ESP8266 Community Forum

- Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:04 pm #1488 I don't know how reliable it is, but I found the chip @ ¥2.50 ~= $0.41 in single quantity:
http://detail.1688.com/offer/40275834361.html

- Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:45 pm #1527 I think there is some dumping of old stock ESP8266 going on now that ESP8266EX is out.

Where I get my modules

- Sat Oct 11, 2014 7:06 am #1534 Yes, you are probably right!

- Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:19 am #1570

I don't know how reliable it is, but I found the chip @ ¥2.50 ~= $0.41 in single quantity:
http://detail.1688.com/offer/40275834361.html

I have seen Chinese vendors put a teaser pricing on sites like Alibaba where you cannot close a transaction yourself. Sometimes they even put ridiculous rates like 0.01 USD so that buyers at least contact them. This has become an old trick now and very few people fall for it, so now a days some vendors put a believably low (but still not real) price.

On sites, where you can execute transactions yourselves, part of the item cost is adjusted in the shipping. This gives the vendor the advantage in being ranked higher when a user sorts by price. A simple way to find whether this is the case is to put a large quantity (like 1000 pcs) and check the total cost of your cart. If the shipping cost does not increase that much, then you have found a good deal. If not then you can try asking the seller. Sometimes the system automatically upgrades the shipping method or over estimates the package weight which results in an inflated shipping cost. So when ordering in bulk, it is better to get a custom shipping quote directly from the vendor or use your own shipping account.

Nevertheless a good find. Thanks for sharing.