Buying from South Africa

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1

Hello everyone,

If there are any South Africans here, can you please advice me on where to buy Gadgeteer goodies?

Thank you!

2

Thanks Andre.

I am aware of Netram, but was hoping there might be other SA companies selling Gadgeteer gear, or, alternatively, someone here on the forum can share their buying experiences from international companies :slight_smile:

3

@ Kenjutsu - Welcome to the community!

There are at least one or two other members from South Africa, I will not out them in this response but I am sure they will chime in and provide you with some info. I am from South Africa, but unfortunately I cannot be of much help since I am not currently resident in SA. Last year I tried to source some Gadgeteer components for my dad in SA and contacted Netram, but it seems that they do not have huge demand and are not really pushing the brand.

Personally I buy from Mouser (eu.mouser.com) for two reasons
[ol]Prices compare reasonably to the prices direct from GHI
Shipping is with FedEx, and is free if you order over 75 Euro[/ol]

For me at least getting items via USPS has been unreliable, at least 2 items have just not arrived (I am sure this is not a USPS issue, probably more of a local issue), so FedEx is a prerequisite for me. I get my items within 4 days of ordering. My very first order of the Spider was direct from GHI and that went without a hitch, but the shipping and customs added to the cost significantly.

Update: I just checked, if you use the za.mouser.com site, purchases over R2000.00 are free of shipping charges. The two things that you need to double check, will be the customs cost and VAT.

4

Thank you TaylorZA

Any advice on how I can check customs and VAT costs?

5

@ Kenjutsu - The best will be for one of the guys on the forum that are in SA to chime in. I have been out of SA for more than 12 years, so I do not not have a good idea as to what these costs will be, and they will probably be able to give you some good pointers as to the most cost effective way to source these items.

I am sorry I cannot be of more assistance.

6

I’m in Pretoria.

I generally buy directly from GHI.

There should not be any Customs on electronic parts, but sometimes Customs classify my parcels as something else, like when I ordered Music Shields Customs classified it as a music player, ie Entertainment Device, then there can be some customs costs.

There are almost always VAT payable, and some handling fees imposed when the parcel enters the country, which varies by carrier.
If you use EMS, or USPS then the post office charges you R35 handling fee, or “Clearance Fee”, plus 14% VAT.
If you use Fedex or UPS then they charge you R150 to R300 handling fee, plus 14% VAT. I find that they are the most costly and not much better than EMS. If you order R2000 worth of parts though then you can consider UPS or Fedex to make sure your order doesn’t get “lost”.

7

Thank you for all the replies.

I also emailed Netram to inquire about the FEZ Hydra. They replied with “We have stopped bringing in products from GHI so we wont be carrying the Hydra any time soon.”

I see seeedstudio ships for free anywhere in the world on orders over $50. Has anyone from SA ordered from them in the past?

8

Yep, also use them for making PC boards and ordering random parts.

I have ordered from them three or four times and had no problems.

The free shipping is equivilant to post office shipping, ie no insurance and, if i recall correctly, no tracking, but i might be wrong. It takes around two to four weeks to get here.

They also offer EMS shipping, which gets our order to your door in about 5 working days, but the guy just pitches up at your door and demands that you pay the VAT cash. I don’t carry cash and don’t have change to make up the exact value, so that is a pain…

Some of the modules sold by GHI is made by Seeedstudio, like the humidity module. So they are a reputable company…

9

I had the same response from Netram about a month ago. I also see that GHI has taken Netram off their list of suppliers.

10

Communica (http://www.communica.co.za/) stocks (dare I say it :wink: Arduino.

11

So does RS Components: http://za.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTerm=arduino&sra=oss&r=t

12

@ GMod(Errol) & marius: If they at least stocked Netduino, that would have helped also :slight_smile:

13

RS only started stocking Arduino in November, I think, so they sort of lag by a couple of years. Give them another 5 years and they might stock Netduino… :frowning: