Are Nitecore Tiny Monsters Overpriced?

LED Flashlights – General Info
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The Nitecore Tiny Monster lights appear to me to be overpriced compared to something like a Mountain Electronics customized SRK or Supfire M6. Per Battery Junction prices the TM11 is $200, the TM15 is $299 and the TM26 is $390. A maximum modified M6 or SRK from RMM is about $70 to $80 and has greater output maximum than ANY of the Tiny Monsters. Also a lower low.

The Nitecore lights do include holsters and the TM15 and TM26 include chargers while the TM26 adds the OLED display feature but is this enough to justify their MUCH higher prices compared to virtually all other “soup can” lights? I do not own any of the Nitecore TM lights so do not know how they are but I do have several RMM modified lights and find them to be excellent value for the money.

Other plusses for the Nitecores include the accessory NBP52 battery pack for extended run time and the new NHM10 handle assembly but seeing as how both are extra cost accessories they do not justify the initial cost oof the lights to me.

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While they probably are generally overpriced, your comparisons are not fair. I spent $200 for my TM26 shipped from a US seller.

The Tiny Monster lights have a fair amount of throw on them compared to the M6 or SRK. The build quality with the 2 stage switch, the OLED screen, location beacon, and finish on the TM26 will be far superior imo. Also, the moonlight on the TM26 is perfect imo - it does not need to be any lower or higher.

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[quote=dangerous]
While they probably are generally overpriced, your comparisons are not fair. I spent $200 for my TM26 shipped /quote]

Lucky you! That is half the price of the going rate…. Still quite a lot of cash though…. Still way over my budget…. I would be quite happy with an m6 or a modded srk, even if it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles…. :smiley:

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Your comparing a Nitecore to a SRK……are you kidding me? They arent even in the same planet, never mind league! Thats like comparing a 96 Honda Civic to a 14 BMW fully loaded.

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I admit that the M6 is a MUCH better built light than the SRK, having both. RMM agrees per some private communications. It even has the thick battery contact areas on the battery plate in the head like the TM26 has for increased durability. I worked in manufacturing QA for 20+ years and know that the actual difference in manufacturing cost between good and poorer quality is not that different. In fact with top quality manufacturing practices that prevent or eliminate reject parts up front it may actually be lower. The labor difference is probably <20% and similar materials costs are pretty much based on weight.

Unless someone can demonstrate that it costs 4 or 5 times more to make a TM26 than a Supfire M6, and explain why, I will feel THAT AT MSRP the TM lights are overpriced. Note though that I have admitted that I do not own one which is why I asked the original question.

I will be able to compare shortly though as I have a TM26 with accessory handle and NBP52 battery on the way at the best prices I could find from USA sellers.

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What would be better is to save your money and put up a solar array yourself. When your monthly is 0 and your debt free- then you can buy the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsEz1mIDMFM

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Tm lights are priced way too high.

They are very nice, but IMO still overpriced.

$499 for the tm36? yeah right… pm a chinese seller and you can get one for $349

I paid $99 for my tm11… retail was somewhere around 260

the tm26 can also be had for around $180 if you know where to look and who to message.

MAP? what map?…. cool story bro.

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I don't understand why you're ignoring the cost of development.

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I did not say that I cannot afford the tariff. What I said was that it appears to me that the TMs are overpriced. Even compared to other name brands with close to comparable outputs they seem high to me. The Thrunite TN30 is now $130 direct from the USA distributor and the Olight SR Mini I found for as low as $110 from HK and $150 seems to be the common USA web street price.

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I paid $195 for my TM26. While still expensive, it's definitely several cuts above the SRK type flashlights out there in quality. That said, I never would have purchased one at anywhere near it's list price.

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leaftye;

Spread over a reasonable number produced the development costs should be relatively minor per unit. If not then their sales of a given model must be Pretty P—s Poor. And why should the cost of development of the TM11 or TM 15 be more than any other light? The only thing exceptional is their number of modes. The TM26 might be more with its internal charging and the OLED readout but flashlight engineering is hardly nuclear physics!

As I mentioned earlier in post 4 I worked in QA engineering and reliability testing in a electromechanical manufacturing environment for 20+ years in silicon valley so am very familiar with manufacturing and the costs involved. Considering Chinese labor costs and comparing the TMs with other name brand lights mentioned in my last post it still appears to me like both the list and average street prices are high, maybe not compared to Surefire but compared to most other Chinese lights.

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Your experience is why I'm curious about that. The M6 is really just a new body. They did little to no development on the driver. The shared drivers is a big part of why so many chinese lights are as cheap as they are. Also, the lens doesn't even have an antireflective coating and the box is plain.

In your example of the TN30, as you said, manufacturing is not going to have a huge difference in those costs. Where Supbeam Acebeam benefits is that it can reuse their design and drivers in the TN30, TN31, TN32, TN35, K40, K40M, K50. The X40 and X60 and X60M drivers may share core driver technology too. We also see better prices from Acebeam because they're willing to work closely with enthusiasts to give us huge savings from normal retail pricing, which I can't imagine Nitecore doing at all.

Then there's brand value. They make a wide range of lights to suit many needs, which means there's many types of customers that can recommend their products, including vapers that would only use their chargers and batteries. Nitecore actually has a relationship with their vendors. Their official vendors provide warranty support, and either those vendors or Nitecore sends their gear out for testing. Maybe not the friendliest relationship, but it's better than Supfire. From what others have posted before in group buys, dealing with Supfire is a lottery, and not a good one. It's like they're all bipolar. There's no warranty to speak of, and I don't believe they've sent out anything for review. A strong brand is worth paying more for, and people will pay that for Nitecore, but the Supfire brand is worth very little. If Supfire went out of business before the end of the year, it wouldn't surprise me at all, but I fully expect Nitecore to be around in three years.

Whether they're overpriced really depends on how much Nitecore is making, but I doubt that's what you really meant. You probably meant the value to people like you. If what you care about if lumens, lux and nice mode spacing, then no, it's not worth it. If you a light that is nice to show off because it has a few features that other lights don't, and possibly higher quality, then it might be worth it.

Would I buy the TM26? Not a chance. Not even at $100 unless my plan was to sell it. That's not because the light doesn't have value, but because what makes that light special isn't valuable to me. I don't care about the screen, or the warranty, brand equity, better surface finish or fancy box.

I definitely wouldn't buy the M6 at $100 either. It's an unfinished light. To be worth $100 it needs new emitters, mcpcbs, driver, spring wire mods, and a lens with antireflective coating....and a box with fancy printing if I was going to sell it to regular people.

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There is much more to product pricing than production cost x markup.

Nitecore is a premium flashlight manufacturer. You get
-excellent build quality
-product reliability.
-a proper warranty
-a quality light for any size, purpose, and budget
-a manufacturer who innovates (Nitecore Sens eg)
-manufacturer who releases new products often
-advanced electronics with thermal protection, internal charging etc

If you think of the build costs between Apple products and their rivals, they wouldn’t be too different. But Apple products have a remarkably better design, interface, and support and operating system. The product cost goes completely beyond manufacturing cost.

The modified M6 is a bright light yes but you’re only comparing production cost and lumens output ratio. That’s a poor comparison.

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The M6 stock driver and UI is why I mentioned the RMM version which is improved in multiple areas and even with the USA installed parts it sells for far less than the TM15 or TM26. If you have not tried a level two modified RMM M6 don’t knock it as it has everything leaftye mentioned except the coated lens I believe. In fact even the stock version RMM offers has XM-L2 emitters while the modified option two version has the same LEDs mounted on copper Noctigons in the customers choice of color temperatures. And how many even so called premium Chinese lights at any price have braided battery springs stock? The level two RMM version does.

Ignoring the budget lights though why should the TM lights sell for so much more than the Olight and Thrunite lights I mentioned in post 8 above. Those are both name brands with USA distribution too and so far as I know both are considered to be “premium” brands, particularly Olight.

As for Nitecore vendors providing warranty support, for how long? Per threads on CPF when Nitecore is contacted for warranty work the customer is directed to mail the item to China and there are several horror stories posted on CPF about the experience. Dealers typically do not want to hear about problems after 30 to 60 days. Actually warranty service seems to me to be the biggest weakness of ALL Chinese flashlight makers based on posts I have read.

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I am not sure why a company needs to be cheaper than another company just because it is Chinese?
Their work is as good or better than most US companies which all manufacture in China, not Maglite ( outdated), but serious flashlight manufacturers, Eagletac, 4sevens, etc.
It is their free will to ask what price they want, and that is why there a re lots of companies at various prices.
Americans whine all day about Chinese currency and labor being highly underpaid which is undermining their economy. Now a company does not do that and the employers ( we can assume at least the dozens of people working in the offices) are getting paid close to their US counterparts at the best, as the local distributors make a lot of money not Nitecore makes all that money you pay for. Giving the distributor a larger part of the MAP is their way of encouraging distribution and lots of purchases around the world. Other companies cannot do that and then you see products like Ultrafire, Convoy ,etc that are sold locally at higher prices than in the Chinese online stores. Of course at that point the seller will be considered not a good one since "i can buy it from China cheaper" There is a balance here if you can see it, weather the prices are correctly balance or not, there is a balance.