RPi Buying Guide

Raspberry Pi has appointed Farnell and RS Components as its authorised manufacturing parners distributors.

As of July 16th 2012, both Premier Farnell and RS Components have removed their "one per customer" restriction. Both consumers and businesses alike should now be able to buy bulk stock of the Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi's distributors will ship worldwide to the best of their ability (ie subject to origin export and local import laws).

Countries that are currently subject to UK (including EU and UN) export restrictions include North Korea, Iran, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Zimbabwe. A full list and further details are provided at

Farnell have also been refusing to sell direct to some consumers in the EU, to the best of my knowlage they have not given full details of why.

There are three main options for buying a Raspberry Pi, buying direct from the distributor, buying from a subsidary or sister company of the distributor or buying from a third party reseller which option is best will depend on the location of the customer, the number of Raspberry Pi's being purchased, and the urgency of the order.

All new orders from the main distributors should now be filled with 512 MB rev 2 Raspberry Pi's. However, some third-party resellers may still have stock of the older models.

Note that stock status may change quickly. It may be worth checking a local supplier even if they are listed as out of stock here.

Farnell
http://www.farnell.com/ Farnell are one of the two main distributors, as of 2012-11-21 their main European operation is out of stock and quoting a three-week lead time. Reports from the forum are that Farnell usually beat their delivery estimates.

For European customers, the customer is asked whether they are "consumer" or "business". If the customer selects business, they are taken back to Farnell's regular website to order. If the customer selects consumer, they are taken to a dedicated Raspberry Pi site which only offers a small selection of Raspberry Pi related products and gives no information on stock status. Farnell's site claims that consumers who do not have a previous account cannot use the "business" option but it is not clear if this is actually true for all countries. For some countries consumers are directed to third party resellers. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is 2191863.

Element14
http://www.element14.com The "Element14" brand is used by a number of different operations within the Premier Farnell group and is also used for the groups "social" operation. In the Asia-Pacific region the Element 14 brand has completely replaced the previous "Premier Electronics" brand for asia and the previous "Farnell" brand for australia and new-zealand. In Europe, the Element14 brand is used in paralell with the Farnell brand. In North america the Element14 brand is used in parallel with the Newark brand.

Newark
http://www.newark.com/ Newark is the main American branch of the Premier Farnell group (Farnell's parent company). As of 2012-11-21, they are out of stock of Raspberry Pi's, but claim 1321 Expected to ship 2012-11-26 and Further stock expected to ship 2012-12-20.

Element14 AU/NZ
http://au.element14.com/ http://nz.element14.com/ On Element14's Australian operation (which also serves New Zealand) as of 2012-11-21 availability is listed as "please call" and "supplier lead time" is listed as 30 days. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is 2191863.

Element 14 Asia
http://cn.element14.com/ http://hk.element14.com/ http://in.element14.com/ http://cn.element14.com/ http://kr.element14.com/ http://my.element14.com/ http://ph.element14.com/ http://sg.element14.com/ http://tw.element14.com/ http://th.element14.com/ Element14 have warehouses in Singapore and Shanghi. It appears that some countries are served from both warehouses while others are served from only one or the other. UK stock is also listed on these sites. As of 2012-11-21, Element14's Asian operation has 331 Raspberry Pi's in stock in Shanghi and 617 Raspberry Pi's in stock in Singapore. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is 2191863.

CPC
http://cpc.farnell.com/ CPC is a branch of the Premier Farnell group in the UK based in Preston. As of 2012-11-21, they have 3100 Raspberry Pi's in stock. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is SC12590.

MCM
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/ MCM is a branch of the Premier Farnell group in the US based in Centerville, Ohio. As of 2012-11-21, they are out of stock and give an estimated ship date of 2012-12-07.

RS components
http://rswww.com/ RS are the other main distributor. Like Farnell they have a consumer site and business option with the consumer option taking users to a dedicated Raspberry Pi store while the business option takes them back to the regular RS site. They do not state whether consumers must use the consumer site or not. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is 756-8308. As of 2012-11-21, the Raspberry Pi is listed as "Temporarily out of stock - back order for despatch 21/12/2012".

RS has delayed existing orders on several occasions and are reported on the forum as being very difficult to communicate with.

Allied electronics
http://www.alliedelec.com/ Allied electronics is the US sister company of RS. The order code for the Raspberry Pi is 70229569. They website does not give a predicted dispatch date and state that "the estimated delivery time is uncertain and will likely take several months".

Reports from the forum are that Allied are easier to communicate with than RS, but they do not appear to be being kept will informed of the stock situation by RS.

Resellers
There are now many companies reselling the Raspberry Pi.

Maplin
Maplin sells the Raspberry Pi in the UK but only as part of a kit including power supply, keyboard and mouse, programmed 4 GB SD card, HDMI cable and wireless dongle. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi kit as in stock for home delivery and also in stock in some stores.

Farnell Approved resellers
Farnell now direct consumers in many countries to "approved retailers" rather than selling to them directly. Some of these suppliers specialise in the Raspberry Pi while others are general Farnell resellers.

Electrocomponentes S.A
http://www.electrocomponentes.com/ Electrocomponentes S.A sells Farnell producs in Argentina.

Arabian Electric & Electronics Est.
fisuoyla@batelco.com.bh Arabian Electric & Electronics Est sells Farnell products in Bahrain.

Minifo
http://www.minifo.com/ Minifo is a Raspberry Pi retailer in Belgium. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as in stock, but they do not state how much stock they have.

Electromin S.A.
http://www.electromin.cl/ Electromin S.A. sells Farnell producs in Chile.

Betatech Ltd
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/cyprus_bet.htm Betatech Ltd sells Farnell products in Cyprus.

Grand soloutions
http://www.gs.com.eg/ Grand soloutions sells Farnell producs in Egypt. Unfortunately, searching their website by Farnell part number seems to be currently broken.

Partco Oy
http://www.partco.biz/ Partco sells the Raspberry Pi, Arduino and a selection of electronic components in Finland. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as in stock, but they do not state how much stock they have.

kubii
http://www.kubii.fr/ kubii sells the Raspberry Pi, together with a selection of accessories. The website was created when Farnell changed their distribution policy.

Málna PC Magyarország
http://malnapc.hu/ Málna PC Magyarország is a Raspberry Pi reseller in Hungary.

Midbaejarradio EHF
Midbaejarradio EHF is the authorised Farnell distributor for Iceland.

Lion
http://www.lion.co.il/h?q=RASPBERRY Lion sells the Raspberry Pi in Israel. As of 2012-11-21, they do not appear to have stock.

International Oilfield Supplies
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/malta_int.htm International Oilfield Supplies are the authorised Farnell distributor for Malta.

Makkays
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/pakistan_mak.htm Makkays is the authorised Farnell distributor for Pakistan.

kamami
http://www.kamami.pl/ kamami sells the Raspberry Pi in Poland.

Mixtronica
http://www.mixtronica.com/ Mixtronica sell Farnell products in Portugal.

Computer and Engineering Specialists Co
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/saudiarabia_ces.htm CESCO Group is an authorised Farnell distributor for Saudi Arabia.

Dialogue s.r.o
http://www.dialogue.sk/index.php?page=textaktual&id=71 Dialogue s.r.o sells the Raspberry Pi and accessories in Slovakia.

IC elektronika d.o.o.
http://www.ic-elect.si/ IC elektronika d.o.o. sells Farnell products in Slovenia.

Electrocomp express
http://www.eexpress.co.za/ Electrocomp express sells Farnell products in South Africa. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as awaiting delivery and do not give a lead time.

Orel Solutions (PVT) Ltd
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/srilanka_osp.htm Orel Solutions (PVT) Ltd is the authorised Farnell distributor for Sri Lanka.

Mikro-Kit Elektronik AB
https://www.microkit.se/ Mikro-Kit Elektronik AB sells the Raspberry Pi (and it would appear other farnell producs too) in Sweeden. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as out of stock with expected delivery 2012-12-11.

digitec
http://www.digitec.ch/ Digitec sells the Raspberry Pi in Switzerland.

Yildrim
http://www.yildirimelektronik.com/ Yildrim sells Farnell products in Turkey.

DGM distribution
http://www.farnell.com/distributors/unitedarabemirates_dgm.htm DGM distribution is the authorised Farnell distributor for Dubai.

Newit
http://www.newit.co.uk/ Newit are a British company selling a variety of ARM hardware and accessories, including the Raspberry Pi. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as in stock, but they do not state how much stock they have.

Makershed
http://www.makershed.com/ Makershed is a US company that sells various stuff aimed at hardware hackers including the Raspberry Pi. As of 2012-11-21, they list the Raspberry Pi as out of stock.

Tandy
http://www.tandyonline.co.uk/ Tandy is a UK company that sells a small selection of electronics stuff. As of 2012-12-08, Tandy has both 256MV rev 1.1 boards and 512MB rev 2 boards in stock.

Note that the current Tandy is a division of adslnation and other than buying the name has little relationship to the Tandy of old.

Adafruit
http://www.adafruit.com/ Adafruit is a US company that makes a variety of boards for hardware hackers and tinkerers, some specifically designed for use with the Raspberry Pi. They do not sell the Raspberry Pi separately, but they do sell it as part of a large starter kit including everything needed to start experimenting with the Raspberry Pi and external hardware on the GPIO. They also currently include a free Raspberry Pi with orders over $350. As of 2012-11-21, they expect to have their Raspberry Pi kit in stock in 5-10 business days.

SNOOTLAB
SNOOTLAB http://snootlab.com/ Sells products in French as well as English. They also sell a number of different components and products such as Arduinos too.

Tenettech
Tenettech http://www.tenettech.com/product/2184/raspberry-pi Tenettech is Bangalore based company who sells software/hardware based solutions in India. They sell Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi kit (which include the Raspberry Pi, SD card, card reader, HDMI cable, and video cable).

Licensed Manufacture
The foundation has chosen to license manufacture of the Raspberry Pi, which should provide several advantages including:


 * 1) The involvement of RS Components and Premier Farnell means that build volume can be increased much, much faster than would have been possible otherwise. Due to costs and working capital, the foundation would have been limited to batches of only 10k Raspberry Pi's; the Raspberry Pi will now be being built to match demand.
 * 2) Both Premier Farnell and RS Components have worldwide distribution networks, so wherever you are in the world, you will be able to buy from a local distributor. It’s a much better way for you to buy than getting them all shipped from the Foundation in the UK.
 * 3) Both RS Components and Premier Farnell will be taking preorders, something which the foundation would otherwise be unable to do.
 * 4) The foundation will still receive a percentage from the sale of every Raspberry Pi sold, which will be put straight back into the charity.
 * 5) Primarily, by removing the focus on dealing with manufacture, distribution and sales, this frees up the limited resources of the foundation to focus on the original aims and goals of the project.

Additional detail is available in the video interview between Eben Upton and SlashDot here (2012-02-28).

Unfortunately the switch to licensed manufacture has also resulted in a marked reduction in transparency of the process as Farnell and RS consider detailed information of what is going on to be confidential.

What You Get In The Box
1. Pre-Assembled Raspberry Pi board

2. A sheet containing a combination of regulatory information and some very brief instructions.

Note:

1. The board will be supplied assembled (since most of the components are not suitable for home builds, including the BGA package mounted SoC and PoP memory). ''2. The board has the GPIO header pins for the primary GPIO header (but not the secondary GPIO header added on the revision 2 boards) populated. The SoC JTAG may or may not be present depending on when the board was manufactured and at which factory but aren't really of use to end users anyway due to the lack of Broadcom documentation. The LAN JTAG header does not seem to be present on any boards. 3. All other connectors will be assembled in place.

Accessories
To use the Raspberry Pi, a user will typically require some accessories. All of the Raspberry Pi vendors listed above sell some accessories, but the exact range varies. Accessories you should consider include. See Typical Hardware You Will Need for details about other items you may require.
 * USB Power Supply (UK/EU/US Compatible)
 * SD card. Most distributors are selling pre-prepared SD cards which are usually 4 GB. Software is available to prepare your own SD cards.
 * There is a wide choice of cases, most distributors will have some but shopping around for one you like is suggested.
 * There are a variety of AddOn/Expansion Boards now available, see that page for more details.

Price
The price is $35USD before shipping, duty, and tax, about $60 after.

Although the foundation is UK based, the guide price of the units are in USD since the Raspberry Pi components are sourced in USD$.

The price is $25USD (~£16GBP) for model A (not yet avalable), and $35USD (~£23GBP) for model B.

Items will be subject to local tax (that is, UK will have 20% VAT added) and shipping cost is not included.

See the following update on RS Components and Farnell global pricing (2012-03-13).

Clones & Copies
The foundation plans to release all the required schematics and plans to reproduce the Raspberry Pi hardware, so clones and copies will be welcome.

However, since the unit is built around the Broadcom SoC, the interested party will require suitable sized orders to obtain them. The foundation were fortunate enough to be supported in this aspect by Broadcom to enable the project to be feasible.

Historic information

 * 1) The foundation have built an initial run of 10,000 Model-B units.
 * 2) Due to extreme demand, the units were NOT sold directly from the shop (see  below).
 * 3) You may buy a Raspberry Pi from Farnell or from RS Components
 * 4) A limit of one unit per person was applied for the first batch and some time afterwards

* There were reports that several people ordered multiple units at launch, however it appears that Farnell removed any excess items when they reviewed and confirmed the order for shipping dates. This has also appears to apply for the pre-orders they have taken. Many customers also ordered from both Farnell and RS.

1st Batch Order FAQ
NOTE: While every attempt has been made to provide accurate information, this FAQ is not official and is based on what information is available at the time of writing.

Press Releases
Farnell:

Post-Launch FAQ by Farnell, see their attached docx file for details.

RS Components:

Post-Launch statement by RS Components

Raspberry Pi, Your Questions Answered by RS Components

Q: Couldn't this have been handled better, I couldn't get on the site to order and they sold too quickly?
Both distributors were indeed unprepared for the volume of traffic the launch generated (they were warned by the foundation before hand).

Chances are if the foundation had gone with their original plan of selling through their own shop, the situation would have been far worse, with no option of pre-order either.

The distributors only have 5,000 units each to sell, reports have estimated the registered interest/pre-orders totalling over 2 million (no official figures available yet). Even if it is half of that, it means the number of available units was less than 1% of the demand.

Q: If interest was obviously so high, why only build 10,000 units?
There is a big risk involved with building a large batch of units and selling them, and 10,000 units would take well over $250,000 in capital investment. For a very small charity, that is a massive task in itself. Much of that funding came from the Foundation Trustees' own personal investment.

Thankfully, the massive bonus of licensing out manufacture, is that the build rate is no longer limited by the foundation's own funding, which means there will be many more units available much sooner.

Q: I've been unable to register an account with the distributor, as I am not a company?
There have been several reported problems with individuals placing orders (that is, not having company accounts or details).

Both distributors "should" take orders from individuals. However, it appears each of the different localised sites may have different requirements so this will be investigated to ensure that this is corrected if needed.

Often, many of the company related fields on application are optional. If in doubt, contact their sales team for help.

Q: Worldwide launch? It was not available here!
The distributors decided to make the units only available from selected locations. It appears the foundation were not made aware of this beforehand.

Considering the small number of available units, it would have been unlikely to have improved the situation.

Worldwide availability will be monitored, it is expected that they will be made available as soon as possible.

Q: The price for the Raspberry Pi from Farnell versus the price from RS Components is different, why?
Please see the following page for details about RS Components and Farnell global pricing (2012-03-13).

Q: I've only been able to register my interest, what now?
Be patient, both distributors have said they will contact people when they have more details (alternatively keep an eye on their sites for news).

RS Components, in particular have only taken people's details, and according to the above press-release will wait until they receive their allocated 5,000 units.

Q: I registered on the Raspberry Pi Site's Mailing List, but I didn't get an email
Unfortunately, the mail server had problems with sending out the 100K+ emails in time, it is believed the email was often marked as spam by a lot of email systems so was rejected or returned on-mass, or sent to Junk folders. Yes, this system should have been tested, but the foundation were keen not to send unnecessary emails to people prior to launch.

The email contained the same information about the announcement as was publicly posted on the website (2012-02-28) before launch day, no additional or extra information was given through the email.