frodog wrote:So you been waiting for those components for months? I've never tried Ali, but in rare cases some Chinese ebay orders have taken a couple of months, when usually it's 2-3 weeks. Only a very few times items have been lost.
I swear, MONTHS. Just checked and I confirm I placed the order on the 26th of April and so far I have only received 2 small packages (when they should have been 12 or 13). I'm quite sure ebay offers more protection so probably they ship with different methods, I ve ordered photography gear a bunch of times from there and never had to complain.
For bigger orders I've been happy with RS Components in the UK. Otherwise I use ebay. From EU stores there I've gotten good NOS stuff as well, although it seems increasingly expensive and like the best parts/deals are long gone. There are many cheaper options (regular transistors, caps, resistors..) that will serve you well, but in some cases it really pays off to, uh.. pay more. It depends on what you're wanting to build of course, and where you want to spend the most money. Paint can be pretty costly too...
OK, we also use RS components for big industrial electrical components where I work, never thought of using it for smaller stuff.
Luckily paint is not a thing I need now, I just want to focus on trying stuff on breadboard.