ePacket was never free for AU 
Related, my order from 26th March finally arrived on the 16th June, yay! 
(good old COVID black hole)
Free shipping? 
Let's take a look, for example, at the ∅17mm SST-40 4-modes linear driver sale advertisement:
- 1 piece costs a whopping $6.61, this already says enough.
- 2 pieces cost $9.38. The price difference between two and single unit orders is $9.38 - $6.61 = $2.77.
- 3 pieces cost $12.15. The price difference between three and two unit orders is $12.15 - $9.38 = $2.77 again.
- Between 3 and 4 pieces, $2.78; and between 4 and 5 pieces, $2.77 once more.
If we substract the cost of 5 pieces, $17.70, from the cost of a single one, $6.61, and divide that by 4, we get an actual average single piece driver cost without shipping: ($17.70 - $6.61) / 4 = $11.09 = $2.7725, as expected from above. This probably implies that the driver cost is probably set in CNY (renminbi), as most other stuff for sale in AliExpress.
Oh! Let's substract that (rounded up) single piece driver cost without shipping from the cost of one piece in Simon's advertisement: $6.61 - $2.77 = $3.84.
So there you have it, Mr caramba. Now tell me how can you call a $3.84 surcharge “free shipping”.
This is just an example, but now that I am here I'll also say that I've been observing some ridiculous, outrageous shipping cost quotes in AliExpress among many other sellers with already obvious, far from free quotes. Some sellers are having trouble with AliExpress, this is clear to me. But in any case I hope people stops believing nonsense and this is to go away.
This is the way you should believe for the love of God: shipping is affordable and inexpensive.
Very good points, Señor Barkuti. Definitely free shipping costs you, no matter what.
I was actually referring to a fact that right now, Simon is still able to take advantage of the subsidized rates from China to USPS. I saw a discussion about a major rate increase coming in July,
I was hoping to get a few Convoys in a few months but if the shipping increases considerably, I might have to bite now.
If I understood the rate increase is a result of a “tariff war”
Eh at least it didn’t end up washing up some where along the central coast lol.
Shipping that’s free is never free. You pay for it somehow, some way always. I worked as an account manager for a specialized paddle sports company that did a lot of mail order from Amazon and eBay. Here’s an example of why we HAD to charge shipping. This was back in 2013, mind you. For a pair of decent diving gloves from Stohlquist, our cost is like $10-12. We sell for $25. Shipping, the cheapest “fastest” we could get was USPS First Class-cost around $6.00 (with our business account). Total cost for the customer was $31. We lost $10-12 on gloves, minus packing materials ($0.20 or so), minus shipping $6, minus Amazon’s fees around $3 so we make a little on those. For a cheaper pair of gloves (like for kayaking) it’s murder. We made maybe $2 on those orders. For these Chimese companies their overhead must be lower. I usually pay extra for good shipping with Chinese stuff, but if I can get it from Mountain electronics for $3 more +$3.80 shipping, that’s fine with me I’llbuy from there.
The epacket logistics to the US has indeed had problems recently.
I started to switch to dedicated line logistics in the past two days
here are some tracking numbers
The logistics transportation time is 8-13 days, and the speed is very fast.
At present, the logistics time for sending goods to Australia using EPACKET is between 20-40 days. There is a line that is more expensive and can send batteries, about 10 days.
Good to know! Thanks Simon.
Thank you Simon,
Do you expect the Shipping rates to U.S.A. to increase starting in July 1, 2020?
Convoy’s model numbers might be confusing… I’ll just share what I know. I haven’t tried the Convoy 4X18A though.
M21A = same head size as C8/C8+ but using 21700 body
M21B = same head size as M1 but using 21700 body
M21C = this seems to be a new head size, it is bigger than the M3 but smaller than the L2/L21A.
(the M3 is slightly larger head diameter than the C8+/M21A, however the inner reflector size of the M3 seems to be nearly the same as the C8+/M21A)
(the L21A is the same head size as L2, except uses 21700 body)
So in terms of head size, from smaller to bigger: M1/M21B < C8+/M21A <= M3 < M21C/M26C < L2/L21A < L6
(the M26C is same head size as the M21C, but uses a 26650 body)
It’s a bit confusing if didn’t try to check the specs…
M3 and L6 are more flood with some throw (they use XHP70.2), the other uses XPL-Hi or SST40 (although the L2 comes in XHP50.2 floody variant)
I agree with the naming entropy.
This year was a big bang for Convoy and I believe Simon designed and produced more models than he had in his plans.
So those are 3 different flashlights: a C8 class, an M1 class, and something :???: new, all of them sharing the same main name, M21, which, to make things even worse, is already very similar to the name of another torch, the Convoy M2.
You tell me. As I see it, an awful mess. 
In my opinion, the main identifying or defining trait of a flashlight is its optical system or the head, which could also include additional room for electronics (driver, e-switch and etc.) or not and this should also be reflected in the name. The body diameter, though, is a minor thing which shouldn't have caused this mess and can be easily handled by a suffix:
- A C8 with 21700 tube? Call it C8-21. A C8-26 would by default be for ∅26mm cells, and the standard C8 could also be called C8-18.
- Concerning the M1, the same applies. M1-21, M1-18 or M1, etc.
- Concerning the M21C, I think it deserves a new moniker.
That’d be kewl, a sleek Star Tracky light called the Convoy Entropy…
Unno, but M-this and S-that gets repetitive. The way cars have kewl animal names like the Mustang, Cougar, Viper, Gremlin (okay, maybe not), why not give animal names to lights, to give them more “personality”?
A big honkin’ light like an L6 could be The Rhino. A “tactical” light could be The Mongoose. A sleek keychain light could be The Squid.
Something like that?
I will not go to increase the shipping cost, don’t worry.
There is no clear boundary for the M L model. 21 means use a 21700 flashlight. A, B…Z are just named in order.
C8 is an old model on the market, so it is retained.
Regarding model naming, I always think that the simpler the better, otherwise it will be difficult to remember.
At first, it was just expressed by the size and number,
T- tiny, for example T2
S-small S2 S3
M-middle, M1 M2 M3
L-large. L6
Z-zoomable
Later, netizens wanted to be able to easily distinguish which 21700 flashlights from the model name, so I added the number 21 to the model name, such as S21A, M21A, L21A, but because 21 is a number, so the last character of the model I use letters to indicate the order, A, B, C…
I just found the new Convoy Z1 on Taobao. LINK
It uses a SST40 led and a 21700 battery. The design looks great with the cooling rips, shiny tail switch and black interior.
The name resembles the Jaxman Z1 somehow. The CountryMan B1 is similar to the Convoy Z1.
That looks like a slick zoomie. I bet a xhp50.2 slides right in, plus driving it at 6A would be 2600 lumens with more potential if it has a 22mm driver (xhp70.2 with a boost). The 21700 cell gives good headroom too. For $19 US?
Nice find Skylight
BTW, when you say “The CountryMan B1 is similar to the Convoy Z1”, what do you mean by that?
The host is different, and I guess I’ve seen the B1 on AliExpress for a while now, while the Z1 seems a new design!
Claims of 2300 lumens? Same story as with the S21A, with severely overstated lumen output claims.
Tested SST-40 N4 bin emitters barely surpassed 2K lumens at 6A. Considering that the Convoy SST-40 linear drivers do not really reach the stated current output but a tiny bit less (this is irrelevant, though), and other flashlight inneficiencies which limit actual out the front light output, and that the reflector based S21A was measured 1770 lumens at startup and 1635 lumens at 30 seconds by Terry Oregon in his review, I can conclude lower lumen output figures for that Z1 flashlight even in flood. Considerably.
Geez! Do sellers think buyers are stupid? Not really trying to blame them, but the same could also be said about them otherwise.
Even when I bought my first zoomie many years ago, a Saik S9 claiming 400 lemons, I already knew that was a lie as its onboard XR-E could barely break 240 lumens at the maximum claimed driving current and optimal conditions. So probably 150 lumens in flood if lucky.
For the same reason, I could probably claim in excess of 200Km/h top speed for a tuk-tuk… down a sufficiently deep and steep cliff of course. 
P.S.: Z1? Well, now we have at least two flashlights with the same name from different brands… :facepalm:
No way 2300lm from a zoomie. You lose a lot of light when zoomed to flood. The higher bin sst40 is good for 2000-2200lm at about 7 or 8A drive current. Higher current needs significant heatsinking not available in most zoomies, plus lower led life (or death).