No minimum orders on LCD’s

I thought the days of minimum orders had gone out with typewriters and pagers?

 It hit me while I was drinking coffee and looking at LCD suppliers. I found one that had a $25 minimum order. Another wanted $50.

Just to buy a low-cost character LCD.

Why would an engineer want to purchase more samples than what they need on a new design?

Here is an 8×1 character LCD for just over $4. And, this is with an LED backlight. Remove the backlight and you save half a buck or more (remember, McDonald’s has any size coffee for $1).

A cup of coffee at Starbucks is more expensive than this LCD. Although, I would rather drink their coffee than try to see what a monochrome display tastes like.

Think about it. If your coffee shop had a $25 minimum order, you would be carrying ten or more cups of coffee to your car. 

Although the idea of stock piling coffee to prepare for the end of the world is not a bad idea, I only have four cup holders in my car. Five if I place it between my legs while driving, but . . . no, that is not a good idea.

We don’t have minimum orders on TFT samples. It makes no sense, the engineer may need two or five or ten for testing. We won’t force them to purchase 100 or 500. Not if it’s a standard display.

Well, we’re not caving in. We are holding to our ‘no minimum order’ policy. Engineers are our primary customers. Especially engineers that drink coffee.