Question about ordering from Smallbear

[matmosphere]

I think the colorado address is where the packages come into the states from Thailand or wherever. I don't think Tayda has a warehouse in the states, but I could be wrong. My packages from them always have what looks like a customs receipt on the envelope.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I think the colorado address is where the packages come into the states from Thailand or wherever. I don't think Tayda has a warehouse in the states, but I could be wrong. My packages from them always have what looks like a customs receipt on the envelope.

Pretty sure this is the case as well. Still... 8-9 days total to get from Thailand to the east coast USA is pretty damn good.

[peAk]

3-4 days waiting for items to ship at SmallBear is pretty much what usually happens for me.

a little frustrating but I also understand they aren't Mouser.

[alanp]

I normally get a delay between order and shipping with Smallbear. Tayda employ people with bottle rocket mounted rollerskates, their turnaround is typically an hour or two!

[matmosphere]

I normally get a delay between order and shipping with Smallbear. Tayda employ people with bottle rocket mounted rollerskates, their turnaround is typically an hour or two!

Let's be fare though, those people Tayda "employ" probably make about as much in a month as somebody at small bear makes in an hour. Tayda big expense is probably the rocket skates.

[Muadzin]

Let's be fare though, those people Tayda "employ" probably make about as much in a month as somebody at small bear makes in an hour. Tayda big expense is probably the rocket skates.

Then maybe SB is overpaying their employees because they're nowhere near getting their value for their money compared to Tayda? 

[Droogie]

The funny thing is, I have the opposite experience with SB/Tayda. With SB, my order is shipped within two days max, and two days later I have it (I live two miles from SB). If I request local pickup, I almost always get it same day. For Tayda, it takes a solid nine business days every time.

[gordo]

I'm pretty surprised.  I usually get Smallbear stuff shipped within a few days (even when he was moving it was a week max.) and it's in my mailbox a few days later.  I'm in Chicago suburbs.

Tayda generally 3 days and then I have it 2-4 days later.  I have, on occasion, had it ship the next day and got it 2 days later but I think it was just a wrinkle in the time/space continuum.

Only bad experience so far has been Futurlec (6 weeks).

BTW, PPP is under new management along with the relocation and the communications from those folks has been nothing short of amazing.  I ordered the enclosure with UV printing for the L5 Lab Series Preamp and they explained it would take a bit of extra time to clear out the backlog.  They've been in touch every now and then to keep me in the loop and I expect to get the box late next week.  Off to a GREAT start.

[EBRAddict]

BTW, PPP is under new management along with the relocation and the communications from those folks has been nothing short of amazing.  I ordered the enclosure with UV printing for the L5 Lab Series Preamp and they explained it would take a bit of extra time to clear out the backlog.  They've been in touch every now and then to keep me in the loop and I expect to get the box late next week.  Off to a GREAT start.

Hopefully they will work on their web site. It's painful.

[Willybomb]

Chromosphere's diyguitarpedals.com.au is usually same or next day shipping. Auspost is pretty good, regular post here is 2-3 days, overnight if you go express.

[pickdropper]

I really like Small Bear.  With all of the smaller pedal oriented retailers, I think it's really important to set your expectations to what they are and what they do.  If you *need* it shipped the next day, it is not the right option for you.  At the end of the day, most of them are small business and don't have the infrastructure of bigger organizations.

If you need something shipped with 1 day turnaround, Mouser and Digikey (and often Newark) do a great job. 

If it's a part that is only carried by the small companies, there really isn't much option other than ordering more than you need, keeping a small stock and being careful to refill that stock before you actually need it.  Running just-in-time manufacturing with Small Bear, Mammoth or PPP is not terribly realistic.

[culturejam]

If you want speed, Dave is right: Mouser, Newark, or Digikey.

I've placed some orders at Newark before 12pm and gotten them delivered the next day (without requesting overnight shipping). Also, Newark's house brand of passives (MultiComp) is pretty decent quality for a small amount of cash. And they run deals on surplus parts so you can get the high quantity discount on any quantity. They are particularly good on this for box caps and 1/4-watt resistors (and quite a few SMT parts as well).

So yeah, put on your big-boy pants and order from a big distributor. Problem solved! 

[pickdropper]

I generally agree about ordering from the big three but some pedal specific parts aren't available there.

For those types of parts, the only real solution is to build up a small stock of parts if you can't wait for the shipping.  I buy parts for FFX and myself and there are certain things I just need to keep on hand.  I still occasionally run out, but it generally runs fairly smooth. 

On a side note, I wonder if Small Bear would ship same day if one paid for Next Day Delivery.  Usually when a customer pays that premium it conveys the importance of expediency.  Priority mail just conveys a preference for USPS, not that it's immediately needed.  At least that's how I would interpret it.


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[pickdropper]

BTW, PPP is under new management along with the relocation and the communications from those folks has been nothing short of amazing.  I ordered the enclosure with UV printing for the L5 Lab Series Preamp and they explained it would take a bit of extra time to clear out the backlog.  They've been in touch every now and then to keep me in the loop and I expect to get the box late next week.  Off to a GREAT start.

Hopefully they will work on their web site. It's painful.

I would really like that.  It's the worst commercial website I've used in the last 5-10 years.



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[Aristatertotle]

All of my orders have shipped within 48 hours with SmallBear. Usually what annoys me is when it gets stuck in the USPS sorting center in NYC. I've had a package stuck there for like 2 business days before from them.