high cost of PCBOARDS

The boards are cheap enough but shipping is really expensive.
Have boards ordered from JLCPBC for a reasonable cost for 5 boards at $2 but with $32 shipping.
Maybe get boards made here in the states?

MrDEB said:

The boards are cheap enough but shipping is really expensive.
Have boards ordered from JLCPBC for a reasonable cost for 5 boards at $2 but with $32 shipping.
Maybe get boards made here in the states?

Click to expand...

Expect to pay considerably more if you do, and for it to take longer. I designed a small board Monday 10th, sent an order off for 50 to JLCPCB, and they arrived Monday 17th. The boards cost £6.53 and shipping was £16.00 via DHL Express Worldwide.

Bear in mind, they are coming from half way round the world, and you're paying extra for fast shipping - pick a cheaper shipping option, and pay less (but wait longer) - but it's never going to be cheap shipping.

Incidentally, I ordered 50 because it seemed a fairly optimum cost/shipping ratio, if I increased to 100 the shipping went up, and decreasing to 25 it stayed the same.

As Nigel has mentioned, welcome to the brave new world of trans-continental materials procurement.

Having said this, I had been a loyal customer for ExpressPCB for at least 15 or more years. Not anymore. Nowadays for a two layer, tin plated, single silkscreen, rectangular with forced dimensions of 96.5 X 65.5 mm, three (3) boards are US$ 71.00 plus $ 10.90 ground shipping!!

You are far, far better ordering from JLCPCB even when paying a premium delivery. And with many more features like slots, selectable board colors, bottom silkscreen. Also optional ENIG finish, gold fingers and chamfers, 2oz copper, castellated holes and a far more advanced EDA environment.

How many boards do you need. US based OSHPark's two lawyer prototype service is $5 a square inch shipped for 3 copies of the board. 7 to 9 days. Faster if you pay for it.