Found a local supplier in India with almost every IC used in Ben Eater's projects (including the hard-to-find ones). Happy to help others source them.
When I first decided to build Ben Eater's 8-bit computer, I was honestly more worried about sourcing the ICs than building the computer itself.
Like many people, I searched everywhere—Digikey, eBay, Robu, Robocraze, MakerBazar, and several other online stores. Some ICs were unavailable, some were ridiculously expensive, and for a few I couldn't find any Indian supplier at all. I even saw many Reddit posts where people recommended importing parts or using alternative chips because the originals weren't available.
Then I visited a local electronics market in India... and I was genuinely surprised.
The shops there had every single IC used across Ben Eater's videos—not just the 8-bit computer series. They even had some of the exact original LS-series chips that Ben himself recommends alternatives for because they're difficult to find in other countries.
Most of them were also very inexpensive.
Since I've already built relationships with these shops while sourcing parts for my own project, I thought I'd offer to help anyone who's struggling to find components.
I'm not running a business and I'm not looking to make a profit. I just want to help people like me who were stuck at sourcing parts.
If you're building one of Ben Eater's projects and can't find the chips:
-- I can source individual ICs or complete project parts locally.
-- I'll charge only the actual component cost.
-- You cover the shipping cost from India.
-- If a shop has multiple options (different manufacturers, etc.), I'll let you choose.
-- I can also put together complete IC kits for the different Ben Eater projects so you don't have to hunt down dozens of individual parts.
If you're interested, send me a DM with the parts list or the Ben Eater project you're building, and I'll check local availability.
Hopefully this helps someone avoid the weeks of searching that I went through before discovering these local suppliers!
Edit 1: just for price comparison, I purchased all the chips(except EEPROM) for 8-bit computer for just around 2.5k/3k rs ($40). Eeproms are ($10 each 28C16 ones). I'm seeing many posts that they are very expensive on sites like digikey or mouser.