Surplus Electronics Stores
Swapmeets and Fleamarkets too!
What is electronics surplus?
Electronics surplus is:
Used industrial, medical, military, or scientific equipment
Electronic components (often those that were purchased for a product or project but never used)
Electronic test equipment (usually used, sold as-is, and priced well below retail)
Excess inventory - components, hardware, assemblies, sub-assemblies, etc.
Miscellaneous odds and ends that might be fun to take apart or re-purpose for something else
Notes
With a few exceptions, this list is for businesses with retail walk-in storefronts. Someone like me should be able to just walk in and rummage through stuff. If an appointment is necessary,
please make a note of this alongside the entry.
Stores that sell primarily new components (eg. Radio Shack) do not belong here, while stores that sell a mix of new and surplus items (eg. HSC Electronic Supply) are fine.
You can find a list of places to buy new components (online and retail) here: Vendors
I reserve the right to delete anything that I do not feel is appropriate for this list.
Business owners/employees: NO SPAM. Please do not add your own store to this list. This usually trips my internal “spam filter”. Instead, talk to your customers and have one of them add a link
and a few words about your store (honest and frank evaluations are encouraged). If your entry reads like spam or an advertisement, it will be removed.
Canada
British Columbia
Kelowna
Ontario
Toronto
Active Surplus Electronics - 345 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 2A4, Canada CLOSED
Above All Electronic Surplus - 602 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON
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ElectronicSurplus.ca is an online store with affordable electronic components & microcontrollers. Even more
savings for students!
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Quebec
Montreal
USA
Arizona
Phoenix Area
Tucson Area
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Lots of parts, supplies, DMMs, project boxes, irons, tips, wire, headers, plugs, solar panels, etc…
Helpful and knowledgeable staff
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They buy surplus stuff from companies, so it's a touch hit-or-miss when looking for specific parts that are there or that work
Inventory varies, but they typically carry supplies, scopes, irons, file cabinets, desks, chairs… you name it, they probably have one
California
San Francisco Bay Area
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A dozen long aisles of surplus components. Huge selection of passives, IC's, lots of connectors, tiny screws and other hardware.
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Mostly building materials, books and records, and household items, but a limited selection of consumer electronics, old computers, cables, and electronic components. Turn right after you enter and go to the back of the store.
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Los Angeles Area
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Open 7 days
Used to have a second store which has been closed since the early 2000's. Everything in their catalog and more is available at their store.
Audio components (speakers, cables, etc. Not a huge selection, but getting better.)
Good source for small AC & DC motors and gear-motors.
Limited selection of ICs
Arduino boards and Sparkfun accessories
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Closed Sunday
AC & DC motors in all sizes
Mechanical components galore!
HUGE selection of electrical wire, including magnet wire
Old test equipment (some non-working and/or incomplete.)
Aerospace surplus
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Open Thursday and Friday 10 to 6, Saturday 10 to 4
Lots of excellent surplus electronic and scientific stuff, reasonably priced, friendly owner (cash/check only)
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Closed Sunday
Fasteners galore! Nuts, bolts, screws, and washers of every type and material (including titanium)
Hydraulic lines/hoses
Small selection of electrical stuff
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Sacramento Area
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Great place for all sorts of random stuff. Check in often; some of the inventory is there for years, but most of it rotates through pretty quickly.
I've been here and it's great. Lots of old test equipment and random industrial equipment. Very few items have prices posted - best to bring a pile of stuff to the counter and haggle. Lots of old PCs and LCD monitors too, but I pretty much ignored that side of the shop. — jeff 12/24/2010 18:11
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When Halted closed down the Sacramento HSC location, some other folks took up the banner and reopened as HFE. Most of the inventory has been there since HSC opened the location on Hemlock a couple of decades ago.
Joe Grand says: “I don't have an account on your wiki, but HFE Electronics in Sacramento is out of business. They had a public auction a few weeks ago to liquidate their entire inventory (I bought a frequency counter and crapload of SMT/through hole components).” — jeff 01/11/2011 15:01
San Diego Area
Colorado
Boulder Area
Colorado Springs Area
Florida
Melbourne Area
Astro Too Surplus Electronics, 6949 West Nasa Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32904,
http://astrotoo.com
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Orlando Area
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Planet Surplus, 720 South Dixie FWY, (US1) New Smyrna Beach, Fl, PlanetSurplus007@cs.com,386-847-8806
Palm Beach Area
Idaho
Boise Area
Illinois
Chicago Area
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Communications & Electronics, Containers, Drives & Wheels, Electrical Parts, Lab Supplies & Equipment, Lamps, Sockets & Wiring, Motors, Blowers & Pumps, Optics
Massachusetts
Parker Products of Reading, MA (Massachusetts) is one of New England's oldest and most respected surplus electronics dealers. For 36 years Harold P. Strand, Jr. has amassed one of the best collections of solar cells and panels, motors, fiber optics, electronics, relays, solenoids, power supplies, retro test equipment, industrial antiques, organ pipes, components, tools, hardware, electro-optical devices, marine hardware, snaps, t nuts, stainless steel hardware, screws, bolts, ovens and more.
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Minnesota
“Ax Man” has 4 locations in the Twin Cities area. They have more than just electronics.
http://www.ax-man.com/
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Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Mexico
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If you are interested in surplus electronics or Cold War era atomics research equipment, you must go here at least once. It's like a vintage electronics museum where most things are for sale.
As of March 15, 2014 The Black Hole is in the process of closing down. They are almost to the point of needing front end loaders and dump trucks. About the only remaining useful item is the shelving.
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New York
New York City Area
Ohio
Akron
Cleveland
Crestline
Dayton
Fairborn
Mentor
Oklahoma
Tulsa
Oregon
Beaverton
Hillsboro
Portland
Salem
Texas
Austin
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Mostly computer parts, but some electronics, soldering irons, etc. No components (resistors, capacitors, etc.)
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Good selection of soldering and test equipment, chemicals, wire, heatshrink, and components. Most/all active components are NTE parts. Decent selection of surface mount passives.
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Computers, cables, wall warts, keyboards, flat panel displays, wireless routers, graphics cards, and even some software.
Dallas/Ft Worth Area
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Not set up for web or online inventory, this is a store you have to walk around. Electronic tools, kits, hardware, adapters, jacks, sockets, semiconductors, cheap speakers + wire, motors, steppers, odd and neat surplus parts for robots, radio, or audio.
Good place to look for old transistors and opamps, occasional NOS Ge diodes. Anyone into building or fixing gear with obsolete parts should make a visit.
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Similar in spirit to Tanner's (the owners are friends), just geared towards the web. While it can be found on a Google map search, they are not set up with a normal storefront and will be far easier to deal with online. Not recommended as a shopping destination, but if you want to pick up your order in person they are very nice about it (pls call ahead). They are a busy surplus business using every square foot for inventory, so it can be alarming if you show up expecting a nice fancy lobby.
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Surplus would be mostly in the small amount of electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, potentiometers, dip sockets in various bulk boxes at nice prices
rest of inventory is geared toward maintenance tech supplies, crimpers, punchdown tools, server rack hardware, with a soldering tools section rivaling Fry's.
Houston
San Antonio
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1200 West Hildebrand Avenue, San Antonio, TX 78201-0000 (210) 820-3830
Decent selection of parts. Many capacitors, switches, ICs, DMMs, etc. There is probably some stuff in-store that doesn't show up online.
Utah
Salt Lake City Area
RaElco Electronics
2780 S Main St, South Salt Lake, UT 84115 (801) 487-7749
Specializes in rare and hard to find items. Good selection of Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes and other discrete solid state components.
If you need it, Ra Elco probably has it, but only if you can find it. Garage sale or flea market in appearance, Ra Elco has a vast selection of new and used surplus at great prices.
Knowledgeable sales staff can answer questions and locate hard to find parts.
Washington State
Seattle Area
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Vetco specializes in Electronic Components, Home Theater Audio and Video cables (HDMI, Component, Coaxial, Speaker Wire, Etc.), Wall Plates, TV and Projector Mounts, Wire and Cable, Adapters, Cables and Connectors, Semiconductors, IC's, Resistors, Capacitors, LED's, Chemicals, Tools and Test Equipment.
Note: Vetco has less and less surplus merchandise. The focus appears to be largely cables for home theater systems.
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Not surplus, but a wide array of useful bits for makers. Enclosures, soldering irons, components, etc.
Pullman/Moscow Area
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WSU surplus is open to the public on Friday from 10:00AM to 3:00PM. An assortment of items that college no longer has a use for. Lots of computer parts and cables. Obscure and interesting equipment from the school of agriculture or the science department can be found at the WSU surplus store. Lots of non-electronic things available too, such as old furniture or even shoes from the athletic department.
Japan
Tokyo
United Kingdom
Cambridge
Reading
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Second-hand analogue oscilloscopes, power supplies, DMMs, RF signal generators, Variacs, etc. Go in person and check out the equipment as a good alternative to the lottery of ebay test equipment
Nottingham
Sussex
London
Online
Germany
Berlin
Munich
Schillerstrasse (near the Hauptbahnhof)
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Hartnagel
Hobbyist electronics components, seems to be gone
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Online
Finland
Oy East Trade Promotion Ltd.
Hundreds of surplus T&M Instruments, mostly RF. www.eastrp.fi/webshop
“You can spend a day here, test yourself what you are intending to buy”.
Takes about an hour by train from Helsinki, the shop is located 100 m from Oitti train platform.
Spain
Madrid
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