Ever buy anything direct from China?

herr_oberst · 07-09-2013, 07:27 PM

Ordered a powerbook charger from an ebay vendor. It was here in a week. From mainland China. Through customs and to my doorstep in one week. Works just fine.

Quality is less than factory original but it works, and for 22 bucks (shipping included) as opposed to 90 from Apple, and a trip to the frigging genius bar.

I've gotten a few other things direct from China (like avid disc brakes for my bike) and I gotta tell you, there is a new paradigm in vending on the web, the middleman is gonna get sqwozed out.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Yep, all the time. Working on some big orders soon.

EarlyPorsche · 07-09-2013, 08:33 PM

I've had mixed result but mainly negative I believe. The quality of direct from china items have been worse than what is sold here made in china. If you could even believe it could be worse...

Baz · Baz's Garage

I have but only when the pricing from domestic breaches my pain threshold.

BTW - an east way to find a domestic seller on a particular item is to sort by "location - closest to".

rusnak · 07-09-2013, 08:48 PM

I have bought items by the thousands from Chinese manufacturers. You have to know someone over there or you might get screwed.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

When I was smoking, I always ordered online from China. A carton ran about $23 delivered, though it was about $5 in China. I order from China all the time through eBay. Never had a problem.

Jim Bremner · 07-09-2013, 09:07 PM

One day when you wonder what happened to your favorite shop and the people that used to work there....

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Let's see, my favorite shops:

Scottsdale Gun Club
BMW Motorcycles of Scottsdale
Guitar Center
Total Wine

Nope, not worried about anything or anyone in China putting these guys out of business.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

I had a friend who was importing coffins from China. Everything went fine for a while, until he got a container full that were just the outer box, no liner or upholstery inside. The manufacturer was gone - disappeared. This guy is not a quitter. He started a broker business connecting buyers with Chinese manufacturers and making sure this kind of thing doesn't happen to others.

shadowjack1 · shadowjack1's Garage

I try to buy American. But if I want stuff from China I just go to Walmart. This should be in green.

intakexhaust · intakexhaust's Garage

Lately, yes. I'm blown away how LOW the cost are for 'high-end' bike parts often with FREE shipping. Better yet, use a browser with auto translate and contact them direct. Almost all will package deal and lower the cost. You can buy titanium screws including shipping for less cost than steel ones from a local ACE Hardware! Screwy nutz.

If I sell to someone there, the shipping cost from the USA is absurdly high. So how do they get the shipping cost so low?

creaturecat · 07-10-2013, 08:34 AM

Canadian example: why would i pay 20 for something in the US, pay 25 to get it shipped, when i can buy the exact same chinese-made product for 12, with free delivery, to my door?
Oh, the Chinese order comes in 5-6 days. the US order takes 2-3 weeks, (with the customs protocol) and may get nailed with another 20 added on for "brokerage" fees, if sent ups/fedex.
As much as 60 bucks vs 12. What's that, roughly 500% more?
This is an actual example. 4 ceramic h4 connectors. I purchased 2 from the US, 2 from China. EXACT same part.

creaturecat · 07-10-2013, 08:40 AM

Don't get me started on US manufacturers that will not allow shipping to Canada, to allow the Canadian oligopoly system to take FULL advantage.
recent example : Wasabi power charger for go-pro. 28 in the US. 48 in Canada. No shipping to Canada.

mgatepi · 07-10-2013, 12:06 PM

We buy from China daily. Mostly tooling and related. Orders as low as $25 to as high as $1,000,000. To make it all work takes a lot of time, purchase standards, and management muscle. Add to it 10 years of experience and getting screwed a lot at first. I also have a Chinese national on the payroll.
You can quickly screen out the good from the bad.

rusnak · 07-10-2013, 02:52 PM

Hmm....well, unless you know someone inside the Chinese gvt, then having a Chinese national would only get you a good translator.

I ordered some stuff last year, and the manufacturer was either going to screw me over, or was very slow. I emailed my friend over there who is actually pretty highly connected, and within 10 hours I got a phone call from the factory, and my stuff was on the next Fed Ex plane out. I didn't even pay for Fed Ex, haha! Whatever they did, they must have threateded to string the guy up by his nutsack.

Oh yeah one more thing. A good customs broker is worth his weight in gold.

mgatepi · 07-11-2013, 05:12 AM

Rusnak.....1 experience with buying in China??? Pretty strong opinion....

Still looking for that good customs broker.

gt350mike · 07-11-2013, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

One day when you wonder what happened to your favorite shop and the people that used to work there....

And that is exactly why I left the electronics industry 5 years ago because the majority of the contract manufacturing has moved to China. Most of the major players in the southeast have either closed their doors or have managed to stay in business by manufacturing high-density, low volume printed circuit boards. The perfect example is the Battery Tender I bought yesterday. I remember back in the 90's the company that designed BT was out of Nashville and was built in the U.S., but now everything is made in China.

As far as Walmart is concerned, I challenge you to find anything that isn't made in China.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by gt350mike

As far as Walmart is concerned, I challenge you to find anything that isn't made in China.

I don't think anything I buy at WM is made in China. I go there for groceries sometimes, ammo, motor oil, beer. I don't think any of it is made in China. I guess the socks and underwear I buy once a year or two is made in Vietnam or Indonesia.

gt350mike · 07-11-2013, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I don't think anything I buy at WM is made in China. I go there for groceries sometimes, ammo, motor oil, beer. I don't think any of it is made in China. I guess the socks and underwear I buy once a year or two is made in Vietnam or Indonesia.

You got me flat-footed on that one, I stand corrected.

Back to my rant.....BESIDES beer, oil, and ammo, it's made in China!