I wish someone would make a fake Convoy L2 since Convoy in their infinite wisdom decided to quit making it. I just hope that the fake Convoy L2 came with a XHP friendly reflector.
Now that I think of it, aren’t Convoy flashlights just an OEM made light that they just slap their name on? Convoy X3 “(XINTD X3)”:https://www.fasttech.com/product/1603902-xintd-x3-1-cree-xm-l2-ld-25-4-mode-1000lm-nature, Convoy L4 “(CNQ001675)”:http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1675, ect.
Did he mention if they were selling fake S2+ or just the C8’s? Has me a bit concerned now. My first S2+ was direct from Simon (7135*3). I ordered this S2+ from BG back on the 15th of this month since it was a good price (with the BLF CC) and it was 7135*4 (I wanted to compare it to the *3 version. Like Jref3 above, I’ve also ordered that red S2+ from GB a couple of days afterwards since they were on sale for $12.99 and gave me the opportunity to compare the *8 with others.
well I was primarily interested in C8 so it didn’t cross my mind to ask about other models but I presume that most selling models are first to be copied, S2+ seems like a good candidate 
but it’s just an assumption
Thank you. Anything in particular to look for? I thought about shooting Simon a pm but see he hasn’t been active for over two months.
When I made my order on FT the S2 said in stock. then suddenly it was out of stock. Then it said ships 27. Then it said in stock again. Now it says ships 30. And the C8 says ships 30 too so they may be getting the new C8 version too.
You can contact Simon at his shop. He is listed to the left a bit down.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/330416
BTW, anyone ordered from Aliexpress before? They don’t seem to accept Paypal so you would have to give out your Visa I guess. If it’s a trusted service I have no problem doing that though. Paypal would be better but if not possible Visa direct will have to do.
I have a few times now. I have an order on the way now. I just PM Simon through Aliexpress and he gets back to me within about a day or so. We usually go back and forth a few times about the details and he gives me the final amount. I always use the ePacket shipping and he either discounts the customizations or makes the shipping free. The last order I requested the ePacket shipping which was about $8 total but when I PM’d him he said “shipping is free if you use ePacket” It didn’t make any sense to me (Maybe Simon owns ePacket shipping???). l don’t know why it all works out but he adjusted the price on my Ali order just as he said he would. Then I just send the money through PayPal and include the order details and my shipping info. It’s a little unconventional but it works and I never have to give out my personal credit card info. He comes through with a tracking number within a few days and I get my orders in the typical 15-20 days that he estimates. I was nervous the first time I did it but I took the leap based on his reputation here. He did not disappoint. My first order was customized exactly the way I asked him to and arrived in exactly 15 days. For that reason I have 5 more lights on the way directly from Simon. :bigsmile:
Yep, been an ali buyer for many years, never had any problem using my credit card with their payment system. Don’t worry it’s not “Visa direct” They have an “Escrow” system that holds the payment until you confirm delivery.
It’s kind of like their own version of paypal:
“The Escrow service on AliExpress is powered by Alipay.com, a leading third-party online payment platform from the Alibaba Group. Escrow allows you to pay securely online without exposing your credit card details. You can also track delivery of your order and payment is only released to the supplier after you confirm you’ve received the order”
http://escrow.aliexpress.com/escrow-features/what-is-escrow.html
So if you never receive the item payment doesn’t go through.
They also have pretty good buyer protection for issues such as item not as described/DOA/poor quality, Etc. I’ve had to open a couple disputes over the years because the item wasn’t as described or was poor quality.
http://activities.aliexpress.com/adcms/www-aliexpress-com/buyerprotection/index.php
I always got a good (partial) refund I was happy with. One time they gave me choice of sending a 2nd different item for free instead of partial refund.
But beware there are some shaky sellers who pull bait & switch and send you different item than pictured. Convoy / Simon is reputable so you don’t need to worry there.
I have bought from Aliexpress. I use a MasterCard Debit card so if the money is not in the account the transaction should get rejected - that’s my theory anyway !
I only top up the account when I am ready to pay Aliexpress.
Looking at Ali searching for “Convoy” finds — oooooee.
It’s the notorious $0.98 “3W Police” flashlight.
and on the other extreme, a titanium S2+
i agree with Hank.
I think sellers should be penalized for abusing the brand “Convoy” in any of their listings. Had an eBay voucher and was looking for the real deal. But I was shocked how many items had the keyword convoy in their listing…
I think a lot of English words — “Convoy” and “CREE” and “BLF” for example — all translate into Chinese as “Print This On Anything And English Speakers Will Buy It”
That’s about right. It’s a China based site so just like the manufacturing laws in their country… oh wait… there are none. The only thing I can tell people is to buy directly from Simon’s Aliexpress store. Even Aliexpress has many Convoy clones/copies/junk. He works very hard and produces excellent products and has to fight to maintain his reputation since the Chinese government has no respect for entrepreneurs or small businesspeople. He struggles to protect anything he creates and even his company name and the government there could care less. Sad but true. I try to help where I can. If you don’t buy directly from him it’s a gamble. If you’re in the US you can buy from Mountain Electronics and everything there is legit. Fasttech was reliable for genuine Convoy products in the past but I haven’t bought from them in over a year and a half.
His company name is Shenzhen Convoy Electronics Co., Ltd.
This is the link to his store http://www.aliexpress.com/store/330416
I just got some drivers from simon —no problems— I paid an extra $2 for the faster delivery and it came right at 2wks. I’m only comfortable with RMM at mtn electronics and simon’s convoy store on aliexpress. I’m currently waiting on some wallet ninja’s from simon lol