The problem with me going to HK is wife would want to come.
While I was saving a few bucks to get flashlight deals, she would be looking at pearls and gemstones and jewelry, telling what a great deal those items are...
Guess its better to wait for HK Mail to get the stuff here in a few weeks.
Oh, there's lots to do here. Just avoid summer, it gets up around 40 degrees c (105 F). Also, double-check the package hotel with ratings on, say, tripadvisor. A lot of hotels cater primarily to mainland chinese, so you'll find that service isn't what you'd expect. No english, even 'non-smoking' rooms are smoking, etc etc.
If you're willing to be more adventurous, it's a great starting point for hopping around asia in general. AirAsia is a great little discount airline that flies out to thailand and malaysia for really cheap, Macau makes a great day or overnight trip (if you do overnight, I recommend getting a package deal from the venetian to see 'the house of dancing waters'. it's a bit like cirque de soliel, but with one of the most impressive sets I've ever seen).
Hong Kong sounds memorable and these pictures have been awesome.
Foy
Thanks for the pics devman... This street is like wonderland!
Great pics and I bet it was a great experience...
I wonder why "high end" flashlights like that aren't sold in my country.
We have a similar "consumption culture" (??) to the USA, and prices here tend to be higher (nominally and in terms of PPP) but people still buy tons of stuff they don't need just because it's flashy and new.
Maybe I should start a flashlight store... hmm...
Why?
Easy:
Import taxes and duties, cost of shop ownership, markup to survive having a decent stock, shipping prices are not freeshipping. Having to deal with every 5th item with dents or have to repair it yourself or eliminate directly and sell as used/defective. Then you should have enough markup to cover every 5th that comes under warranty after 8months for repairs...
Much easier to get a estabilished brand with proper QC and have a ton less issues...
Let's say you want an xxxxfire shop:
Make an order then wait 15days more till they managed to pack everything. Pay all the taxes and junk involved and start ispecting the goos.
A few hours later call your supplier and yell:
- I ordered 50 L2P black i got L2i silvers!!!
- 30 % of dopins either dont work or are wrong type and the labels are scratched
- 20% of all P60 hosts came pre-scratched with broken orings and with ratling lenses!
- 20 defective switches in total!
- 100x uf 2400 grey protected are unprotected!!
- i got the wrong 16340 batteries or wrapping
- Boxes are damaged beyond belief
Yeah, I knew there was a reason... :)
There are two shops in Czech Republic and three in Germany that sells Solarforce...
Rant time!
I wouldn't mind to open one but in my country the obnoxious taxes and the required 10000 certificates makes it impossible. I would probably get fined 10 times during the first month if i managed to import something. A single CE declaration of conformity is worth a few 1000 usd... In my country the strictness for import and sale of imported goods is unthinkable.
If by any chance a minor would stab someone with a non foyzel equipped L2 flashlight i (as seller) would risk jail time for sure. If a charger blew and burnt someone's house down or hurted anyone i would get a criminal record along with prison time if i don't have the CE declaration of conformity required which will shift the responsability to the manufacturer or the authorized distributor in question.
This is good as to prevent people to selling large quantities of potentially unsafe devices. But for the most part ruin most new business to have a start.
It's best to be an illegal in my country and sell good custom made stuff for those who can appreciate that and earn some pocket money rather to go the pro's route and open a business with. Way too much hassles and very little profit.
But that's my country... even Germany probably has less restrictions. (weapon mounts are forbidded i think along with pressure switches and mounting flashlight to firearms also i think).
Very often i come to the idea to leave my country and go to NZ for good. Aint gonna happen i'm afraid. USA don't appeal to me but looks rather nice for such business.
Brilliant post! I can't say that the question hadn't crossed my mind before, this is a good summary as to why it wouldn't work.
It seems that they *might* actually be genuinly numbered. If you order two close to gether you seem to get numbers that are close, with a bigger gap you get a bigger chnage of number.
In this country 500%. At least. I saw a 2.5" USB HDD enclosure on special offer in a store here for £40. The same item, delivered, from DX was £8.
Not for nothing did the scummiest (and tragically the best-selling, as in 6 million copies a day) newspaper we have* coin the name "Rip-off Britain". We have exactly no need of Asian scam artists, or Nigerian ones come to that. We have plenty of our own.
*Australia, will you please take Rupert Murdoch back and lose him in a desert somewhere, not to mention his even more obnoxious son James. Or perhaps the US can do an Osama on him. After all the Americans get Faux News from him.
And then there was the Bouncing Czech, AKA Robert Maxwell (proprietor of the second best selling and almost as scummy as the best seller) who "fell out" of his yacht, never to be seen again after being caught embezzling various pension funds that he controlled.
LOL Don, you're comparing someone who wants to buy lights in lots of 500 and resell them with Rupert Murdock and Robert Maxwell?
I personally don't see anything wrong with opening a storefront and charging more....I mean, that's what Walmart, Target, Sears, etc do. Not everyone can wait 5 weeks, plus buy un-seen merchandise from HK. I'd gladly pay $30 for a $15 light if I could walk in, touch it, try it out and walk out with it NOW.
I'm going to bet that they either number per batch (one style, off one assembly line for, say, a month) or just per style/revision. They can't have only sold 4-5000 of them! hell, foy alone...
"Hell , Foy alone..."
MUAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Truthfully , though , the dude does buy a lot of lights .
(We love ya man)
cannotgoonforeverFoy
Goes on the rant and saves me all the headache .. I feel much better now .. thanks for doing my daily rant for me ...
I'm sure they are per individual unit, no one has ever reported two of them with the same serial (and color).
Very cool to see all that stuff available in an open air market.
Imagine trying to walk by with a big wad of cash in your pocket?