almondcity
Well-known member
I admit it. As a "lib" I do feel quite "owned" by this
Jlcpcb and tariffs
- Thread starter Locrian99
- Start date
y-u-no-f800b
New member
I mean, I guess there's OSH Park if you don't mind purple solder mask and having to sand pointy spurs off the edges of every board. I've also used their "After Dark" (clear solder mask/black substrate) service for a project where looks were important. $25 and a few weeks wait gets you three average pedal size pcbs. Good enough solution for DIYers, maybe not practical for businesses. Still 10x more expensive than China, but at least you get ENIG. Probably going to use JLC for orders of 25+ boards, but I'm moving back to OSH Park for prototypes and one-offs.
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vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
The look of the after dark is literally the only reason I use OSH for anything, those boards look amazing and are worth the price.
I got an email last night that said something to the effect of "Tariffs got you down? Move your manufacturing to Malaysia!" I was intrigued enough to email them and ask for details on their process, and it turns out I had actually talked to them at a manufacturing trade show last year (I hang out at trade shows for the same reason I hang out on forums) then lost touch because I was happy with JLC at the time. I'm planning to send them one of my designs and see how their prices stack up.
Paul.Ruby
Well-known member
OSH is, at least, not ridiculous. They directly import kicad files (nice). $5/sq in for 3 boards is just under the ridiculous level and is not money sent directly to trump's grubby hands.
Malaysia might be an option. @vigilante398 what company in malaysia are you talking about?
Malaysia might be an option. @vigilante398 what company in malaysia are you talking about?
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
The company is Pica Manufacturing, looks like they have an office in the states and factories overseas. They're not hobbyist-oriented like the places we're used to, you actually need to contact them to request a quote, there's no automated ordering process. I'll certainly report back when I get more information from them.
And frankly whether they work out or not, the Design-2-Part show where I met them last year is happening here next week, so I'll be sure to talk to them and some of the other dozen or so PCB fabrication shops that usually come to the show.
If anyone in the Chicago area wants to go to the show let me know and I can send you details. It's free to attend with free parking, which is a rarity around here.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
I was stoked that I got a couple big orders in at JLC just before they started collecting fees at checkout, so when the orders shipped I thought I had skated by, until I received this email this morning regarding a shipment that is already in transit:
The order in question was $494 ($349.06 for boards, $109.20 for shipping, $31.98 for sales tax).
The order in question was $494 ($349.06 for boards, $109.20 for shipping, $31.98 for sales tax).
almondcity
Well-known member
Tried to buy 5 boards from JLC today except now it costs $25 instead of $4 so I'm out. Nice job on this one
Vicious C
Well-known member
I also just for kicks compared 5 boards from JLC vs 3 boards from oshpark. 17$ plus free shipping with Osh, 23 Dollars plus 80$ shipping with JLC… oshpark it is.
PedalBuilder
Well-known member
I don’t know about protests (the almost never have any actual impact and when they do have an impact half the time it’s the opposite of what the protesters want), but there are at least three serious lawsuits that are working their way through the courts—V.O.S. Selections v. Trump, Princess Awesome & Stonemaier Games, et al. v. Customs, and Oregon v. Trump. Each of those cases has a real shot at stopping the tariffs that were imposed under IEEPA, IMHO. There are some other cases, but they were likely filed in courts that lack jurisdiction over tariffs, so they are less likely to succeed.
Big Monk
Well-known member
For simple boards with no pick and place, I’d say go stateside if the cost lines up.
But for those of us who utilize SMD assembly at JLCPCB, the tariff thing will likely blow over before those prices are ever close to equalizing.
giovanni
Well-known member
Not to nitpick… ok kinda to nitpick
, but there are plenty of studies showing that protests do work… so hopefully they will when it comes to tariffs.vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
So I had kind of been playing tariffs-chicken with JLC. I didn't respond to the email I posted above because both of my recent orders had already been shipped, so I figured I would wait it out and see what happens. Last night they sent another message, informing me that failure to pre-pay the customs duties could result in the package being delayed or and destroyed by customs.
Funny thing though, when I saw that email I checked the tracking and saw that the shipments had already been processed through Alaska and made it to Kentucky. So I figured I would keep waiting and see if they would get hung up somewhere, at which point I would contact JLC and pay the fees so I could get my boards.
Both packages were delivered a couple hours ago.
UPS may still send me a bill in a week or so, that's usually how they seem to do it, but for now I've escaped the automatic 170% JLC is throwing on new orders.
Funny thing though, when I saw that email I checked the tracking and saw that the shipments had already been processed through Alaska and made it to Kentucky. So I figured I would keep waiting and see if they would get hung up somewhere, at which point I would contact JLC and pay the fees so I could get my boards.
Both packages were delivered a couple hours ago.
UPS may still send me a bill in a week or so, that's usually how they seem to do it, but for now I've escaped the automatic 170% JLC is throwing on new orders.
giovanni
Well-known member
I feel like you risked it man! I once sent a package from the US to Spain and the receiver was supposed to get in touch with customs (which I told them to do). They did not and the package was returned to me...
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Yeah it was a tense game of chicken, but I was checking the tracking every hour or so. If at any point the status had been changed to "on hold" or "pending customs" or anything like that, I immediately would have folded and paid. I think most places will hold it for a week or so waiting for customs payment.
I actually got a phone call a couple weeks ago from UPS International in Italy asking me for contact information of a customer so they could collect customs, so I figured if I really needed to pay upfront that it would be UPS contacting me, not JLC.
I also was willing to risk it because it reminded me of an email JLC sent me a few years ago, they said one of my boards had a weird feature (can't remember what) that required an additional $25 engineering fee. This would have been fine, but that order had been completed and delivered 2 months prior; they were going through old orders trying to shake me down for fees. I told them politely that I'm not paying, and they said because I'm a "loyal customer" they would waive it "this time". I've obviously continued to shop with them since then, but it felt sketchy, and chasing me for fees on a package they already shipped also felt sketchy.
giovanni
Well-known member
WTF! That's super sketchy.
