Adafruit Industries, one of the most popular online retailers in the maker space, will begin selling their wares through distributor RS Components.

Because RS Components has a branch in South Africa, us local makers now have access to Adafruit’s range of products.

While RS has always stocked some a portion of Adafruit’s offerings, this agreement will “enable a considerable expansion” of what’s on offer. Much of Adafruit’s range will be available, but the official word is “we make strategic decisions on which products will be sold through RS”, which we assume translates into “not everything”.

All you need to do is go on over to the Adafruit section on RS’ local site and start shopping.

As with all things there are some caveats to keep in mind. Price is a sore point here, especially when the products are priced in US dollars. We’ve been told that RS uses a fixed exchange rate over a period of time. This means that, for a certain duration, the prices of the products will not change. This is fantastic for when the rand weakens, but it also means no lower prices if the opposite happens.

All other taxes and duties are included in the price you see on the site. All you’ll need to cover is delivery if your purchase isn’t more than R1 000.

It takes four to six working days for stock to travel from international distribution centres to South Africa, and RS’ site will indicate if they are expecting stock in this way. It’s a longer wait compared to having all the stock already in SA, but it’s much better than importing parts yourself.

If you need some inspiration to get making with all these new parts, see our makers section.