Parts for DIY Electronics Repair: Exploring Some of Our Options
Thoughts on OEM parts, and online parts suppliers and marketplaces.
Hey TronicsFixers!
Have you found your go-to source for DIY repair parts? Or are you on the lookout for more options?
With more buying options out there all the time, we figured it was time to share all our favorite parts sources along with some tips for avoiding bad sellers.
Steve’s Thoughts: OEM Parts
Microsoft and iFixit have recently started working to sell OEM parts right on the iFixit website. To me, this is a HUGE win for repair and I’ve been waiting and hoping for this type of thing for years. It’s great to see the efforts of organizations like iFixit, The Repair Association, PIRG, and others, who have been fighting for better parts availability, result in some serious headway being made.
There’s a problem though. Prices. While many of the parts available from iFixit are reasonably priced, in my opinion, things like the Xbox motherboard assemblies are incredibly high priced. At the time of this writing, prices for these assemblies are almost the same price as a brand new console. If the point is more accessible repairability, that’s a major problem. I’m not sure why they’re even offering those assemblies for sale at such a high price. There doesn’t seem to be much of a point if people can just go buy a brand new console with a controller for just a few more dollars.
With all that said, even with the high prices for some parts, I still see this as a huge win overall and I’m looking forward to being able to buy brand new OEM parts when I need them. In a recent video, I purchased OEM parts from iFixit to build an Xbox Series S. It was an expensive experiment but I loved being able to do something like that (check out the YouTube video here) and I really hope more manufacturers follow suit.
Our Favorite Sources for Replacement Parts
We regularly get questions about where we source parts for electronics repair so we wanted to share the main places that Steve and Robert use to get parts. On most of these websites you’ll be able to find parts for computers, gaming systems, phones, etc. but selection varies.
Parts Suppliers:
Console5 (https://console5.com/store/)
iFixit (https://www.ifixit.com/Store)
Injured Gadgets (https://www.injuredgadgets.com/)
Marketplaces that Sell Parts:
Amazon (TronicsFix parts lists (affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/shop/tronicsfix)
AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.us/)
eBay (https://www.ebay.com/)
No matter where you end up buying replacement parts, two things to keep in mind are to look for reputable companies/sellers and to make sure that the parts are compatible with the system you’re working on. And these are especially important when buying from a marketplace.
Online Marketplace Safety
As you may know, buying from websites like eBay, Amazon, and AliExpress can be more problematic than from dedicated parts suppliers. That’s because those websites are online marketplaces that list products sold by multiple third parties. Because the marketplace processes all customer payments, payments are secure. However, individual sellers can have differing policies or dishonest listings so it’s important to be more careful buying parts from these sites to avoid getting scammed by sellers.
Here are some tips for staying safe when buying parts on an online marketplace:
Read the listing very carefully and look for any information that could be misleading. If the descriptions or photos look unprofessional, be especially wary.
Read product reviews from previous buyers and learn to spot fake reviews.
Check the seller’s profile and seller reviews for potential warning signs like low ratings or products not being delivered.
Check to see if there is a return policy, conditions for being able to return something, and if return shipping is overly expensive.
Be wary of U.S. sellers with excessively long shipping times. While this can be because the seller is a drop shipper, it can also be a sign of low quality/counterfeit products sometimes.
Use only secure payment methods processed through the marketplace when doing a transaction (credit/debit cards, PayPal, digital wallets, etc.)
Some additional red flags to look out for are unclear or vague product descriptions, no warranty or return policy, and prices that seem “too good to be true.”
We’re really very lucky to have so many options for finding replacement parts for our electronics repairs. And hopefully more companies will begin offering OEM products in the near future.
Thanks so much for reading and we hope you have a good one!
The TronicsFix Team
Love the info. Thanks for sharing