Mouser Xicon Resistors — New MOQ of 200

[benny_profane]

I noticed today that most Xicon resistors—including the metal film 1/4W (271) and 1/8W (270) and the carbon 1/4W (291) and 1/8W (299)—have a new MOQ of 200 units at Mouser.

[Invertiguy]

Well that's inconvenient. I don't mind ordering that many of the common values, but for lesser-used ones it's kinda hard to justify keeping 200 of them around when I only need 1 or 2. I had a cart almost ready to go too, just had a few more things to add. Serious bummer.

[madbean]

That pretty much screws every Mouser project I've provided for the mbp projects. Ah well, nothing to do about it I guess. You'd think they'd at least go for 10 MOQ but I understand it can be quite time consuming for them to pick out one or two resistors for an order.

[benny_profane]

That pretty much screws every Mouser project I've provided for the mbp projects. Ah well, nothing to do about it I guess. You'd think they'd at least go for 10 MOQ but I understand it can be quite time consuming for them to pick out one or two resistors for an order.

Yeah, I actually noticed it because I was referencing a MBP mouser BOM. I agree that it seems an MOQ of ten would be the next step before 200. It's a drag because I make my BOMs with spreadsheets and the Xicon SKUs are really easy to populate from build docs. That and project mouser carts and obscure values. I didn't check to see if the other functional equivalents have been affected.

I can't imagine we could influence a policy change. Part of me is thinking this might have to do with streamlining fulfillment due to COVID-19. But, many changes like that become entrenched and remain even when the cause for the change goes away.

[aion]

I can't blame Mouser, the full packs are so cheap that if you order anything less than ~20 singles then you're better off getting 200. And who wants to sort them out!

That said, I have some work to do since all my parts lists use Xicon exclusively. Fortunately the individual project spreadsheets look up the part # in a centralized master parts database. So I do have to change ~120 part numbers to KOA Speer or Yageo, but only in one spot.

[Bret608]

Wow, I just did a large order with them for the Flintlock Flanger last week. I even remember thinking, "wow, they are going to hate me for the large number of single odd-value resistors!" Guess it is time to take a new look at KOA Speer or Yageo as Kevin suggests.

[danfrank]

Yes, you are the one that caused Mouser's change of policy! Bad, very bad!
Lol!

[benny_profane]

I submitted an enquiry today to see if this is a change originating with Mouser or the manufacturer. I talked to three representatives (i.e., customer service, tech, and purchasing) and no one knew what caused the change. I'll report back with an update when I get a response.

I agree that ultimately this isn't the hugest deal. It's just rather inconvenient for project BOMs and low-volume builders. The Xicon SKU format is just so easy to use.

[alanp]

I use Mouser for either weird values (like the E96 series stuff I ordered a couple weeks ago for the C16 filterbank), or when I want a thousand resistors. Everything else is Tayda (it's 1%, it's a resistor, it's metal film, job done.)

[danfrank]

I'm sure the policy came from Mouser themselves. The amount of time/pay it takes to sort out 1 or 10 resistors and package them up is more than what they're charging for that amount of resistors. $2 for 100 resistors is cheap, and yeah, they may sit around for a long time but Mouser is in the business of selling parts so they aren't gonna mind if they sell you more than you need.

[benny_profane]

I'm not totally sure it did come from Mouser, though. That'd certainly make sense (for all of the above reasons), but they indicated that it was more likely a manufacturer decision rather than an internal policy change. Other comparable resistors haven't been affected. Ultimately, my concern was with preexisting project BOMs/carts that will need to be changed. In any case, I'll post the response when I get it.

[benny_profane]

The enquiry seems to have fizzled out. Instead, I received a PO approval for Xicon resistor purchase in quantities less than 200 (albeit without the typical price break at QTY>10). Seems like this is the new norm. I'm not sure if other functionally equivalent parts (e.g., KAO Speer or Yageo) will have the same increase.

[davent]

I always felt a bit guilty ordering one or two of items worth a fraction of a dollar, still did it but gave me pause.
dave

[alanp]

With parts that cheap, I always buy extra, partly for a price break, and partly because spare parts never hurt.

[somnif]

With parts that cheap, I always buy extra, partly for a price break, and partly because spare parts never hurt.

Does get a wee bit annoying when you're buying an oddball value that you've only ever seen in one project, where you need 1 and have 199 collecting dust on a shelf for the next 8 years.