Nothing labeled from Smallbear?

[ferrinbonn]

I just got my first order from Smallbear and none of the components were labeled. I've placed orders from Tayda and Mammoth in the past and everything came in baggies that were either stickered or hand written identifying the value of the part.

Does Smallbear always not label what they send you? It's huge pain to have to and identify everything in dozens of different small bags. 

[matmosphere]

They have never labeled any of the stuff I got there.

[ferrinbonn]

Am I alone in finding this super annoying?

Maybe everybody else takes readings to confirm everything? It was really annoying to have to verify all of the resistors, but I've also got different color LEDs with clear plastic that I can't tell apart. Urgh...

[devilsnight]

I'm sure i read that on their website before, probly why I've never ordered from them. Smallbear seems to have some excellent stuff but, I can't imagine ordering any quantity like that. If I have 2 or 3 thousand components show up at one time there is no way I can check all them on the spot. Seems insane to me that they wouldn't even write on the bag with a marker..

[madbean]

My guess is that they've long ago calculated the labor hours and expense of labeling things and decided it is not affordable to do so. Operating out of NYC probably puts a huge dent in the overhead and makes it difficult to justify hiring someone just to put labels on bags. But, that's just a guess. Most things are easily identifiable (caps, ICs etc are self-labeled). But, yeah with resistors I can see why it's a pain for some folks.

On the plus side, it's a good opportunity to learn to read resistor codes It only takes a bit of practice!

[alparent]

Yes this is very annoying. I've ordered specific photocells from them for some projects. But they sent them in unidentified bags! do you know how hard it is to sort photocells!
Next time I will insist they label at least these kinda parts. Hopefully they will.

[Leevibe]

I honestly can't remember if they have labeled in he past. I'm pretty sure they've always labeled resistors and LEDs. No need for caps, pots, ICs. I just got an order in yesterday from them that had labels for resistors, photocells, optocouplers. It could be a simple matter of one employee does it one way, another does it different.

[daleykd]

On the plus side, it's a good opportunity to learn to read resistor codes It only takes a bit of practice!

This is actually why I don't label resistors.  It gives people a chance to either do a quick Google on DigiKey, or learn them, or use a DMM.  Maybe that's why I don't get too much business...

[Betty Wont]

I've never had a single item labelled from them in 5 years. The only thing that's worked for me with clear LEDs is to order different quantities of each so they can be identified by volume. Or set up a simple tester circuit to see the color. It's extra frustrating because Small Bear has by far the most picking errors and omissions of all of my suppliers. I would never buy small quantity resistors from them. Verifying order accuracy is a huge PITA.

[flanagan0718]

This is one of the reasons I've only ordered twice from them. It honestly lacks professionalism seeing a bunch of unmarked parts jumbled together in bags. It takes 2 seconds to write a number on the pick slip and then the corresponding number on the bag. Even with sharpie would be fine. I don't find it educational at all, I find it lazy and irritating. Just my opinion tho.


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[galaxiex]

... Or set up a simple tester circuit to see the color.....

Just a quick tip. 

A super easy LED checker is nothing more than a 3V button cell.
No test circuit or resistor needed. 

Just slip the cell between the 2 LED leads.
Voila, instant LED color verification.
(observe polarity, if it's wrong just reverse it, no damage done if you get the polarity wrong)

[Betty Wont]

... Or set up a simple tester circuit to see the color.....

Just a quick tip. 

A super easy LED checker is nothing more than a 3V button cell.
No test circuit or resistor needed. 

Just slip the cell between the 2 LED leads.
Voila, instant LED color verification.
(observe polarity, if it's wrong just reverse it, no damage done if you get the polarity wrong)

Ok, this is brilliant!

[madbean]

This is one of the reasons I've only ordered twice from them. It honestly lacks professionalism seeing a bunch of unmarked parts jumbled together in bags. It takes 2 seconds to write a number on the pick slip and then the corresponding number on the bag. Even with sharpie would be fine. I don't find it educational at all, I find it lazy and irritating. Just my opinion tho.


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That's actually a really good idea...print bag #'s with the receipt and just number the bags. Clever.

[EBRAddict]

I've never received anything labeled from them. As a beginner it was slightly frustrating but once you get used to the parts its not a big deal. That said I can verify a 100 part order from Mouser in a couple minutes, not so with Smallbear.

[galaxiex]

I don't buy much there, not because its not labelled, (i never actually noticed the labeling or lack thereof)

I only buy pots, knobs, the odd IC or transistor, hard to find hardware, etc.
Stuff that's easy to identify without a label.

Resistors, caps, LED's, bulk items etc where its nice to have labelled bags I get from DigiKey or Mouser.