Amazon is a tough place for small businesses...lots of horror stories and a steep learning curve to be successful there. I've read about frozen funds that couldn't be recovered and also frozen goods stuck in their distribution centers and unable to be retrieved.
I shop on both, and sometimes eBay. For flashlights I have almost always bought on Aliexpress or from Neal. Just a couple on Amazon when I found them at great prices. I don't mind waiting for shipping from China but occasionally if something is on Amazon for just a little more money and I can have it shipped to me in a couple days or a week, I might buy there instead. I did that recently with a Sofirn light that was on sale for $28 on Amazon, received it the next business day. From Sofirn on Aliexpress or their website I could have gotten it for $23 and waited. (But then immediately I ordered an accessory for that light from them on Aliexpress because they did not stock it on Amazon US...they also don't list parts and different LED options as much as they do on Aliexpress). I did notice that Sofirn seems to sell most lights with included battery - probably easiest for the US market where many consumers still aren't familiar with lithium batteries, and good ones aren't available on Amazon usually. Customer reviews can also be a bit harsh and unfair on Amazon, which affects algorithms and selling positions...there is much more freedom there with comments and reviews and people are not always fair, patient, or good natured (or smart....).
Honestly with vendors like yourself, Simon, I would rather that you benefit as much as possible, so except for one light I always buy Convoy from you directly. Amazon is ok sometimes but their fees and the fierce competition make it a tough place, and sometimes not the best prices at all. I don't eBay very often, usually only tools, but if I know a good vendor is on eBay and has good prices (often better than Amazon for same items) then I'll shop there instead. I'm surprised to hear eBay isn't welcoming China! I see many items that ship directly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea, or the UK. Maybe something new with politics...I hope not.
I'm sure you've probably seen this already, but lots of good information here shared by sellers...and a lot of frustration. Sometimes good advice on how to do things right, fix problems, or avoid problems. I browsed here just out of curiosity and was surprised at a lot of what I read. There might be forums that are more helpful to Chinese sellers either shipping from home or stocking product in Amazon warehouses - I'm sure there must be a lot of different considerations compared to domestic sellers here.
I purchase my Convoy lights direct from the AliEx Convoy store, and will continue to do so. I avoid Amazon unless I’m looking for a one-off oddball item, or insanely deep discount (a rarity anymore). Same can be said for eBay.
The light throws! The led tint is not bad as some of the pictures might make you believe, my MAJOR complaint is that if you long press the button and go to “moonlight” it cannot ramp up from there you can click and hold and nothing happens, your only options are to double click and go to turbo then ramp down from there, or turn the light off and do a click to go to saved last brightness level and ramp from there.
WHY? or better yet, WHY DID YOU NOT USE ANDURIL??? Astrolux uses it in their USB C rechargeable drivers, it can be done!
I like the light design, really do! But the UI could have been perfect if you had used Anduril!
This Amazon model allows us to only send products with better sales to Amazon warehouses in the United States in advance. We can’t do this for accessories that have less sales and are not popular.
At present, it can only be settled in EBAY in the form of a company.And I heard that there are more restrictions.
Amazon could definitely help bring your product to the mainstream consumer! But in order for it to be beneficial to the mainstream consumers. Your product would most likely need to be fulfilled by Amazon, for great shipping speed.
But beware Simon, Amazon customers love to abuse the ability to return products.
Aliexpress works just fine for me. I like the ability to easily communicate with you. But bottom line is, go with what feels best for how you want your company to grow!
This has been discussed countless times before, but a lot of Convoy’s customers are not flashlight enthusiasts. Many non-flashlight enthusiasts find Anduril confusing and frustrating to use.
Oops, might be because of this minor Anduril 2 mod:
Wish I could have saved the charging but there were like 3 I/O pins interconnected between the main driver MCU and the charging circuitry , probably partially or fully because of controlling the LED's.
I think an S12 with 219b would work very well. With the 6A driver that’d be 2A per emitter. The 219b is great for triples. I built an S2+ triple with the 5A driver and 3 SW45k emitters.
, probably partially or fully because of controlling the LED's.