worst case scenario is abandon ship :bigsmile:
their loss, I was saving up my money for 7G10 but now they can only get the middle finger, same goes for niwalker to…
Is SolarForce your only option? 
I can clearly hear the deafening silence of the MAP defenders.
I guess Niwalker didn’t want to sell many of their poorly regulated MT-G2 flashlights after all.
+1. This has got absolutely nothing to do with MAP.
When tatasal posted the so called “group buy”, I was interested, and contacted Bill, from Doingoutdoors. His reply slightly confused me - he stated that Niwalker had not confirmed that they would supply him with any lights, but that, “when available , we will announce on forum.” How he would do that when he is banned from here is another question.
So, any group buy announcement would seem to have been rather premature. :zipper_mouth_face:
Seems to me simply that Niwalker want to distribute their lights through their own dealer network. Not that unreasonable, imho.
You guys have a real valid point there.
I brought this idea of a GB to Bill (the same with what I did with the FF4 GB). My intention is again to give us flashlight enthusiasts good value-for-our-money deals. We are in constant contact with each other and I do the annoucement in the forums.
tatasal, you sound like blaming other BLF member who defended MAP. You should really think about it, why this GB draw so much attention from manufacturer to retailers. I have advised you before, don’t post the lowest price on public thread. Most brand don’t like it this way.
well can’t blame for it either,just like a moth that attract to light itself.
I might sound as if I am blaming the MAP defenders but I am not. If I did sound like that then I’m sorry. What I am against is this MAP policy. Please don’t forget FT has pulled out their Crelant and Fenix products because of that. Now if SWM will do the same, do you think you can buy the D40A for $49 under ‘normal’ circumstances?
That is why I said I wish FASTTECH build better relationship and trust with manufacturer. Just give the secret coupon code to us as we are loyal customer. Now we can’t buy better brand flashlight from FT. Many sellers do this secretly. Why FT must do it publicly and offended many manufacturers?
Reason why secret coupon codes, secret group buys and similar “secret” stuff will not work is that they will not stay as a secret to long, there will always be at least one stupid soul that will just have to brag about how there is excellent deal for X or Y flashlight for only 0.99$ @ this or that retailer, “just use ”secret” code: DIRTCHEAP”…
It’s just how people are, not thinking 5 minutes ahead. And then someone that just yesterday brought X flashlight for 70$ will hurry up to cancel his current order because he can now get it for 50$, word will spread and we all know that manufactures and especially MAP retailers don’t like when a word about better deal is spreading, this way or another.
Yeah, forum should be the place for us and for free information exchange but we all know that this is not the case.
Even if there were no “Commercial Sellers” part at this forum, there will always be someone that has an agreement with one or another retailer to provide “silent” advertising and information flow to that retailer in exchange for cheap or free stuff… That’s why coupon codes “just for us” will never work without manufacturers silent approval, because they are not actually secret, they are in fact public, not much different than explicitly displayed price on a product page…
Perhaps if we had a thread where we could subscribe to but nobody posts anything.
Rather when a deal shows up, someone would mass PM everyone subscribed instead of discussing on a public forum.
Or maybe a ‘deals/bargains’ private group conversation between the subscribed users. That way word won’t spread past whoever is subscribed (unless of course someone posts it outside that group).
We could make a google plus circle just for deals and bargains, but make it private to only approved people.
Just my 0.02c.
I think not posting price on public forum is secret enough. And when people ask for coupon and you think he deserve your help, tell him via PM.
All information is buried in threads in forums after seller posted their coupons. Now I can only remember FT coupon because I buy from them too often.
Well this is a shame. Regardless of the reason why the deal is being pulled.
What annoys me to no end though, is the lack of foresight on behalf of the manufacturers.
Putting 50 or 100 of however many lights out there, still at a profit, but as a deal to a community that buys repeatedly is just good marketing. How many reviews would it lead to? How much is positive feedback worth?
Does anyone know where I can get one that’s not from the EU or US? Thanks
So far none other than the US vendors. My, we could have had this light at exactly $54.99 less if this GB materialized. Now selling at $179.99!
there is one for sale on the cpf marketplace for $129 now lightly used
Yeah, I saw it posted there. I’m not sure I can live with its ‘imperfections’, as stated by the owner. Very nice price though.