48 hours, often next day by big brown truck, at prices much less than local retailers and, related to me thanks to an acquaintance who's in that business, apparently cheaper than their wholesalers charges them prior to shipping. Things that make you go "Hmmm"...
    Mike R...

    Edit due to initial autocorrupt algorithm for the word "their". :-)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    And how do coffee shops get all those free umbrellas?

    umbrellas.jpg
    umbrellas.jpg
    900 x 506 - 65K
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    erco wrote: »
    And how do coffee shops get all those free umbrellas?

    umbrellas.jpg

    Oh clever. But erco you're still being stared at by two sleepy green eyes.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Actually, four green eyes now pierce the darkness.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    erco wrote: »
    Actually, four green eyes now pierce the darkness.

    Aha. But when I first started bringing that into the picture, your regular individual was waking up. His (her?) backup was still asleep.

    And it's nice to know that there are other cats involved in your work.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Fast shipping, I received my first order today. Prices were so cheap I gave it a 50% chance of being a scam. Everything looks good & legit, and far and away my favorite are these breadboard wires. 74 cents gets you 10cm of 40 conductor ribbon cable with pins at each end. Tear off as many wires as you need or rip them all apart for breadboarding. Has anyone priced what solid conductor wire is selling for lately, to make breadboard wires like the ones that come with BoeBot? Cripes! I received 20 of these today and I just ordered 20 more. I'm teaching classes now and these will come in handy. https://www.ebay.com/itm//312519249219

    wires.jpg
    wires.jpg
    1600 x 1600 - 184K
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    I did the math comparing the solid wire I've been buying to these premade jumpers for breadboarding. No comparison, especially cuz there's no cutting & stripping. :) Also, those hard solid wires get bent, mangled and nasty after a few uses, especially by noobs. Pretty sure the flexible stranded ribbon wires will last longer.

    60m solid wire, multicolor $14.50
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/173143238228
    6000 cm/$14.50=413cm per $

    Ribbon cable 40x10cm $0.74
    https://www.ebay.com/itm//312519249219
    400cm/0.74=540cm per $

    Might have to order some more...

  • Jeff HaasJeff Haas Posts: 421
    Erco, check those for quality before you invest too much in them. I got some of those and the ends came off really easily.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Thanks Jeff, will check on that.

  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2019-04-13 02:21
    Hmmm, let's see..... here's a quick couple of things.

    Alligator test leads where they use such low quality copper that is tarnished (no matter where you strip it) and a simple crimp with inferior metal so that you must test the test leads before you can test and don't expect to carry much current with it either since they have such high crimp resistance and heat up and melt the plastic.

    DC barrel pcb sockets where you cannot solder to the solder lugs since they appear to be some kind of metal that won't solder and is also brittle. Filing it down and using flux and more heat doesn't help.

    Modules with "genuine" chips that are cheaper than quantity pricing of the chip alone.

    Also I despair that it is almost impossible for me to ship anything overseas without it costing an arm and a leg or even just to send something across the country but a much larger parcel will not only ship for free to Australia but it even goes through customs and is shipped across the country for "free". What a magical world we live in.


    BTW, I think the WTO still class China as a "developing" nation.

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Peter Jakacki wrote: »
    ........

    Also I despair that it is almost impossible for me to ship anything overseas without it costing an arm and a leg or even just to send something across the country but a much larger parcel will not only ship for free to Australia but it even goes through customs and is shipped across the country for "free". What a magical world we live in.

    Oh, we know it's not shipped for "free". We pay for it every time we ship something or have to pay shipping on something purchased in our own countries. It was a good idea when shipments between countries were of reasonably close to balanced volumes, but it is now past time to rethink this.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    kwinn wrote:
    ...but it is now past time to rethink this.
    That's already been done. As of 2020 the U.S. will withdraw from the 144-year-old Universal Postal Union treaty, unless we can negotiate better rates.

    -Phil
  • K2K2 Posts: 693
    I hope we can negotiate better rates. But whatever happens in 2020, I already have a lifetime supply of "modules with 'genuine' chips that are cheaper than quantity pricing of the chip alone." I feel like Scrooge McDuck every time I count the bundles and bundles of antistatic packets I have containing such modules.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    As of 2020 the U.S. will withdraw from the 144-year-old Universal Postal Union treaty, unless we can negotiate better rates.

    -Phil

    I better really start hoarding acorns now... winter's coming!

  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    And by 2050 the US, UK, OZ etc will be third world and China will own us all :(
  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    Yea I better jump in and on the band wagon and buy some more of what I on fleybay before prices really go up

    But the quality of some things coming from China is very questionable at best and some of it just down right bad

    But some times you can get some really good quality items to buy be warned
  • K2K2 Posts: 693
    Jeff Haas wrote: »
    Erco, check those for quality before you invest too much in them. I got some of those and the ends came off really easily.

    Figured I'd better check this out. No doubt there are hundreds of individuals making these things...maybe hundreds of machines too. Fortunately the guy/gal that made mine was a pro. They're tight and well-made. A real bargain. It must be tough to stay focused while doing something as tedious and repetitive as this.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Yep, my cables are also well-made. I think they'll last a while, certainly longer than the solid-core wires I've been using in class. Those get all bent up and ratted out very quickly.
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