Where to buy arduino parts

Hi Guys,

I’m starting to work with Arduino in a few projects but need to buy some extra parts. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for cheap/good places to get these kinds of supplies?

A real life shop in London would be great but also just anywhere good online - I’ve looked on RS components but they seem to be quite pricey?

Parts:

  • more jumper wires/dupont wires (longer than standard)
  • a switch
  • a rail and carriage - approx 40/50cm (not sure if this is the right description of what I’m after!)
  • a battery holder with longer wires

Any info would be amazing! Also any good way of getting started learning the basics - a friend is lending me the Arduino Cookbook but any other avenues would be great too!

Cheers!

Maddie

Hey Maddie,

It’s pretty hard to find physical stores that sell Arduino parts and the likes, there used to be Maplin but I don’t know any other. I think that RS has a shop in south East London but I have never been so I don’t know if they have many things.

I buy most stuff online, on different websites depending on what it is. I usually use RS if I’m in a rush, their next day delivery service is great (I think you have to pay for it now, but it might still be free if you create a business account). They’re a bit pricey but it really depends on the items. If I’m not in a rush I sometimes order from Reichelt or even Banggood, but be prepared to wait up to several weeks. Pimoroni and Cool components are quite pricey but they deliver fast and they resell a lot of things like Adafruit parts, which are good little modules especially if you’re starting. They also have more choice in things like buttons or displays etc. Otherwise, I’d really recommend eBay, there’s quite a few UK based sellers especially if you’re looking for classic parts like jumper wires etc, and it’s pretty cheap.

In terms of learning Arduino - Adafruit’s website has lots of resources, Arduino forum is also good. Also, I haven’t used it much but circuito.io lets you prototype Arduino circuits on a simulator, pretty good if you want to test before risking burning your components :stuck_out_tongue:

Hope this helps, let me know if you have more questions !

Marie

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Hi Maire!

Wow thanks that’s really useful! Yeah I saw there was an RS components shop in surrey keys, maybe I’ll check it out this weekend. Ebay is a good shout, and if I put just UK sellers I guess they may come faster than if they were in China.

I may be returning with more questions at some point yeah, thanks for your help!

Maddie

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I agree with all Marie says. Sometimes I find RS difficult (so much choice!) So I do also use https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ as it easy to navigate and the owner is very helpful.
Also hobbytronics https://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/, and https://shop.pimoroni.com/
I’ve found that as I’ve got better at electronics and Arduino, so I’ve been better able to access the cheaper places to buy things (with regards to choosing components, reading datasheets etc)

Have fun!
Gawain

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Ahh Bitsbox! Used to buy stuff there years ago… really nice, and glad to see he’s still going

Thank you Gawain!

I’ve come across hobbytronics but not bitzbox I’ll check them out this weekend. I think it’s definitely the case, I’ll have to just start knowing little about which parts are right and the more I learn the easier it’ll be to source the right/cheap parts!

Thank you !

This might be the only shop in London left https://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/Arduino-Development-Boards-and-Accessories.html

Cool components came to mind too but they are no longer located in London. Still worth a look https://coolcomponents.co.uk/

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Proto-pic.co.uk also good

The sparkfun tutorials are really good I find for learning

https://www.sparkfun.com/engineering_essentials
https://learn.sparkfun.com/

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Thank you Edd and Pip! I’ll definitely check those out! It will be great to go to an IRL shop, even if I don’t buy things from there!

I was there yesterday. It’s still a good shop with friendly and fairly knowledgeable staff (especially when it comes to cctv and audio). The Arduino range was added recently as a response to maplin closing.

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