Top 3 Online Stores To Buy Arduino Components
I’ve created and worked with many projects throughout my Arduino journey. Of course, that means I can’t solely rely on my Arduino kit to provide me with all the parts I need. Consequently, I’ve scoured the web for all the best places to buy Arduino components besides the official Arduino store.
Then, I purchased from each of those companies and whittled my decisions down to the three best stores. From my own personal experience and preferences, I have to say Jamesco is the clear winner as they provide outstanding service and great value for their products.
The rest of this article will be dissecting each of these shops, so let’s start with my number 1 pick.
Jamesco
Jamesco Electronics is a great option to try out for all your Arduino shopping needs. Even though their website might not be the prettiest or the most eye-catching, it is very functional. It has a clear overview of what they are offering, and it clearly shows a good differentiation between their products.
The website appears to be geared more towards customers who are experienced hobbyists. The shop also contains a separate website which contains fascinating projects that would be amazing to learn.
There is also a lot of helpful websites links that offer software that will make your projects easier. For instance, there is a the free and easy-to-use software that lets you make electronic boards. The videos are easy to follow and are extremely informative.
From what I’ve heard and my own personal experience, this company has delivered outstanding service, the pricing was inexpensive and reasonable, and its staff is very friendly.
Its delivery is fast and easy, but only if you’re in the United States. For those outside of the U.S, you might experience a higher shipping cost and longer shipping time.
Adafruit
Adafruit is another great, common store that sells Arduinos and components compatible with Arduinos. They make their own products (even the Arduino boards are manufactured by them instead of the Arduino company), and they sell cool kits.
Since they manufacture their own products, Adafruit usually sell cheaper components and parts compared to the official Arduino company.
Their website is very visually stimulating and pleasing. For instance, as soon as you type in Adafruit.com and hit enter, short clips of the parts will pop up and play. Moreover, they’re very educational and place an emphasis on educating young people. Besides that, the shop is divided into 3 parts: Products, Gift Idea’s and What’s New.
From my own experience and from what I’ve heard and seen, people love the documentation the shop provide on every single product. It gives you a great description, the features, and a short video to help you understand it even better! Moreover, they even show sample codes that you can use on the product.
What I love most is that they have a full page with inspirational do-It-Yourself products. They include ideas for seasonal things such as Halloween project ideas (as it is near Halloween at the time of writing), books, and a very handy guide on what to give to that one friend who loves tinkering with electronics.
However, customers, including myself, agree that the customer service needs some improvement. If a product is defective, you are asked to bring it up on the Adafruit forum. Many people are not happy about the slow response time to their complaints. That means you’ll need to wait a while before customer service will take a look at your request and decide if you can have a refund.
Sparkfun
Sparkfun is also a good outlet for obtaining all your Arduino components. Similar to Adafruit, they make their own products and kits, which is why you may also find their products to be a little less expensive compared to the official Arduino store.
Their website is very straightforward and gives you an overview of the different brands and components they offer. It may not be as visually appealing as Adafruit’s, but it’s easy to find your way around the site.
They also have a part of the website dedicated to helping you learn programming and another part that dives deeper into the assortments of components. If you click on a specific components, you’ll be whisked away to a very clean dashboard of several images of the product, its description, features, and all the necessary documentation for you to be successful with it.
From my personal experience and from what I’ve seen and heard, the short videos are very popular because they’re engaging and made by Sparkfun’s own energetic crew. They are very knowledgeable, and they always try to put the product to the test in real-life situations.
Sparkfun has male and female employees working on videos that showcase their products, which can help reduce anxious customers and encouraged those who might be trying their product for the first time to buy their products.
Unfortunately, customers do complain about the customer care of the company being lackluster and hard to get a hold of. There might have been a few complaints that some products aren’t properly documented, but with all the resources and love for do-it-yourself products, customers had an easy time searching for a solution.
Lastly, Sparkfun makes easy, quick, and cheap deliveries. For me, it took about a week for my components to arrive, and a cool thing to remember is that delivery is free for orders over $100! Personally, I’d take advantage of that and try to plan for all the components I’d need in future projects.
Summary/tl;dr (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Here’s what you should remember after reading this article:
- Jamesco is the best overall place to buy Arduino components even though its website might not look that pretty.
- Adafruit is a great choice if you really want to understand the nitty gritty details of every component they sell. Moreover, if you want some inspiration for your next project, this is a great site to browse around on.
- Sparkfun is a better option if you want quick and cheap deliveries. As an added bonus, they’ll ship you your components for free if your order is over $100!
If you want a quick introduction to the parts you should have for almost all your Arduino projects, consider checking out my Arduino Components guide! It contains great tips and tells you what they are.
In the end, I hope this article has spark-ed your interest and encouraged you to have some fun with your Arduino projects!
