I was at Batteries Plus today and noticed...

The one in the colorado springs region, has expanded their flashlight inventory. BIG TIME... only problem is, they are selling the cheap china lights we all know and love for their rock bottom prices, as if they were much nicer than they really are. anyone else seen this?

they are selling 28LED lights that can be had for under $10 shipped online for $30, selling the Golston 7W, FOR $50!!! selling lots of the 9led, 28led, 49led etc type lights, for 400-700% the price we see them for on ebay, from Dae, from axshop.

I understand that buying "in town" requires that the products be marked up a bit to cover the operating costs of running a store, but when stores use the ignorance of the public, to THAT extent, that bothers me. It's a sad day when someone spends $50 on a fake 7W LED light, when they could have bought a much nicer flashlight for that price.

Is anyone else seeing these pop up in Batteries Plus stores?

Have not seen those lights in BP stores. The stores are franchises and it's up to the owner what lights (if any) to carry. I have been in a couple of stores where they carry a nice selection of Streamlights, which I think is a very good choice for those stores.

One CPF member reported that his local store was a Surefire dealer.

Your store has chosen to carry lower quality lights at a high markup. Probably buys them on eBay. I don't really agree with that choice, but at least we know the difference. Problems with the lights could come back to haunt that dealer, but at those prices I guess they can just give the customer another one and still make out.

It does seem to me that a battery store is a natural place to sell a decent line of flashlights. That's why I think Streamlight is a great choice based on price range, quality and warranty.

Mark

Yeah, an increase in a few stores here too (Ohio), but Batteries Plus is way overpriced on every single one of them. The last time I was there I took note of about 6 different lights and then emailed the guy working there that night with links as to where to buy the same exact lights for half the price. A couple were even marked up 75% from what you can buy on the web. Amazing.

it's just sad when people markup items into a range that tries to convince the buyer that it is something that it is not (selling a price tag, not a product)... That same BP also sells some streamlight products, so they have that going for them, but of cource, at very inflated prices as well.