are there alternatives to DX or KD

[gravityz]

are there any alternatives to kaidomain or dealextreme

dealextreme(delayextreme) is a victim of it's own succes and terribly slow lately
Kaidomain is probably less busy but lacks a good search option

are there sites out there with comparable pricing but who only deal in flashlights for example

would make my life a lot easier.

 

[Marduke]

Quality China Goods

 

[gravityz]

found it

was easy on google

 

[Fallingwater]

are there any alternatives to kaidomain or dealextreme

dealextreme(delayextreme) is a victim of it's own succes and terribly slow lately
Kaidomain is probably less busy but lacks a good search option

are there sites out there with comparable pricing but who only deal in flashlights for example

would make my life a lot easier.

DX is not too slow here. Check your connection.

There's qualitychinagoods.com, but their selection is much smaller (with a few exceptions), they get much less new stuff and their prices tend to be higher.
Try www.uxcell.com as well.

 

[gravityz]

i am not talking about my connection

i am talking about their performance from order to shipment when you order an item they have in stock

it takes over a week to ship and after that it takes 2-3 weeks to arrive

that is a lot more than the 7-14 days they are talking about.

maybee it is because it is end of the year but still we like some things to speed up.

 

[Marduke]

i am not talking about my connection

i am talking about their performance from order to shipment when you order an item they have in stock

it takes over a week to ship and after that it takes 2-3 weeks to arrive

that is a lot more than the 7-14 days they are talking about.

maybee it is because it is end of the year but still we like some things to speed up.

Any of those cheap places shipping out of HK will take 2-6 weeks, depending on where you are in the world. That's simply the cost of cheap items from overseas.

One way to get around it is get a good sized order together, include some items for all your coworkers, friends, family, etc, and spring for the EMS express shipping. For a recent order from DX, I bought around $85 worth of stuff, sprang for extra $10 EMS (EMS cost goes down as your order amount goes up), and split the shipping cost between everyone on the order. Split 4 ways, it only cost $2.50 extra for each person, which is quite cheap. Order was placed, and sitting in my post office for me to pick up within 5 days.

 

[Fallingwater]

There is a problem with EMS. I don't know how it is in your country, but in mine customs is MUCH more likely to stop your package and tax it than if it's sent by ordinary mail.

If you still want it, DX will add it for free if ordering more than 20 items. So if you're at a good number already, it probably pays to add a few low-cost items to the lot and get EMS for free.

 

[IdiotsAbound]

There is a problem with EMS. I don't know how it is in your country, but in mine customs is MUCH more likely to stop your package and tax it than if it's sent by ordinary mail.

If you still want it, DX will add it for free if ordering more than 20 items. So if you're at a good number already, it probably pays to add a few low-cost items to the lot and get EMS for free.

This reminds me, has anyone in Canada received anything from DX when shipped via EMS? Did they charge a brokerage fee? if so, how much?

 

[sims2k]

I have bought from both company and never had any problem with shipping. I have always received my orders at about 8 to 10 days. Thanks for the other companies though.

 

[VidPro]

brightguy, lumenhound, supertactical, batteryjunction not like "china express", but will stock some of the lower cost lights, then of course E-bay, and sometimes amazon, which carry some of the same items, close to the same price, but often ship faster.
bunch of others too, if you have a manufacture model number, it doesnt hurt to do a search on google, and find nice little yahoo stores dying for business with nice people who communicate easily, take returns, and all.
even if the price of a particular item isnt really low like DX, some of the places have sales, offer discounts, have coupon things for specific items at specific times.
then use paypal, or CC, for a bit of protection, or check out thier "ratings" somewhere.

 

[sino]

DX is not too slow here. Check your connection.

There's qualitychinagoods.com, but their selection is much smaller (with a few exceptions), they get much less new stuff and their prices tend to be higher.
Try www.uxcell.com as well.

I couldn't find a single flashlight at uxcell.com. This is the CPF, right?

To the original poster, I've found DX to be very responsive, and I've ordered many items. I think it's appropriate to adjust one's expectations about shipping times when dealing with an international company. There have been times when I've received in-stock items within one week, and I consider this outstanding service. Other times I've waited a couple of weeks for items to be back in stock, but this same situation could happen with a domestic supplier. Many times I've waited 2-3 weeks for orders from Amazon and Buy.com.

The bottom line for me is value. For the items I'm ordering, I consider DX's prices to be an incredibly great deal (with free shipping to boot!), so I'm willing to put up with the occasional delay. E.g., I recently purchased a couple of Romisen RC-G2 CREE lights for around $10 each, and I am absolutely amazed at the build quality and brightness at this price. I don't know where to find something comparable at that price anywhere else.

 

[garence]

From what I'm hearing, DX and Kai are great for the prices but unpredictable on processing/delivery and sometimes inconsistent stock quality. But they do seem to honor defective returns.

UX Cell has flashlights under the Super Store category, but their website is slow. They also have a shipping charge of $5 for the 1st item and $2 for each additional (unlike DX and Kai which put the shipping cost in the item price).

Battery Junction is excellent. Their prices are not bad and their customer service is superb. They are located 150 miles from where I work. I placed an order in the evening and two full days later my order arrived at my desk. So their fulfillment was lightning fast. Plus you get a discount of 5% with the code 'thankyou2007'.

I ordered from Elite LED a few days ago and they reported a status of "shipped" on the same day I placed it. It's coming from California to the East coast, so I imagine I'll see it early next week. Their normal prices are a little high, but they have good closeout and clearance prices.

 

[Fallingwater]

I couldn't find a single flashlight at uxcell.com. This is the CPF, right?

They have a few not very interesting ones.

Uxcell is more for other kinds of electronics, which I assumed could be an interesting feature since many people who buy lights at DX and Kai also buy lots of other electronic stuff.

 

[garence]

I just got my order from Elite LED. It had arrived yesterday afternoon. Which means that from order placement to order arrival coast-to-coast, it took about 4 days. Now that's fast! Basic "Priority USPS" shipping, too.

Btw, they've got a nice sale on the Fenix L2S. There's an optional package deal to include the L1S tube (so you basically get two lights with one driver). It's a very nice idea to have an adjustable form factor, especially when you've got plenty of lights.

Yes, the L2S is "obsolete", what with Luxeon III and Cree 7090 XR-E superceding R-binned Luxeon. But if you're not concerned about having the brightest light available and still want very high quality workmanship, this is a very nice AA light for the price now available at Elite LED ($36 for the L2S and L1S tube package). The L2S has a nice long/thin form factor, and when switched to the L1S tube it's a nice pocket light. Oh and Fenix is great about the lanyard holes--2 of them so the light can stand without cord interference.

I don't know if anyone would be interested in a "layman" review on this older model... all I can say is that I tested it out and find it has a nicely bright cool white pencil beam with a very light splash zone. Despite it not being "hard anodized", the quality is definitely there. Hard scrapes with a stiff fingernail don't do anything to the surface, but I wouldn't plan on keeping the light next to sharp objects in my pocket.


(Click image for review -- 4 stars by Doug at Flashlight reviews)

Btw, Elite LED also has a couple of Fenix knives for sale. I bought the KM-1 for $10. It's listed as $19.95 retail, but it easily feels like it costs much more than that.

 

[divine]

I'm surprised no one has said BatteryJunction yet.

www.batteryjunction.com

They are in Connecticut I think and ship pretty fast.

 

[garence]

I'm surprised no one has said BatteryJunction yet.

www.batteryjunction.com

They are in Connecticut I think and ship pretty fast.

Um, I just said it yesterday in this very thread a few posts back. :thumbsup: