"I have placed a few orders with electronics goldmine over the years, so this is my take on things based on 4-5 orders.
1) products
Products are generally as described and usually of surprisingly good quality for the price. As with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. Out of the 10 fans I ordered for a project, 7 worked. 2 had separated leads that were pretty much impossible to get to, and 1 just didn't work and had broken fins. If you need 10 of an item, order 15 to be safe. If you have to order 15 to get 10 working ones, the prices are about what you would pay elsewhere for tested stock.
2) customer service
The customer service staff lacks knowledge on every product they stock. Responses were scripted and less than helpful on all occasions. I pretty much don't bother contacting them anymore.
3) returns
Good luck. Their return policy seems to be "return it to the trash bin and place another order".
4) shipping
Shipping time is basically 3 days if you are extremely lucky, to 3 weeks which happens pretty often. Components ordered from china on the same day arrived a week earlier. I have a friend that received his order a little over a month after it was placed.
Shipping charges are insane to put it lightly. a 12 dollar order had a shipping charge of 15+ dollars. When it arrived, it would have fit in a flat rate priority small box with no problem. Instead I paid over 3x the priority cost for first class mail, and it took 2 weeks to arrive.
5) packaging
Dismal at best. The packaging is great if you order solar cells for an art project and don't mind them arriving broken. So far the poor packaging probably accounts for the majority of bad components I have received from them.
6) bottom line
If you need things quickly, and you need them packaged properly, save yourself the headache and order from digikey or somewhere similar. "
"I ordered from Electronic Goldmine , great experience, the customer service rep they have , she is great! very helpful!
I place the order on 02/03/12 I had it in my hand on Wen 3/8/2012.
Had slight snafu with debit card, customer service called me on Monday to verify card.
Came via USPS express mail, well packaged, and great value!
I will be back for much more!"
"I placed my first order with Electronic Goldmine recently, and they supposedly have a "track your order" feature on their website. It never updates, and always says "processing" even after it arrived at my house.
I order a lot of stuff online, and while I have had issues with a few bad sellers, this is my first bad experience with site that sells electronic components.
Some people on this review site think 3 weeks to ship an order is quick. That's simply not acceptable, and most website will process your order in 1-3 business days.
My order was actually packed ok, but others have complained their packages were not. You will probably be ok if your just ordering light and small items.
The thing that has me angry is they took my money, but only shipped a partial order, and claim it's complete. They shipped 2 opto packs instead of 4, and I have proof as they heat sealed them together in a larger bag.
My emails go unanswered, and I called and talked to the owner and he yelled profanities at me, and told me to stop crying over a few dollars. He said he's running a surplus store, not an Amazon, so I should be happy I recieved most my order.
I'm still in shock at how bad this little rag tag company is run. I usually order from the well known catalog merchants, but I like off the wall surplus items. They are not the only game in town, and will never order from them again."
"I placed a order and after a week of hearing nothing I asked about the status. I was told that it had been cancelled due to being sold out and nobody had bothered to tell me."
"This site is golden! I love the items they have, strange optics / transformers / robot parts / boost caps and the surprise box :) cant beat it!
I have shopped hear a few times now and most if not all items are used surplus but I love this store. The huge selection and good prices, good shipping times and excellent packing.
On my last order I was up late on there site and ordered 9 of one item and I needed 10. So I sent an email right away and Evin though its in there FAQ that they cant add an item to an order they where nice enuf to change the order and add 1 more!
Ive got some transformers in my cart and looking for more neet new toys to add on!! I will be shopping hear for some time to come!"
"I placed an order on 3/9/2011 and received the completed order today 3/16/2011. The service was great for the minimum shipping of 6.20 for priority mail.
All items were exactly as described. I would have ordered more items if it hadn't been for all the bad reviews. I never contacted them because I figured it would take up to 3 weeks for delivery.
Great service
Charlie Bowyer"
"Unbelievable Prices! If your looking for electronic parts, components or test equipment check out the Electronic Goldmine. They shipped right away and everything arrived in my order. Kudos!"
"I had an fair experience with this company. I ordered a few miscellaneous items, a bill acceptor from a Coke machine, a High Voltage transformer from a copy machine, and some copper-clad sheets. All items arrived in the condition as described, however the copper-clad boards were completely unusable, they had darkened areas everywhere, however contrary to many reviews when I called customer support I was nicely told that the boards were surplus and that sadly they could not guarantee their quality, they offered me a refund, since it was likely that any other boards sent as a replacement would be the same, so all in all 4 stars, but avoid the copper-clad boards."
"The order was good and well organized, and the merchandise was shipped better than it was along time ago back in 1997. They use anti static bags for the semiconductors, and my whole order was very organized in one big bag. I will order again from them soon. I am happy with their kits too. "
"Admittedly they are pretty slimy. Not only do
they sit on orders forever despite their false
advertising to the contrary. But when (not if)
they ship you defective merchandise the response
from them is "hey, it's all surplus stuff. You
get what you get." Nice.
I had the misfortune of having the owner pick
up the phone once when I called to inquire on
quantity availability of an item. He
essentially barked at me for expecting them to
have quantity stock of the item (even though
it was advertised on their website in quantity)
and went on about how they "buy the remains of
companies going down", and quickly ended the
call. Nice.
Their shipping "policy" is equally suspect. You
pay a surcharge over the UPS rate and they don't
even pack the purchased items competently. That
winds up as shipping damage and you get to pick
up the phone for another cycle of abuse.
I'd avoid these jokers if at all possible.
"
"First off they took 3 days to process the order.
The kit I bought was a Deluxe Bat Detector which was far from being deluxe. The parts didn't fit in the supplied case without extra work with a file. The thing just makes a loud scratchy sound and honestly I don't see how it could ever work. No gain control or volume control and the on/off switch is mounted out of reach.
I have built a Heathkit TV, oscilloscope, radio and many other kits and I have to say this is junk and not cheap junk. "
"I ordered a number of things from the site including a set of 10 drill bits. The order was processed and shipped quickly. Upon receiving the order and inspecting, it was clear that one of the drill bits was broken, and that the missing piece was not in the packaging, so it had to have been shipped that way.
I contacted their customer service department via email and got a response in 24 hours. Unfortunately, there was no discussion - they just decided how to handle the matter, which was the cheapest and easiest for them. They informed me that I would get a credit of $1.20 on my credit card. While this may be the equivalent dollar value of the drill bit, it does not come close to enabling me to buy a replacement. They don't sell that size individually, and no matter what I buy from them it will be subject to a $10 minimum plus shipping charges. They had a responsibility to deliver a complete set of bits to me and basically just blew me off.
Considering the nature of the stuff they sell, I suppose the resolution used in my case would make sense most of the time, but I did protest their choice and they just ignored me. They failed to look at the specifics and do the right thing. I have found other places selling most of the things they have and their prices are not especially low, so I probably will not go back."
"I wish they would ship faster, but other than that I am satisfied with my order. Everything was as described. Compare prices carefully, some items are incredible bargins, on others you can do better to order from one of the big electronics vendors like digikey or mouser.
I also got one of the surprise boxes this time. I'll probably never use 95% of the contents, but a few useful things more than made the purchase worthwhile.
"
"Nothing is more annoying than having a company sit on your order. "2-3 days for processing" "
"I made a purchase on this website on March 30,2007, and it took two weeks for the item to arrive. However, I like their items. If you are not in the hurry, I can recommend you this site, otherwise, get an express shipping somewhere else."