Just curious for your opinions. Why are there so few U.S. resellers with such limited stock of budget Chinese flashlights?
There is obviously demand. There are plenty of mom and pop operations in the U.S. selling budget items with small mark-ups. Shiningbeam does this to a limited extent but the selection is definitely limited with little variety.
Someone who “knows” flashlights could order in bulk those selected flashlights that most everyone considers good buys. They shouldn’t have an problem getting slightly higher prices since people wouldn’t have to wait a month.
Who would buy a UF-T50 from HK for $43 if they could get it in 3 days for $50? At one time everyone was looking for Akoray programmable K-106 lights. I’m sure if Shiningbeam or Illumination Supply had dozens of them they would sell out immediately.
I’m not talking about someone trying to carry everything DX has…just the unique items that most people would buy.
I like Shiningbeam and have purchased some switches from them but at the time it seemed that Rominsens were mainly what they carried. The UF-T50 or the UF-H2 or H3 or programmable Akorays are more unique. It seems odd that no one in the entire U.S. stocks these kinds of lights for reselling.
Any thoughts?
US Dealers can't compete with Manafont etc prices. If they match them they won't be making much. Not to mention the high RMA rate. I sell Solarforce hosts dropins etc (http://www.sbflashlights.com). My prices are $2-3 higher than Solarforce-sales and people still flock to them.
From my experience people are willing to wait 3-4 weeks to save $2-3.
Thanks for chiming in, Jake. I was going to mention SBFlashlights. There are other U.S. resellers out there, but I think they tend to focus on more mid- to high-price alternatives. You just need to be judicious in your selection, but there are still deals to be had. In addition to Shiningbeam and SBF, I'm thinking of Protacticalshop19 on ebay, Lighthound, Batteryspace, EDCPlus, Shopwiseguys, etc. I will gladly pay a few more dollars to get quick service of 2-3 days shipping vs 3-6 weeks. Customer service is also usually better, something most people don't try to quantify. Two fer instances: SBFlashlights has some of the best prices around on Xtar Chargers. I bought my Solarforce M8 from Lighthound; after factoring in discount and shipping costs, the price paid was only $4 more than directly from Solarforce HK. No waiting game on the China shipping lottery, less stress and more time to enjoy the purchase.
Not me. Although the $3 higher price plus shipping for an inexpensive product does probably add up if that’s all they wanted.
I have seen a few U.S. sellers carrying the occasional Ultrafire product. I’m sure the UF-T50 would sell.
There’s one U.S. seller that I would buy more from (I think it’s BatteryJunction or something like that…I might be wrong) but shipping is way over cost. It’s something like $8 even if you are just buying a smaller light, part, or even just a battery.
Still, with 4 week waiting times there much be some demand.
Thanks for your feedback Jack. I do like your company.
But, it is not just $2 or $3. I see the exact same item going for $28 from a US seller and $20 from a Chinese/HongKong seller. You buy multiple items and the savings even go higher. That is a far cry from $2 or $3. 
The real issue is how many do you have to buy at once to compete with the chinese vendors at $5 higher price point. To get cost down to the point where you make that $5 you probably have to buy 1000 or more to begin with and then you have that amount of money tied up in inventory and warehousing that inventory until they sell. And what happens if a new light comes out next week that makes us fickle flashaholics forget about the one you just bought 1000 of? Then what do you do with them?
CehowardGB, I’m not questioning why people buy from HK at all. If you are buying a lot of lights or just filling up on a lot of supplies I get that the money savings can be worth the wait.
Once you know what you want and are just after a specific light and don’t want to wait a month I think many people would be willing to pay a little more.
It’s up to the resellers however to be savvy enough to know what those items are so that they aren’t stuck with items that people won’t pay a higher price for.
As I mentioned, Shiningbeam stays in business selling items that are good but IMO aren’t even particularly unique.
I’m pretty sure that the small flahlight resellers that we are talking about don’t have 1,000 of any of the lights that they sell.
I’d guess it’s more like 10 or 20.
They’re ordering from China anyway and even if carrying a few popular lights like I’m suggesting isn’t a big moneymaker it would draw more traffic to their store.
You got a point there. I guess I am just a cheapee!! 
Because I have had the US sellers in my sights to buy, and I knew they would be here in 3 to 4 days, but the $8 more for the light was killing my cheap viens, and something move my mouse-hand away, and over to the Chinese vendor for $8 cheaper. Plus, I think it is exciting to get something mailed personally to me all the way from China!! Then again, I am not dealing with a full deck either!!
Extremebeam appears to do that under their own branding. But with between a 100% and 700% mark-up..
I don't think the market for $20+ flashlights is that big. Most people want a simple 2 D flashlight for $8.99 and a Maglite is a really nice light. So there is a small market to start with. And, yeah, if someone can buy a 502B with a 3-mode XM-L drop-in online for $19, why are they going to pay $30 for the same thing in the US? Plus the seller has to worry about sending back non-working inventory and covering failed lights. 4Sevens got so frustrated with EagleTac and some others that they just stopped selling them. And EagleTacs have to be way better than Ultrafire. If someone brings a light back to you, all your profit is now gone, even if the person only wants a replacement and not their money back. If they want their money back, you are underwater.
That said, Lighthound (I think) has sold Ultrafire lights in the past, as has GoingGear. I doubt there is a lot of demand for them and as a salesman you're going to have a hard time recommending a Trustfire when you know that a Quark is more reliable and more profitable.
I think it's a lot of things. Price is a problem. I see many people do seem willing to wait, just to save a few dollars.
Also knowing what to stock is a problem. Just reading these forums, look how many lights pop up here every day and it's ever changing. A US reseller could order today and a month from now, when they get the lights, the sales could be "burnt out" and sometihng new has caught everyone's attention. When I see how long some of the old stock apparently sits forever, I believe that you would almost have to see the future, to get the lights before they became really popular and actually be able to sell them.
Then the returns and quality problems can hurt. A reseller would have to live on a small profit margin (talking about selling out of his/her apartment) and returns would be a killer.
Everyone seems to look at China for the only source. I think it would take a long time to turn that around for a US reseller.
I wish there were more components here, but what would a reseller stock? Buy 2.8A drivers and the next week there are 3A drivers in China. It goes on and on. Hard to keep up with the pace, when their lead time is the same 3-6 weeks as ours.
Look at the Sipik SK68 clone threads where people are talking about saving nearly pennies between sellers! I was like WTH? I found a US seller, paid about $1 to $1.50 more per light and had it in about 5 to 6 days (didn't ship for 2 days). Compare that to my original china lottery order which never showed up! I kept playing the guessing game of "should I re-order or keep waiting?". That extra money was well spent in my opinion!
I see the same thing too with other lights - Fandyfire/Ultrfire HD2010 comes to mind where I see people posting it a buck or two cheaper elsewhere (and "elsewhere" in my opinion tends to be a reseller that few have experience with and seem questionable at times). Some people really do seem "budget" oriented to the max!
-Garry
Good points everyone! I did buy a $9 light from DX once rather than pay $12 at Manafont (with faster shipping at the time) just because it was 25% less!
I would have gladly paid more to get it sooner however!
T-mart would seem to be set up to take all of our money but somehow they never seem to have what I want.
Even though they are based in the U.S. (with faster shipping therefore) in all other regards they are just like the dealers in China.
Their command of English is no better and the product descriptions are just a silly as at DD.
In another thread their representative tried to clear up a confusing statement he made earlier and I didn’t understand that explanation any better than the original statement.
That’s one that I just don’t get. They are in the U.S…just ask your next door neighbor to rewrite your website and give them a free flashlight and it would be an improvement.
There are a lot of companies in the “close but no cigar” category.