One thought is to find a small engineering works and talk to someone about short off cuts or having a look in the ” scrap bin “. The offer of a donation to the workers welfare fund (tea and coffee fund ) May help. Or a bottle of something for the foreman. Good luck. Noel.

Which country and region are you in?  Earlier questions revealed wide variations within the EU.

The ideal supplier is nearby so you can avoid post and packing. Might be possible to build a relationship too, opening the door to offcuts and other goodies.

Also, much cheaper to buy in quantity if you have storage space.  Avoid buying in penny-packets because the cost of processing orders is much the same whatever the quantity; on small orders customers pay through the nose for the service, not the material!

Unreliable local supply is another good reason for building up stock and having materials to hand saves lots of time compared with ordering and delivery delays.   The initial cost may be a shock, my last order was £350, but it’s cheaper in the long-run.

Otherwise, Amazon, ebay and internet suppliers are your friend.  Deliver anywhere in the EU, the main problem being couriers.   In the UK, those lucky enough to live in the Highlands and Islands have to pay premium prices for a slower service, and the same is likely in the remote parts of the EU.  Again, if couriers are a problem, buy big – they are less likely to lose a single large package.

Finally, beware the notion that there are any “good and reasonably priced suppliers of raw metals and plastics“.   Most are “good” in the sense that they deliver, but small firms have bad days due to illness, and whether or not they are “reasonably priced” varies with supply and demand.  The real test of a supplier is what they do when things go wrong, so look for bad reviews.   A better question might be “is there anyone I should avoid?”.

Dave

Try these, I have used them all although we have a good range of suppliers here in the UK

https://knupfer.info/shop/index.php/deutsch/

https://ghw-modellbau.de/Home

https://www.rcm-machines.com/en/

http://www.ateliermb.ch/shops/gussteile/ch/contents/de/d41.html

The most of my stock comes from the “sorted” scrapyard. For a private person getting steel, aluminum, POM, etc is most of the time quite expensive.
Buying 6 meters of C45 cost only a bit more than buying 1 meter. Buying serveral diameters at once save a lot in shipping.

https://www.indi.nl/nl-nl/p/assenstaal-c45-20-h9-6m-SM20C456

Conrad also offer some materials, gears and fastenings. They are German and I think they work with the rest of Europe. I use them quite a lot in Switzerland.

Industrial Model Making | Conrad Electronic