Hi all,

I've put together a DIY component cost comparison for StampPD. My goal was to understand how much per component StampPD would cost, see if there are any optimizations I could make, and figure out where to source parts. This will eventually be contrasted with PCBA services from fabs like JLCPCB.

Cost Calculation Process

Similar to the PCB cost comparison, I have selected 100x PCB's as my target amount for price analysis. This gives us most of the bulk component cost advantages while matching the PCB comparison. I will only show the prices for 100x PCB's. If there is more than one component per PCB, I will buy multiples of 100x for the component (Ex: There are 4x 100nF capacitors in each StampPD so we'll need 400x of them for production runs).  If we cannot buy components in the exact amount needed, we'll buy the next largest quantity. I will not be including any replacement components in this calculation to fill for any lost/broken/destroy components that may happen in the production process. Any extra components due to quantity oversizing is not purposeful.

I will be looking at 3 main suppliers: LCSC, Digikey, and Mouser. These were selected as they are 3 that I am most familiar with. Not all parts could be found at all 3 suppliers. I am open to other suppliers so feel free to send a DM if you have suggestions. I use https://octopart.com/ to check for better prices for components as well but generally found better prices were only at suppliers that I did not know or trust. 

The last columns also calculate the price by multi-sourcing the cheapest components across suppliers. There are two summary sets of data for each column, the Sum Cost and the Per Board Component Cost. The Per Board Component Cost is the more important value here as it helps to inform the price of the final StampPD boards. There are two variations of these values, one without shipping, tax, and tariffs and one with. The multi-sourcing column estimates the combined shipping, tariffs, and tax from ordering from more than one source.

Summary

• All parts are selected for 100x PCB's
• Suppliers compared are: LCSC, Digikey, and Mouser
• Parts prices for other sites were reviewed on octopart.com
• Final column compares price by multi-sourcing across suppliers
• Per Board Component Cost is the more important value as that informs pricing of StampPD
• Two variations of Component Sums, one with tax, tariffs, and shipping and one without

Cost Comparison as of 11/18/2025

Here is the price comparison for 11/18/2025. Note that prices can and have changed over time

Observations

• Almost all passive components are cheaper on LCSC, even when accounting for shipping, tariffs, and tax
• Digikey and Mouser do not have great selection for most passive components
  • The passives they do have are very expensive
  • Possibly due to 0805 package size
• Some components like the inductors are not the same quality or size as the offerings from Digikey or Mouser
• IC based components are mostly cheaper from Digikey than LCSC or Mouser
  • Buck Converters are cheaper on LCSC
• Almost half of the component cost is from the AP3377SDKZ
  • This component cannot be replaced, it's the main component everything is based around
• A quarter of the cost comes from the BUK7K6R8-40E,115 Power Control MOSFET
  • This MOSFET is also out of stock everything and restock estimates peg it over a year out
• 10uF and 22uF capacitors a magnitudes more expensive than the other passive components
• Mouser has expensive tariffs which apply to most parts

Cost Comparison as of 11/26/2025

Since this log is being written a bit late, I've already performed a second pass of the component cost comparison. Some changes below are:

• Removed Mouser from the supplier list
  • The tariffs and overall higher component cost made this supplier uncompetitive
  • Digikey and LCSC were always cheaper
• Replaced the Power Control MOSFET
  • I'm now using a TI CSD87503Q3E which is purpose built for this application
  • Reasoning is that it's in stock everywhere and cheaper than the BUK7K6R8-40E,115
• Replaced the 10uF and 22uF capacitors with cheaper variants
• Focused on buying passives from LCSC and IC's from Digikey

Here is the price comparison for 11/26/2025. Note that prices can and have changed over time

Observations

• Some slight variability in costs but most things have stayed the same price
• Passives are mostly cheaper on LCSC than Digikey
• Switching to different 10uF and 22uF capacitors has brought their cost more in-line with other passives
  • Still more expensive, possibly due to package size
• New Power Control MOSFET is in-stock and about the same cost, if not cheaper, than the old one
  • Based on octopart.com, MOSFET may be found cheaper on other suppliers
  • Unclear if these are reliable part sources and if prices have tariffs or other costs not included
• IC based components are mostly cheaper from Digikey than LCSC or Mouser
  • Buck Converters are cheaper on LCSC
• Almost half of the component cost is from the AP3377SDKZ
• A third of the cost comes from the CSD87503Q3E Power Control MOSFET
• Almost 90% of the cost is concentrated in the 4 IC components

Final Conclusions

• Likely to buy passives and buck convert IC's from LCSC and USB PD Sink Controller and Power Control MOSFET from Digikey
  • Even with extra shipping, tariffs, and tax the cost is still lower than using a single supplier
• Finding the cheapest suppliers for the AP3377SDKZ and CSD87503Q3E is the best opportunity to reduce cost
• Final Per Board Component Cost is likely around $2.75