I learned something this week. Thought I was being clever to go with FedEx for the most recent Digikey order because they offered FedEx ground at a flat rate of $9 while, depending on the subtle variables to do with how stuff gets packed, USPS Priority could cost eight dollars or about $18 if the package weight exceeded a pound. In case readers have not ordered for Digikey, they pack stuff as if the box will be simply pushed out of the airplane over its destination: it would bounce a lot but the contents would come away undamaged. So a few ounces of stuff can translate to a box weight of 14 ounces, to cite my previous order. That episode made me give up on expecting to take advantage of the cheapest option: first class USPS for up to eight ounces and typically three day delivery (but with Priority it's two days from Digikey's location and I've never seen the PO be late). I think currently if you order a single 0603 capacitor it might come packed with a weight of nine ounces depending on how vigilant the staff is feeling that day. :-) But don't get the wrong idea: I L O V E Digikey. They send stuff just like you'd expect if somebody's very important work was hinging on the part arriving absolutely perfect, and hobby folks are given exactly the same service, year in, year out.
Anyway, I figured FedEx ground would be three days vs two for Priority mail, so Friday delivery would be OK and with a cap on the cost. I didn't count on weather in Memphis Tennessee hosing the shipment and now the parts won't be here until Monday (FedEx doesn't normally deliver on Saturdays), my "positively, absolutely" Saturday due date is toast and the $10 I might have saved is insignificant. Live and learn. Sure, this can happen with the post office too. And Digikey might pop the stack and the FedEx ground might go back to $13.87 for the first pound and $17.17 for one to five. This was a story about false economy and poetic justice for straying from my bias to give my money to the PO. -Pete _______________________________________________ Triangle, NC Embedded Computing mailing list To post message: [email protected] List info: http://mail.triembed.org/mailman/listinfo/triembed_triembed.org TriEmbed web site: http://TriEmbed.org To unsubscribe, click link and send a blank message: mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe
