Jaycar was founded when Gary Johnston, a former Dick Smith Electronics employee, purchased John Carr & Co. Pty Ltd.

[4] In 2005, Jaycar received negative attention from its imported Taiwanese "Choke-A-Chicken" toy that squawked and flapped its wings when strangled around its neck,[5][6] described by the RSPCA Queensland as "grossly irresponsible".

[7] In October 2012, remarks made by Johnston on Sydney radio station 2GB, seen as providing justification for sexist behaviour by unidentified staff at the Canterbury-Bankstown NRL club (Bulldogs), of which Jaycar was a major sponsor at the time, caused controversy.

[10][11][12] In October 2016, Freetronics owner Jonathan Oxer accused Jaycar of copying his business' open source Arduino Experimenters kit in two videos posted to his YouTube channel.

[17] Jaycar became a major sponsor of NRL club Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2009,[18] but questionable behaviour from players led Johnston to end the partnership in September 2018.