# Cost of Building a MB-6582 Today, with either Premium or Economic Components **URL:** \ **Category:** Parts Questions\ **Tags:** builder, cost, bom, mb6582\ **Created:** [October 27, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://forum.midibox.org/t/cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/20919 "2020-10-27T20:52:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/user_avatar/forum.midibox.org/dwestbury/32/664_2.png) [@dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/u/dwestbury)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://forum.midibox.org/t/cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/20919/1 "2020-10-27T20:52:49Z")
For the most part, I’ve been sourcing my components from either Mouser and or Digikey, but lately I’ve started placing one-off bulk orders with AliExpress. You can typically find what appear to be great prices on larger quantities of discreet component, but then there’s always that large shipping fee (_at least to the US_) and the significant wait time for deliveries (_which typically take 4-12 weeks in my experience_). So, I decided to take a look at some of the components I need for a particular BOM and compare the actual costs, side-by-side: In each case, I tried to source the cheapest components from reputable suppliers with the most positive reviews and feedback. ![image.png.a22aabae6b9c0c78b25857f2cfd37618.png](https://forum.midibox.org/uploads/default/original/2X/2/21d888daee66c71e297cae1b902c68baaf7c0e01.png)   You’ll notice that the volume and quantities aren’t _exactly_ the same for all items, since Mouser required some minimum qty. for certain items. But in the end, the cost delta worked out to only be  **around 9%,** so I decided to stick with Mouser for most of this order and benefit from the trusted quality and faster shipping time. Apologies if this is stating the obvious, but the exercise was helpful for me, so I thought it was worth sharing.   Cheers, -Darrell   ---
**Author:** ![ssp](https://forum.midibox.org/user_avatar/forum.midibox.org/ssp/32/145_2.png) [@ssp](https://forum.midibox.org/u/ssp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.midibox.org/t/cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/20919/2 "2020-10-28T13:14:06Z")
For me here in the UK the pricing and MOQ meant that i had to get a lot of things either from ebay or ali express as the pricing in the UK was far too much. For example i wanted some 6mmx6mm square led tact switches, in the UK they were almost $5 each equivalent. I got them from Ali express for $10 for 20 of them. same with the mini 7 segments, encoders and components. In the UK its V.A.T on everything, then customs etc and forwaring postage costs with VAT added. I just got a quote in for one of my pcbs, its a 4 layer pcb 250mmx250mm it was £90 for the pcb and then a further £140 for the processing, jlcpcb in china quoted me under £100 for 5 of the pcbs with shipping etc. I rarely get anything from the UK side anymore. ---
**Author:** ![dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/user_avatar/forum.midibox.org/dwestbury/32/664_2.png) [@dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/u/dwestbury)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://forum.midibox.org/t/cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/20919/3 "2020-10-28T22:01:02Z")
Yeah, it requires a bit of extra legwork with each and every purchase to find the best deal. I’m not always willing to price compare for the smaller one-offs, but for larger BOMs in the ~$100+ USD range, the saves you can find are usually worth the extra effort.   ---
**Author:** ![dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/user_avatar/forum.midibox.org/dwestbury/32/664_2.png) [@dwestbury](https://forum.midibox.org/u/dwestbury)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://forum.midibox.org/t/cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/20919/4 "2020-10-31T10:54:05Z")
To add some more context to this topic, I’m sharing the full side-by-side comparison as an Excel doc. The BOM reference is for a complete MB-6582 build, with two sets of sourcing options (one using mostly premium components from Mouser and the other uses more economical alternatives, from the likes of AliExpress, eBay, Amazon and elsewhere).    [\_MB 6582 BOM - Economy vs Premium Build Cost Comparison - Oct 2020.xlsx](\< _ **base\_url** _ \>/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=15289) The short of it is, you can make a complete MB-6582 today for around **$513 USD, ** when you only consider the costs for required BOM components. However your total out of pocket expenses will actually be significantly higher, because you’ll need to buy in bulk to get better volume prices (e.g., closer to **$1,127 USD** ). This obviously means that after the build, you’ll have plenty of spares sitting around for your next build or another project.  For a premium build, which uses real SIDs (8580 R5s), panels from FPE / Shaeffer and components sourced mostly through Mouser, your BOM will run closer to **$1,221 USD. ** In this case, out of pocket expenses would come in closer to **$1,661 USD** , which means you’ll still have plenty of spare parts left over, but far fewer than with the more economic option above. There are obviously many other sourcing and bulk volume options that can be considered and all of them would have an impact on these numbers, so consider this to be some type of _rough_ guidance. Hope you find it as useful as I did when planning your own build(s)… Cheers, -Darrell