LED prices at Future DOUBLED overnight

[jeffosborne]

I check Future Electronics regularly looking for the high-power TFFC Rebels to re-appear. In the meantime, I had several projects to do so I ordered non-TFFC Rebels a week ago in various colors.

Now, when I go to Future Electronics site today, the prices for the Luxeon Rebel LED's I bought just last week have doubled! Please note that I bought in small quantities, so these are all 1-249 piece prices:

neutral white LXML-PWN1-0050 was $1.98, now $3.88

blue LXML-PB01-0008 was $1.61, now $3.39

green LXML-PM01-0050 was $1.98 now $3.90

red-orange LXML-PH01-0050 was $1.47 now $3.04

Anyone notice large increases in other brand LED prices?
I am curious, are you?

By the way, I hope to post regarding my home lighting projects soon! Going to do a porch light for my daughter! 9 neutral-white Rebels in a converted AC fixture. More to come.

Jeff O.

 

[jtr1962]

I noticed that myself. However, before they were basically charging the same price per piece for one as they were for a reel. That really doesn't make sense. I'm glad I bought a few of each color to play around with while they were still cheap.

What gets me about the new price structure isn't so much that they raised the prices on small quantities, but rather that discounts don't kick in until you order a full reel. Usually other parts places offer increasing price breaks at 10, 25, and 100 units.

Another thing is they seem to be out of stock of the better bins. Typical for Lumileds where their parts look great on paper but are generally unavailable. Yes, I'm aware of the epoxy problem but Rebel production was supposed to be in full swing again by March.

 

[Burgess]

Thank you for the info, Jeff.



BTW, are you saying that the TFFC Rebels

haven't been " re-available " since the Big Recall ?



Is there ( still ) a problem with 'em ? ? ?


Thought it was simply a case of " the wrong epoxy ".


_

 

[Oznog]

Well, it may be a blessing in disguise because historically they've been hesitant to break reels, especially on their higher end ones. So basically the price was low but irrelevant because you couldn't get them. If they're upping the singles price maybe they'll have them "at the front of the store" so to speak.

 

[Bronco]

Well, it may be a blessing in disguise because historically they've been hesitant to break reels, especially on their higher end ones. So basically the price was low but irrelevant because you couldn't get them. If they're upping the singles price maybe they'll have them "at the front of the store" so to speak.

Good point.

 

[Oznog]

I don't think my theory panned out; they don't have any Green-80 singles OR reels. Don't seen to have a Green-80 reel either. When I've called about this sort of thing in the past they say the reel's overseas and they will only bring one here if you buy a reel.

Future Electronics is now more expensive than LuxeonStar.com: http://www.luxeonstar.com/sub_category.php?id=1394&link_str=1394

and the supply's not really "better". These are the only 2 places selling them online- unless someone else knows? I haven't been able to Google any other significant seller. http://www.luxeonlightingnetwork.com/ and http://www.lumileds.com both redirect orders to Future.

Luxeon must have some real manufacturing issues, even still, I mean they've GOT the reels. I'm used to 50% markup at less than say 100x on components, 100% markup at anything but 500x increments sucks. In fact with my stuff I need like reds and greens at a 2:1 ratio which sucks BAD because even if I DID want to get the 500x price break, I couldn't make it work unless I get 1000x reds and 500x greens. That's got to affect the RGB makers too.

 

[SemiMan]

I don't think you can put Future in the same "bin" as a lot of other low volume vendors in terms of "quality". I.e. proper packaging and handling for EMI, moisture, etc. and meeting ISO9000 standards in terms of processes. That all costs money. For comparison I would look at Digikey. It is not unusual for me to pay 3-5x for low quantities versus what I pay in volume.

In terms of the RGB makers, again it comes down to volume. Many even medium sized companies likely buy more LEDs than every non commercial member of CPF combined.

Semiman

 

[frenzee]

Production must be back on schedule (yay!). Today, out of the blue, I got a package of cool 100's, neutral 80's and WW 60's from an old back-order. Better late than never I guess, but I still don't know if they charged me the old price or the new price.


Oznog, how many green 80's do you need? I might have one or two laying around.

 

[jeffosborne]

Hey! Have you noticed that a NEWER Rebel data sheet, available now on Future Electroncs site, shows 100-lumen neutral whites?? I love the neutral white parts for my photography and home lighting, and this new brighter part just showed up in the literature. New lit is dated 6-09. Jeff O.