There's a smart one in every crowd.
Your probably another one that works for DinoDirect.
Then buy from Cabelas ..No one has forced anyone to buy from any chinese vendor .
The only thing making them buy from them is their own desire for the product at a better price .. If someone has a killer deal ... people will buy from them ....But lets get real here .. like troop lewis said it's a Roll of the dice ..of course when you're talking about a company that has a mark up ona light of 300% vs. a company that marks their lights up 30% than it isn't a valid comparison not to mention culture,language ,ethics ,race ,religion,a totally different business structure with different laws and a different form of goverment ...You can compare them all you like i just think it's not valid to say one company acts one way so another should too .especially when the two are so hugely different//
The company with the smaller mark up can't offer as much service so there will always be more risk involved in buying from them .. You have to factor that into your purchasing decision .
dude, that's a legit question. if you're going to compare Chinese CS to Cabelas CS, you have to compare Chinese prices and selection to Cabelas prices and selection. you can't pick and choose how you compare two businesses.
so answer up. why don't you just buy all your lights from Cabelas?
First off who are you to tell me what I should answer to?
I made the comparison because I wanted too. I didn't need to ask your permission.
Dinodirect does business the wrong way everyday. That is why they have the bad rating they have here.
And for the record I am no longer doing business with DinoDefect.
originally, i made a snide comment here, but i take that back. this is the internet and ILF can say whatever he wants. what would the internet be if you couldn't say crazy things and decline to be held accountable for them.
On a general basis no it's not fair to make a buyer pay return shipping,unless it is disclosed to the purchaser in advance.If you don't agree with the terms,then it's time to find another seller.When I owned my business,returns were treated as "the cost of doing business" because if you don't stand behind your product,your client base will slowly dwindle.There is no short answer but if the OP was referring to an overseas vendor,then yes it is because I don't know of a single one that will eat return shipping and doesn't have a policy stating such.That said,unscrupulous sellers will hide behind policies to feed the money making machine.CAVEAT EMPTOR.
I sold 2 of my old flashlights on eBay along with some batteries and chargers I didn't want (selling off all my 18650 and 14500 related stuff).
Here is what happend with one of the sales.
One guy bought one of my lights and batterys and a charger together for $21 and I paid for the postage ($6.20), then he makes a complaint that one of the batteries doesn't work but I tested them both before I sent them too him and told him they were both fine, then he threatened to open a claim with PalPal if I didn't send him another one.
So I took another ($5) (never been used) battery I had with me along with his address to the post office and got charged another $6.20 to send it.
Two weeks had passed and he messaged me again saying he was still waiting for the battery, I said I posted it two weeks ago and he called me a liar and threatend to open a PayPal claim if I didn't send him another one.
So another $5 (never been used) battery was sent and another $6.20 for postage paid, then he filed a claim with PayPal and said the flashlight was broken when he recived it.
Now PayPal has told him to return it for a full refund.
Not only did he get about $50 worth of flashlight/charger/batteries for $21....
So far it has cost me $18.60 in postage and $10 worth of batteries, and I will have to refund his $21 when/if it gets sent back even though everything was in perfect condition when it was sent and it was packed very well that it would have been impossible to get damaged.
I'll be out of pocket about $30 and if he wants me to pay return postage, Ill tell him where he can go.
I will agree that the seller should pay for the return costs, but there are lots of buyers out there who try to take advantage of a sale, especially if it is done via PayPal.
I totally agree with ezarc, and have a similar story. I used to sell GPU's on ebay. These cards were new cards, returns to a shop from people who changed their mind. I would thoroughly check that a card was working before shipping it. So one day there is this Spanish guy who buys one (I think it was about 80€)... I send the card with recorded post, I notice from the tracking details that he received it after 6 working days, and after about 40 days he opens a PayPal claim saying that it came DOA!!! PayPal is always on the buyer's side, so he was told to send it back to get a refund... What probably happened is that the moron overclocked the card beyond limits and damaged it, then like many people do claimed it as DOA. I told PayPal that I bought the card a week before shipping and had proof that it is new, that I had screenshots of the card working, and that it was very fishy that someone waited 40 days to claim not a defective but DOA, but... I suppose the buyer is right... so not being protected as a seller from such buyers made me stop selling anything on ebay... So what I am trying to say here is that for all of us who are decent and honest buyers and we find it right the seller to cover the postage expenses, there are also many buyers our there who are trying to cheat a seller out of his profit one way or another...
...maybe I'm just in denial. :)
If you buy something from a brick and mortar store (flashlights, grocery, hardware, auto parts, etc,) you have to make the trip to go buy the item in the first place. If something goes awry and you want to return it, for whatever reason, you make the trip back to the store to return or exchange it. They all work this way. The stores don't send a runner out to make the exchange or refund. If you buy an air conditioner and install it but it quits 2 days later you have to remove it and take it back to the store. Then you have to reinstall it. Nobody does that for you. Your time, your gas, your money. Generally a giant PIA. I don't hear anybody complaining about that (thankfully). I'm certainly not. That's how it works.
What changes when we buy things on line and have them ship the item to us? A few things. No personal interaction with a physical entity. The item usually costs less. The vendor usually makes less. No gas money spent, no wear and tear on the car/truck and virtually no time spent making the purchase. Usually a minute or two. Some vendors charge for initial shipping. Some do not. Some vendors will pay for return shipping. Some will not. Some will ask you to pay the shipping back to them but will pay to return it to you (Surefire).As a few folks mentioned earlier, do you homework to see what the real terms and policies are before making the purchase. Ignorance is not bliss if you fail to do your part. If you choose to deal with a company that, from the outset does not meet your expectations, the burden is on the buyer. If the buyer continues to do business with a vendor that has bad ratings, continually fails or just screws them over, who is really to blame? I think the answer is obvious.
I think then the buyer is to blame 
Good job Kreisler! :P
@ trooplewis: "The plumber is at your house. These people are in China. Might as well be on the moon, your ethics do not apply, but you tolerate that because you like the pricing."
I can't quite agree. In my analogy, the plumber has long gone from your house; his work seemed ok until a few days after he'd gone. Having already paid him for a faulty job, do you feel that you should pay him again because it was your fault for hiring a Chinese plumber who worked a bit cheaper?
@ ILF: "You got it all backwards dude! The seller is providing a product through his supplier."
I don't follow you here. You start by telling me I have it backwards, yet at the end of your post you agree with me, i.e. that the seller shouldn't have to foot the bill. The only difference is that you use the term "supplier", where I used the term "manufacturer". If you re-read my comment you'll see what I mean.
ILF: "That supplier should pick the tab up on the shiiping and reinburse the seller that he sold the faulty light to."
Exactly my point. Which bit have I "got all backwards?"
There are some bad sellers but also some really bad buyers too!
You forgot more time to make whine. 
GottaZoom - I WAS going to include "no whining" but thought...............nah. Maybe I should have. The 'entitlement' mentality group ("others owe me") would have to keep quiet if no whining was allowed. 
Kreisler - You made a wise choice.
Yea I read what you wrote wrong. My bad. I see your point and I can agree with what you said. But really the seller ought to reimburse the buyer and then take it up with his supplier. If they continue to give faulty lights, shop eleswhere.
I don't think it's entitlement to want to get what we pay for - on any size of purchase. Or for the mfgr to stand behind the product. Obviously that is missing with some clone products where there is no guarantee of fitness unless you look to the seller.
When the seller has set out terms and buyer remorse over those terms hits after the purchase, it is entitlement to expect more - and then whine is made.
While whining is nature, I hope there will be a special place in hell for those who should have paid attention to their deal and then browbeat the seller anyway. It's why I prefer to give surplus stuff to family instead of reselling it. They know better.
Sometimes the savings is worth the risk . . if it's not don't make life miserable for others . . just don't buy it unless you're prepared to live with the deal you signed up for.
A seller that stands behind what he sells is the seller I will continue to buy from. I have found some of my best deals off ebay from my repeat sellers I continue to buy from. Not only are they fast they are reliable at getting you what you paid for. That's about the only overseas buying I'm going to be doing from now on. The ones I can count on with no surprises sure is better than the other route. All my other buys are most likely going to come from my buddy Shane who is the best I have found period in the US.