Lighting LEDs direct from china

[Red eyed c]

Yeah ... reading through all of the various "go direct" threads.
Was just hoping to short cut [cheat] by bringing it all together, in a summary.
[a.k.a. being lazy]


Sorry for the vagueness.
Meaning ... I have read a couple of references to a co-op situation, or someone running the notion of "buying power" if we all grouped together ... but just wondering if this has ever been taken further, and a buying group has been established, or the collective force of the members been used for purchasing leverage with any of these manufacturers.
It's a great idea in theory ... just asking if its ever progressed from conception to inception.
Given how many of us appear to be searching for LED's, and how many individual approaches seem to have been made, and the willingness of the manufaturers to price competitively ... a group deal could be a mighty fine idea!

Lol there are manufacturers like bysen & cidly that members have bought from,and seem happy with there lights.1-2 have had fans fail on the bysen but its an easy fix for a few quid.these are the risks you take but for a cheaper price they are worth it to some people :smokebuds:
Right I see what you mean mate,buying more panels between a group for a cheaper price.well its not something we would recommend or allow to be discussed as it would involve the exchange of personnel details or money between members,that's a no no mate.:smokebuds:

 

[Yozhik]

Fair enough.



Weighing up Pros and Cons between Apollo 6 [Cidly] and MS0006 [Grow Northern]
Decisions, decisions, decisions ...

 

[SCARHOLE]

Fair enough.



Weighing up Pros and Cons between Apollo 6 [Cidly] and MS0006 [Grow Northern]
Decisions, decisions, decisions ...

Maybe we can help.
Compare.......

Light cost.
Lumens per watt.
Watts an Amps used.
Effincentcy of driver/ballast
Spectra chart.( PAR/IR/UV)
Warranty time.
Area covered by light.
Shipping cost.
Reputation of company and product.
Type of bulb, (Cree, bin # info. Ect)
Ease of repairing it your self.


Anything I forgot?

 

[Yozhik]

... and a partridge in a pear tree ...:list:

 

[sockpuppetdoug]

What SCARHOLE said...

I would also add that prices aren't necessarily fixed when you go to a manufacturer in China. For example, Cidly didn't communicate much with me at first. Don't know why but I made several inquiries without any reply. When they finally did get back to me it was from 3 different sales reps. They all quoted me slightly different prices. When I mentioned to one that I was looking at other options he immediately took $40 off each light. So there's some room for negotiation. Not only that but he insisted on a bank transfer. Not hard to do but my bank wanted to charge me $40 for an international transfer. When I mentioned this in lieu of credit card or PP, Cidly offered to split the cost which was another very nice gesture I thought. I wouldn't expect that to be the norm since they operate on volume and have pretty thin margins. But they will flex a little to get your business.

Also, my regarding the co-op. Be really careful about that. If lights aren't going to remain in one location then all your volume savings will get eaten up by second shipments. And then there's the warranty issue. If the lights are registered under one name and more than one owner needs service that could be a real mess.

I've got two Apollo 6's on order after waffling back and forth. I've seen at least four successful grow journals so I'm convinced they're solid. Plus it's a great deal right now. I'm currently sprouting under CFLs so I'll give the thread an update when I have the LEDs set up...

Good luck Yozhik!

SD

 

[Yozhik]

Cheers folks.
Some solid advice and reassuring words.



Not wanting to derail on a dead issue anyway ... but the "co-op" I would have had in mind would be a group buy rate, not a centralised delivery centre.
Akin to having a "promo code" when purchasing, to gain access to the collective discount.
No exchange of details between members required at all.
Each purchase is wholly independent, but collective in terms of buying leverage.

Anyway ... back to the research ... and thanks again for the support!

 

[SCARHOLE]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22106718

Phillips has a 200 lumen per watt led / flouro comming out in 2015!

 

[yodabuds]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22106718

Phillips has a 200 lumen per watt led / flouro comming out in 2015!

Sweet news! I'm sure that will be right around the time ill need to replace the LEDs I got now... Its only going to get better as time moves forward

 

[SCARHOLE]

Cree has broke the 200 lumen per watt already.

But I hear this is different.
Rumors are its UV leds inside a flouro, they light the phosphor inside the glass (Instead of mercury)
Using a flouro for remote phosphor is Wild.

I hope they can power it with induction for longevity, + 200 lumen per watt.
Amazing...

 

[bud head]

what light was it for $165

Yes it does. Cidly already got back to me. They said they can't tell me if the company I cited works with them or not due to confidentiality agreements. Hmmmm.... The good news is that they just chopped the price from $209 per light to $165 to keep my business. And I didn't even haggle with them! Crazy....