Buying Lasers From Hong Kong Or China

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

Seen some very impressive lasers on Ebay from Hong Kong and Chins with some excellent feedback all with the 'CE' marking.

 

Has anyone bought one?

[superstardeejay 0]

I should think anyone who's bought a laser under a grand will have bought a chinese one!

 

 

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

Apart from Laserworld, i think they are German?

[wizard 0]

I imported one ( via e-bay ) albeit about 3 years ago and got hit for import duty so bear that in mind. Mine was an 80Mw jobby and has been great for the last 3 years. From memory it was about £100

[Norfolk DJ 0]

Apart from Laserworld, i think they are German?

 

 

Good point, has anyone else been hit by import duty?

[gadget 0]

Good point, has anyone else been hit by import duty?

 

I'd check with HMRC - There was talk about lifting the personal limit to 1K, although I think its still ridiculously low at about 15 (or maybe even a tenner!)...

 

Not only do you get stung for the VAT and import duty, but Royal Mail will automatically shove 5-6 quid on top of that for their "handling" fee (if it goes via them). Other couriers may charge quite a more

 

Cheers,

 

David

[superstardeejay 0]

Well Laserworld are (google says) Swiss. However they look just like all the other chinese stuff..and by Chinese I also include Taiwan and Korea

[vokf 0]

To quote a film;

Components. American components, Russian Components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!

lol

 

Personally, I'd let a distributor import for me, and buy from a dealer. Imagine the delays and problems you'll face when returning any faulty goods back to the original country?

Possibly not too bad if you have an account with a carrier, but otherwise a nightmare.

 

 

 

[superstardeejay 0]

You can get lucky with direct imports but I only take a punt (if it's from an unknown supplier) if it's a small enough value to either lose without too much heartache, or its something that can be guaranteed on a card or paypal etc.

 

The thing is, prices are getting so dear in the UK that even with carriage and import taxes and handling fees, it's often cheaper to import; and I know of some people who've imported a few; one to use and the rest as a source of spares.

 

 

 

 

[Norfolk DJ 0]

 

hmm maybe worth a punt if the seller has a good ebay rating?

[superstardeejay 0]

Well if you use paypal then it's pretty safe isnt it

[cfmjohn 0]

The only thing to be aware of, a lot of Chinese imports on things like lasers are not actually CE rated, they just put the logo on.

 

If they ever get caught/hassled by the CE people, the manufacturer just goes bust and re-appears under another name.

 

Just my £0.02

[norty303 0]

Yep, Laserworld's cheaper units are just chinese rebrands or OEM.

CE = 'Chinese Export' nothing more

 

There are some very good Chinese components coming out (Laserwave laser heads, Dragon Tiger scanners, etc), but you do still generally get what you pay for.

 

How much money you got to spend and what are you after?