Am I ordering LEDs from the wrong source?

frascati

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
31
I'm new to this stuff. I'm about to place my third order to DigiKey in the past month for Cree leds.
Digikey's search function sucks, so I have better luck actually finding a place in their catalog via google search. But in the course of searching google for a particular XM-l2 led I find this url....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-Al...ED-Flashlight-Torch-Lamp-3000LM-/130891791687

Now my order for three XM-l2 leds from Digikey is 25.50 before shipping. Even the lowest cost ship, USPS priority mail, brings it in at above the price for the flashlight linked above.

My apologies if this topic has been well discussed at this forum already... but unless the leds used in that flashlight are, with reasonable certainty, counterfeit, then I have to wonder how Digikey gets away with such an astonishingly steep markup for these LEDs. A Chinese supplier can assemble an entire flashlight around three XM-L2 Cree, with machined, threaded, anodized aluminum tubing, seals, 3X reflector, switch, and circuit board, and send it to me shipping included for LESS than the price of those three LEDs from Digikey to my door?

What am I missing here?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

frascati

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
31
Ok. From another forum. I'm told that verification and end-support raises the cost of these things substantially. It is presumed that counterfeit is a very real problem with "unknown" vendors. This really could not include a branded item such as Surefire could it?

I'm really hoping someone can give me some insight here. Coincidentally my interest in ordering three XM-L from Digikey is to mount them 3X in a project. Granted, I can't chose my CCT and in most cases will have to opt for cool white. That seems to be the only drawback.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DellSuperman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
1,760
Location
Singapore
FastTech, Illumination Supplies, Kaidomain, international outdoor all sells bare LED emitters.

So far all my purchases from them have been pretty pleasant & all came packaged in reels.

25 for 3 emitters is very steep man, btw.

- JonK
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
553
Location
Gainesville, Florida
XML2's are state of the art and would be hard to counterfeit. Hit em with 3 amps and see if they fry to check for counterfeit. It is possible that an unscrupulous vendor will tint swap, so you will need a known good to check against tint.

I have also purchased from the above vendors with no problems.

PS that ebay link shows XML, not XML2, so they are a generation behind, and most likely an ugly tint.
 

yellow

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Messages
4,629
Location
Baden.at
What am I missing here?
You are missing Mass production!

I dont know what XM-Ls You are ordering from Digikey, but they are single part "order", possibly a special "super-binning" and tint, while the mass producers gets big numbers of diodes on the reel
(when lucky the individual led used of "your" individual light is the same, or better, than the Digikey led, but for 99 % it will be less good)
((but nowadays the differences are no longer this extreme than they were in the old Luxeon days))

then there is the light itself
(materials, finish, machining, ...)
:(

advice: get this piece and get a "similar" light from a medium-to-good-quality-and-good-price-maker, like Fenix.
You will immediately "see" where the price comes from ...
;)



This really could not include a branded item such as Surefire could it?
hahahaaa,
have You ever ordered cheap sports shoes, garments or label/sports caps from China?
They surely are original ones ...
:rolleyes:
--> price is a good indicator
 
Last edited:

alpg88

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
5,282
i ordered leds from all of the mentioned above sites, all send real cree leds, (never seen a fake yet) digikey and mouser do charge more for shipping, and their prices are a bit higher.
how they get away???? in case of some leds, i agree they are $2-$3 more than elswhere, but digikey and mouser sell parts you can't find anywhere else.
 

think2x

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
1,581
Location
Pulaski, Va.
Most of my emitters I order from Digikey and shipping is not terrible, they have a First Class mail option and it's usually less than a week including there processing time. My last order was for 4x XP-E2 5000k tint and a triple Carclo optic total was $17.xx IMO emitters are in the "you get what you pay for" category.
 
Last edited:
Top