&gt; because I had never heard of RS Components or Element 14, and I sure as hell wasn&#x27;t given my card number to someone I didn&#x27;t know<p>Farnell is significantly larger than Newegg or sparkfun or adafruit (even if you combine them). RPi distributes via Farnell or RS because many schools and colleges - the target audience for original RPi - will have accounts at RS or Farnell already.