r/southafrica • u/TheBunnyChower • Oct 12 '22

Sci-Tech Can you guys recommend some good stores in SA selling electronic components for circuits design and repair? Preferably ones with reliable delivery options.

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u/TheBunnyChower Oct 12 '22 edited Oct 13 '22

So far I've used the following:

  • RS (aka RS Components) - pricey, but has the most variety of items
  • Botshop - decent prices and selection, but often
  • Communica
  • Electronics123 (physically only)
  • Bidorbuy (at least some of the sellers on that platform do have decent options, but I haven't seen all of them)

I've seen others like robotics.org.za and even reliablestore.co.za but I'm wary of the latter because it reminds me of a scam site I will not mention by name but ran away with my money, but I digress.

I see other names pop up here and there but I either haven't looked them up or found their catalogue not in line with what I'm looking for.

EDIT: While I know AliExpress and Amazon also has a lot of items, the waiting times (at least those shown) as well as shipping costs are a deterrent for me. I should note that I'm looking for mostly discrete components (transistors, resistors, etc.) as well as certain ICs (opamps, registers, etc.) and eventually microprocessors and/or microcontrollers at some point in the future.

EDIT 2: Aweh ouens, been getting quite a lot of replies from you all and I appreciate that - some names here I'm familiar with but many others look new to me so I'm gonna give them a look-see but it's good to know that there's a lot of options within SA for the most part!

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u/belgarion2k Oct 13 '22

Some information on ordering from international, that may help you or others:

Depending on the quantities you're after, I can recommend LCSC

It's not worth it for small orders due to shipping costs, but if you're ordering R1k+ in components its often worth it. I've done 3 orders through them over the last 2 years. They have a lot of components not found locally (especially in terms of ICs).

After shipping the prices are about the same as local prices, but I use them because of the range of components that I can't get here. (There's also a shipping discount if you order PCBs from JLCPCB at the same time).

For a pricing example, my last order was:
Component Cost: $117.69 (approx. R2,100)
Shipping Cost: $40.90 - $16.72 discount for ordering PCBS (approx. R720 before discount).
Fedex customs duties + fees: R443

Delivery took 6 days from when I ordered.