Understood! I remember going to Shenzhen and Guangzhou 10 years ago and stumbled upon this huge market that only sells electronics. Alas I was too young to understand anything electronics wise at that time.
When I was getting my degree, one of my family friend that makes audio equipment in Guangzhou wants me to register their company here in the US as a LLC. They want to ship almost fully assembled equipment here to the US. Slap a few components and ship it back to China so they can sell it at a massive markup because 'assembled in the US'. Seems like a big hassle to do some shady stuff. 😀
When I was getting my degree, one of my family friend that makes audio equipment in Guangzhou wants me to register their company here in the US as a LLC. They want to ship almost fully assembled equipment here to the US. Slap a few components and ship it back to China so they can sell it at a massive markup because 'assembled in the US'. Seems like a big hassle to do some shady stuff. 😀
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Most of the stuff we talk about on these threads is sold by Taobao sellers I think, they don't have storefronts. If they did the price would be higher. Since delivery is fairly cheap in China (average 10rmb for small amp boards) ordering on Taobao and having them delivered to your hotel will beat searching for storefronts.
Exactly , that is what i am doing quite often , just using QQ messanger to chat with taobao sellers about price and delivery, you can also get most of the time a 10% discount with the sellers on taobao!
if i am not in china, few times i have negotiated very cheap shipment to Europe, for a part which cost bellow 20€, no need for a tracking number.
honkong post is then very cheap, instead of UPs or DHL ...
if i am not in china, few times i have negotiated very cheap shipment to Europe, for a part which cost bellow 20€, no need for a tracking number.
honkong post is then very cheap, instead of UPs or DHL ...
So you basically deal with a Taobao seller outside of TB? Similar to dealing with a EB seller outside of EB.
I do that too, have been buying parts from one Taobao seller outside of TB for the past few years.
I believe most (all?) Taobao sellers won't ship outside of China. But either way, you can get around the language and international shipping issues by using a Taobao agent (just web search "Taobao agent", there are dozens). These are literally middlemen that broker the deal for you. They buy on your behalf, then ship to you. Of course you pay for this service. I've done it a few times, and used the agent Taobao Ring. No problems, I'd use them again.
What I've found is that the broker commission isn't too bad, but shipping can be brutal. So be wary of that. It's been a while since I've purchased anything from Taobao, but last time I did, all the agents I looked at had more or less the same shipping charges. I don't know how it is that Chinese Ebay and Aliexpress sellers can offer free shipping, but the Taobao Agents can't get the same shipping deals. (Clearly the shipping isn't really "free", it's built into the price of the product, but some of this stuff is so cheap it's obvious the shipping cost has to be a fairly small percentage of the overall price.)
Understood!
Matt,
I see. I've looked at that a few times, did the money translations and stuff was sometimes more than on eBay so I didn't pursue it.
Interesting about the outside Taobao agents. Wouldn't there just have to be those? ha.
Ah... capitalism.
Mark
Matt,
I see. I've looked at that a few times, did the money translations and stuff was sometimes more than on eBay so I didn't pursue it.
Interesting about the outside Taobao agents. Wouldn't there just have to be those? ha.
Ah... capitalism.
Mark
I guess if the deal only involves small amounts of money, it is OK. I am thinking if the goods arrive broken or not as described or no show, there are absolutely no recourse.
These days, the price of many items on EBAY and TB are very similar. Many TB sellers are also EB sellers now. I personally will buy it on EB.
A few months ago, I ordered a 7498 board from EBAY. Same item is available on TB from many sellers at a little lower price. The board arrived with one of the inductor's shield broken. I sent the seller a picture and asked what can be done. The seller just refunded me without asking for anything
If you pay with Paypal and the item is defective you'll get a refund. If necessary Paypal can take the funds straight out of the vendor's bank account.
There has been at least one occasion where the goods haven't been quite as described - I returned them and my money was refunded. What's not to like? The seller knows my business is valuable, if he doesn't keep me happy I'll look elsewhere. So it stays win-win.
To answer your later question, no - I can't imagine a day when Alibaba group companies accept Paypal. They have their own payment system, Alipay. As far as I'm aware it has lower fees.
I am glad to hear that you have found some trustworthy sellers. I have been told too many horror stories even when shopping thru TB. I guess I am just being cautious when dealing over the internet with people that I absolutely know nothing about. Often times, it is not just the loss of money, but the delay in time that is frustrating.
I am sure there are plenty of less-than-scrupulous types on Taobao. For a start many try to lure you in with completely ficticious pricing, perhaps so that they show up first if you sort by lowest price first. So I've learned to avoid those. Then there are ones who advertise many other parts alongside the one you actually want and don't show a picture of the part you searched for nor anything similar. Those are just two of the tricks to be aware of.
Yes I would agree if the seller was cheating it would be the time wasted and the inconvenience that would matter more than the money.
Yes I would agree if the seller was cheating it would be the time wasted and the inconvenience that would matter more than the money.
Probably worth noting too that many of the TB and EB sellers are moving to Amazon now too. It is the most expensive there, usually almost 2x the price, but that's just the 2-day shipping being built into the price. So if you really can't wait that is an option, at least for US. Amazon customer service is great too if item is not quite right.
That said, my experience with EB has been the same as Lo Tse, the few times I was actually not happy with the device I contacted the seller and asked what could be done, then received a dull refund without having to return the item. Main downfall of EB is the wait for shipping.
That said, my experience with EB has been the same as Lo Tse, the few times I was actually not happy with the device I contacted the seller and asked what could be done, then received a dull refund without having to return the item. Main downfall of EB is the wait for shipping.
Just a fun video that makes me wonder why that "'3116"' chip can't drive 4 ohm? I tried with 26V PSU and 4 ohm without any heatsink and no problem???'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3PTPEfmRRw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3PTPEfmRRw
The guy in video gets instant shutdown, even with "no" power, just het load
edit: in a next video he mounted a heatpipe and gets 20W for 4 ohm and I believe with little more distortion also higher reading befor shutdown. Is it ripple? Lousy original bootstraps, distant gvdd capacitor ?
edit: in a next video he mounted a heatpipe and gets 20W for 4 ohm and I believe with little more distortion also higher reading befor shutdown. Is it ripple? Lousy original bootstraps, distant gvdd capacitor ?
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Maybe the bootstrap caps are non-optimal and/or the snubbers/ are faulty. For the first, if the bs caps are insufficient I expect high losses in the output FETs.
But this is just guessing.
But this is just guessing.
Well could be clue why some think it is a decent ampboard and why people like me conclude it is by far the worst standard ampboard they ever heard, zobelled 4 ohm "constant" speakers here. GVDD cap position made huge difference, so did bootstrap caps, yes removing GVDD cap from original position made NO difference at all, putting it back closer to chip made a huge difference. Still some doubt with me why these boards are so different from other 3116.