Good price on GE Night Hawk LED sealed beam replacements

Walmart appears to have an excellent price on the Night Hawk LED sealed beams right now, the 5x7 units are only $75! (link) Unless something has changed, these are just a reboxed TruckLite unit with some GE branding on it. It seems like this is about half the price this lamp goes for from other sources.

-Virgil-, how does this unit compare to the halogen Night Hawk? I know the TruckLite isn't as good as the JW Speaker, but I'm assuming it's still a significant upgrade from the halogen.

That's a really low price. I have to say it's kind of suspiciously low. It instantly made me think of The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart, about the CEO of a maker of premium lawn mowers (Snapper):

The Wal-Mart vice president responded with strategy and argument. Snapper is the sort of high-quality nameplate, like Levi Strauss, that Wal-Mart hopes can ultimately make it more Target-like. He suggested that Snapper find a lower-cost contract manufacturer. He suggested producing a separate, lesser-quality line with the Snapper nameplate just for Wal-Mart. Just like Levi did.

What makes the connection for me is that there are cheap-ѕhitty knockoffs of the Truck-Lite (/GE/Wagner) LED sealed beams easily available from China. Just look on AliExpress. Look on Ebay. Look on Amazon! Now, I'm not necessarily suggesting these on the Wal-Mart site are counterfeit GE product, although that's also a possibility. What I'm thinking is it seems like pretty good odds these GE lights suddenly cost a whole lot less at Wal-Mart than they do everywhere else, for a reason.

I could be wrong, of course. I don't know, of course. And likely won't find out soon, I have moral objections to shopping at Wal-Mart, and that was the case even before it forced a beloved, generations-old family hardware store near here out of business.

I had the same thought, that that is a suspiciously good price for those lamps. Hopefully it's not a poor quality unit in a slightly different box for WalMart, it's already hard enough for most people to sort the wheat from the chaff in the automotive lighting world.

Someone should get one or two just for testing purposes

-Virgil- said:

I have moral objections to shopping at Wal-Mart, and that was the case even before it forced a beloved, generations-old family hardware store near here out of business.

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Same thing happened back in the 90's to my dad's downtown Sears store on a brick street in small-town Nebraska. Now on the flip side, I live and work in Bentonville, AR. Wal-Mart is responsible for most of our booming economy, and directly for my household as my wife sells directly to Wal-Mart and all their .com businesses. When I go to Wal-Mart, I'm shopping local.

My wife's company manufactures high-quality American-made products, but they also make a bunch of cheap crap in China for Wal-Mart's private labels.

-Virgil- said:

That's a really low price. I have to say it's kind of suspiciously low. It instantly made me think of The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart, about the CEO of a maker of premium lawn mowers (Snapper):

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Another example is Schwinn bicycles you'll find at a real bike store vs. Schwinn bicycles you'll find at Wal-Mart. The reason you pay bike store prices for a bike store bike is you're getting a bike store bike; the reason you pay Wal-Mart prices for Wal-Mart bikes is you're getting a Wal-Mart bike. Or: You don't get what you don't pay for.

It also happens with cookware, wherein it says "Emeril" but the pans are as thick as the bottom of the Jiffy Pop stovetop popcorn pan.

Wow. Even RockAuto is $111.79.

Walmart would be smart to stock those in stores located on interstates. Trucker's would buy them up.

Is the round version just as cheap?

Alaric Darconville said:

Another example is Schwinn bicycles you'll find at a real bike store vs. Schwinn bicycles you'll find at Wal-Mart. The reason you pay bike store prices for a bike store bike is you're getting a bike store bike; the reason you pay Wal-Mart prices for Wal-Mart bikes is you're getting a Wal-Mart bike. Or: You don't get what you don't pay for.

It also happens with cookware, wherein it says "Emeril" but the pans are as thick as the bottom of the Jiffy Pop stovetop popcorn pan.

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Is the Castrol sold at Walmart lower quality than the Castrol AutoZone sells at $10 more?

TechGuru said:

Wow. Even RockAuto is $111.79.

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Rock Auto may be getting the better product, if a product difference exists. You'd have to look closely at the box to look for a differing part number that shows specially-made for Wal-Mart.

Walmart would be smart to stock those in stores located on interstates. Trucker's would buy them up.

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Truckers will usually hit up a Love's, Flying J, or other truck stops which market more directly to them, have a better parking situation, and has the fuel they need. Wal-Mart sells DEF; I've never seen DEF in anyone's shopping cart.

Is the round version just as cheap?

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The 7" round is visible on that page and is $104.69.

Our tire rep told us about graded tires. The best of the best (1%) stay in a special area for hot cases/warranty claims etc. The next best go to the factory brand stores. Next go to auto manufacturers. The worst go to big box discount stores.

TechGuru said:

Is the Castrol sold at Walmart lower quality than the Castrol AutoZone sells at $10 more?

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Motor oil is something of a commodity item; they're able to buy, and stock, the same oil volume more cheaply than AutoZone.