Well after 10 years I just got banned by ADAfruit indefinitely for not shipping to my home address. I don't know wtf that was about. I think they banned both addresses so I screwed my friend over.
Anyone know of any other alternative sites?
Amazon and eBay are my primary places to get electronics/maker parts. I don't buy them for cosplay, but I expect the things you're looking for are available from either and likely for a better price than Adafruit. If you can tolerate the wait, AliExpress.
I've always been wary of Aliexpress but maybe for the next project if your are saying it's ok. I wanted the stuff asap.
Didn't think of ebay I thought it was just bidding lol.
I don't use AliExpress often but for the commodities you want to stock your workshop with, it's often cheaper per unit with cheap shipping so if you want to order a bunch of something it's usually the way to go. Pre-COVID, clone Arduino Nanos were like $2 each on eBay but now they're like $5 at minimum. On AliExpress you can still ocasionally get them cheaper. I needed a bunch of them for a project and had exhausted my pre-COVID stash so I got a bunch on AliExpress and they work fine. For the less common stuff I'd not waste the time and just get it from somewhere with faster shipping. eBay often has free shipping on stuff while Amazon needs a $35 minimum if you don't have Prime, though I do make use of the free Prime trials and stock up when I get the offer.
Nah, eBay is mostly warehouse vendors now. I find it a little odd if I find an old school second hand item with bids. Also, at least in my country, most of the warehouse vendors offer free shipping. Aliexpress is generally cheaper per item tho
I'm sure it still happens a bunch, I got a random orbital sander second hand for quite cheap. No one sniped me, but it's not like its a rare collectible.