Taobao , 1688 , tmall ... electronics purchase experience

[danymogh]

Since there is a so-called wafer shortage as of 2021, a lot of popular component distributors like Digikey, Mouser, etc do not have mainstream MCUs in stock or their price is high.

Because of my current production of my key FOBs I'm forced to choose cheaper MCUs and I have come across Chinese websites like Taobao , 1688 etc that claim to have those parts at very cheaper prices. recently I tried purchasing from them, however, the seller said they don't have anything in stock right now.

I want to know if anybody has any experience from purchasing from those websites and if has any recommendation about them, like items being fake, copy, High-copy, etc.

also, there are some very cheaper Chinese MCUs like the MS80 series manufactured by origin-gd.com and www.fremontmicro.com with their cheap 8 but series MCUs, I'd be glad if anyone could share their experience from those MCUs if they have any.

[2Code]

      I ordered some of these cheap chips from Aliexpress, Ch55x are clones of C51 series with USB interface. Because I haven't ordered in bulk quantity I got 30 cents/piece with free transport. I didn't get them yet but looks like the supplier was not in shortage. Can't telll more for the moment, I am waiting for them to see how they work. Best regards!

[XxMohannadxX]

i alaways get items from Taobao and tmall  there is a fake and real original chips how i can help you?

[danymogh]

i alaways get items from Taobao and tmall  there is a fake and real original chips how i can help you?

We're are only sharing experiences, how can you tell which seller is supplying fake chips and another is selling original ones? is there a rule of thumb we should know about? how can you distinguish the sellers?

[towlerg]

We're are only sharing experiences, how can you tell which seller is supplying fake chips and another is selling original ones? is there a rule of thumb we should know about? how can you distinguish the sellers?

Although I buy on eBay I guess its pretty much of a muchness. I usually discount the cheapest, then go on sales volume and positive freeback.

[optikon]

.... is there a rule of thumb we should know about? .....

Yep, - you get what you pay for. You surely wouldn't be selling anything made with components from shady suppliers right?

[CocaCola]

One thing to note about some of these fly-by-night Asian sites, if they don't use an established online payment service, use a disposable credit card...  It's been a while since I made a purchase from one of these fly-by-night Asian supply sites but in the past, it was legit about a 50/50 chance I would have to cancel the credit card used because of fraudulent charges about a month later...

And beware some will sell you totally fake chips, they will remove the original silkscreen on whatever chip and print new counterfeit silk and logo on it...  Others will sell legit chips, but who knows if they are legit 1st run chips, they very well could be bad batches snatched from dumpsters...

That said I have found some real bargains, but it's always a roll the dice game, and not always the fault of the seller either, sometimes they get screwed by their suppliers...

[danymogh]

Yep, - you get what you pay for. You surely wouldn't be selling anything made with components from shady suppliers right?

Actually if the chip I'm buying is what I'm expecting I'd sell it. I'm giving warrantees on my products so the customer wouldn't need to worry about that!

[Magnox]

An interesting document when considering purchases from such places:

https://www.cti-us.com/pdf/CCAP-101InspectExamplesA6.pdf

[CocaCola]

I'm giving warrantees on my products so the customer wouldn't need to worry about that!

I certainly don't know your customer base, warranty or not if you start having a lot of unhappy customers with failed products that generally is not good for business and word generally spreads fast...  Plus the cost to do all those warrantees is going to slaughter any savings you thought you were making...

IMO don't be penny wise and dollar stupid when you are in business it rarely works out...

[bobcat1]

Hi all

You can start working with the GD32VF103 -Risc-V microcontroller from GigaDevice ,It is a compatible part to STM32F103 cost almost half and currently available.
I have try this device in one project - it is looking stable and have good driver & example library with almost no bugs with in. 

I use professional tool's for code compiling & debug - I can't guarantee stability working with other tools as I have no experience.

All the best

Bobi     

[medik]

Hi all

You can start working with the GD32VF103 -Risc-V microcontroller from GigaDevice ,It is a compatible part to STM32F103 cost almost half and currently available.
I have try this device in one project - it is looking stable and have good driver & example library with almost no bugs with in. 

I use professional tool's for code compiling & debug - I can't guarantee stability working with other tools as I have no experience.

All the best

Bobi     

I will like to try this out. By professional tools, do you mean Keil uVision?