Takealot versus Amazon tech price showdown
Tech fans in South Africa can save a fair amount by ordering products from Amazon in the US over Takealot, provided they are willing to wait longer for it to arrive.
However, some items are still cheaper to buy from the South African e-commerce giant, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed.
This could change in the future, with Amazon planning to launch a marketplace in South Africa.
Rumours of its plans first emerged in January 2022, when MyBroadband reported that Amazon was shopping around for warehouse space in the country.
Codenamed “Project Fela”, the e-commerce giant’s plans reportedly comprise launching its “Fulfillment by Amazon” service for third-party sellers, and a version of Amazon Prime for shoppers.
Most recently, two addresses for Amazon’s South African fulfilment centres were leaked online, confirming that it will have at least one in Johannesburg and another in Cape Town.
The address leaks came almost five months following reports that Amazon’s South African marketplace launch would be postponed.
For the comparison, we selected items on Amazon that ship directly to South Africa, using the online retail giant’s shipping calculator to determine the total cost of buying and delivering the product.
Amazon is already starting to compete in tech products that are lightweight and cheap to ship by making it very easy for South Africans to import using the platform.
However, it is still possible to order products that don’t ship directly to South Africa. Several shipping companies, such as MyUS, offer a service that uses an address in a foreign country to which Amazon will deliver.
The company will then forward the item to your address in South Africa.
MyUS’s services are based on order weight, starting at $20.86 (R390) for items that weigh up to 1lb (454g).
Takealot was cheaper for four of the ten items we compared and, as one would expect, offers significantly shorter delivery times.
Amazon was more expensive for the Logitech G305 Lightspeed gaming mouse, ASUS TUF Gaming 27-inch FHD monitor, Sony WHY-1000XM5 Wireless headphones, and the Canon EOS R7 mirrorless camera.
It offers significant savings on some products. For example, the Intel Core i5-12600K desktop processor is available from Takealot for R12,843, while ordering it through Amazon will cost R4,594.87.
However, it should be noted that the Intel chip on Takealot is sold through a third-party seller that is charging much more than other retailers in South Africa.
For example, the same processor is available for R6,775 from Wootware and R7,364 from Rebel Tech.
The pricing of ten tech items available from Takealot and Amazon are compared in the table below.
| Takealot vs Amazon tech pricing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Takealot price | Takealot delivery time | Amazon price | Amazon delivery time |
| Logitech G305 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Mouse | R849.00 | 11 days | R1,135.11 | 19 days |
| Chromecast with Google TV (HD) | R1,399.00 | 4 days | R1,055.05 | 18 to 28 days |
| Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe Solid State Drive | R1,789.00 | 4 days | R1,425.57 | 14 to 26 days |
| ASUS TUF Gaming VG279QL1A 27-inch monitor | R6,899.00 | 4 days | R7,015.78 | 26 to 32 days |
| Sony Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones WH-1000XM5 | R7,989.00 | 4 days | R9,363.04 | 21 days |
| Nintendo Switch OLED White | R8,655.00 | 4 days | R7,812.96 | 19 days |
| Intel Core i5-12600K desktop processor | R12,843.00 | 11 days | R4,594.87 | 20 days |
| Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera | R28,395.00 | 10 days | R32,223.82 | Not Specified* |
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G 512GB | R30,999.00 | 4 days | R27,561.89 | 25 days |
| Gigabyte AORUS GF RTX 4090 Master GPU 24GB | R41,999.00 | 8 days | R40,197.46 | 25 days |
| *Amazon can sometimes only provide an estimated delivery date once the order is placed. | ||||
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