 Further to some drivel I posted the other day - Over the past few months I've bought a few small items from ebay traders in Hong Kong / China. The latest - a 'military type' compass cost just 1p + 2.99 p&p. I didn't really expect to get it, but it turned up fairly quickly and is in fact a good usable compass. Much better than the toy I thought it might be. What I wanted to test was whether or not the cheap Chinese goods are any good, and how reliable the traders are. Why - because I'm tempted by the ridiculously cheap down sleeping bags, not to mention other walking and camping goodies. Has anyone dipped a toe in Chinese waters? - any anecdotal evidence welcome. What puts me off are the fake posters on here from time to time who blatently plug goods and/or websites. If the Chinese suppliers are reliable these spammers do them no good at all.
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Have a look around your house and possesions and see how much you can find that isn't made in china.
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 i've bought some not cheap and cheap items from china too and have nothing but praise for those companies i dealt with. i always received stuff i've bought from ebay - even the 50p items. with the proliferation of traders though i am more cautious now. pehaps unecessarily so as i only buy non-fashion practical stuff. i'm not sure anyone's experience will help your decision as i always tend to take a pot luck approach.
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Your Grace - and all sold through well known European traders, my Karrimor stuff still has a psuedo union jack, even though it's made by Kowloon schoolchildren surrounded by polluted industrial waste. If enough trade cuts out the European front doors and deals directly maybe standards will improve. Perky - thanks: so mostly good experience? I don't suppose you'd like to order a sleeping bag and report back?
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lol. nice try... but if you have a link...?
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I think a lot of quality issues stem from who orders the stuff to be made,if you have a well known and respected name then the quality control will be carefully monitored and maintained.On the other hand if it is a cheap fly by night company who just want to make a fast buck then the quality will be of a lesser standard.
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Interesting, Wozzle. Which markets are these you buy in? And re the trews made back to front - are you quite sure you were not baffled by looking in the mirror? Or that you weren't standing the wrong way round when you stepped in to them? It sounds most intriguing. No links, Parky, wouldn't want you to think I was a Yellow Spammer!
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| Edited: 09/06/11 14:57 |
A while ago I bought a laptop battery from a Hong Kong supplier, off eBay. It was made in the same factory as the genuine manufacturer's battery and was about half the price. When it turned up half the cells were dead. However, the supplier offered to replace it immediately. The only downside was sending the original back to somewhere in China and waiting 2 weeks for a replacement. However, the replacement battery has been working fine.
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| Edited: 09/06/11 15:41 |
I nearly always get the kids football kits from China,quality has always been excellent and there under £10 instead of anythink upto £80 at home.My last order was my largest to date,8 kits for a touch over the cost of one in vogue one from home.Bargain!
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IME, trousers depend on the intended market.....european and american(!) trousers have to accomodate our fat @rses. as far as other stuff...ordered :
a) a miniature vice that looked the same as more expensive ones & it was fine b) a weird tooth stain cleaning brush. several of the tips were discoloured/contaminate. just as well i was cleaning watches with it! c) a LED lantern. again, same picture as a lot of other more expensive ones. battery compartment screws missing, some plastic bits broken. had to be glued. all took a while to arrive, but no worse than some other UK/european shops. So maybe you really do get what you pay for and the very cheapest stuff is not as rigorously quality controlled, or is the 'rejects, but usable' pile? I got the stuff out of curiosity more than anything. I don't think i'd 'buy unseen' anything important.
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 Dont buy any Petzl branded products from China. They are fake and, er.....cause accidents 
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I have bought a down sleeping bag from China and it was on Ebay (I have bought several items from China, they arrive pretty well fast enough, if there are any delays they let me know, I have had worse sellers in the UK, who take longer to send stuff  In fact some stuff has arrived from China before stuff from Scotland The sleeping bag was very good, seemed to be double stitched, and it was sort of cross stitched to stop the down bunching up, the zip could be accessed both inside and out, it came with a 'stuff sack' which wasnt in the ad  I have bought several pairs of cargo trousers and shorts from a seller, after the first lot got held up by Customs, they sent out a replacement, they arrived in 10 days, the feel of them and the quality was really good (a lot better than some of these I can buy over here, certainly better than NEXT or Timberlands or the crappy things from Matalan) I am happy with some of the stuff I have bought from China, the ipod earphones you have to watch out for, they can be snides and sound terrible I would recommend the down sleeping bag and cargo trousers/shorts, though Anyone want a link ?
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| Edited: 29/07/11 13:15 |
 Hi Grumps,
I bought a remote canister stove last month for about 15quid.
I haven't used it in the field yet but it worked fine at home, it even came in a red plastic box similar to what comes with the pocket rocket.
Cheers,
Stephen
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 I've bought some things from Chinese web sites, (only through ebay, with a 'good' rating). They have been as good, if not better and a lot cheaper, than the same thing I could buy in UK, even with postage factored in. Last thing I bought was a MP3/4 player, (1p, £3 p&p). It arrived in 4 days! Faster than stuff I've bought of UK companies!! It has more features than one I bought in UK about 8 mths ago for £60! Dropped it and smashed I pretty sure that if things wern't legit. ebay would soon 'drop' them if they got complaints. Maybe I've had good luck with things I've bought, but any of the items I've bought have worked as I wanted. I would never buy of the posts that sometimes appear on here!!!!! Paul.
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Just bought some spare tent poles from China through EBAY. Fantastic quality and fast shipping.very polite messages sent via email.
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 I have a mate who sells all manner of fake goods on ebay that he imports from China - from perfume to expensive sunglasses. He's never had one complaint and I'll be blowed if I can tell the difference with most items, even when they're side by side with an original.
he never has any trouble with the people he trades with - things turn up quickly, in the right amounts and almost always are tradeable.
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 Good luck to people using fake Chinese perfume - see you down the skin cancer ward in a decade's time, unless your superpower happens to be spectrographic analysis through your eyes.
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Quite agree on that Mr Wick - whilst they smell the same and feel the same, not something I'd wanna buy for someone. I was rather making the point that the chinese traders he deals with are pretty professional in their dealings, even those who sell fakes.
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I have a mate who sells all manner of fake goods on ebay that he imports from China - from perfume to expensive sunglasses. He's never had one complaint and I'll be blowed if I can tell the difference with most items, even when they're side by side with an original. he never has any trouble with the people he trades with - things turn up quickly, in the right amounts and almost always are tradeable.
Always "a mate"? Eah Kelvin
BTW. How's knee? Slowly getting a bit of strenght back in mine. Haven't been over 3mls cross 'rough ground' and even that hurt like FECK!!!!!!!
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Makes a change for me not to be the 'mate' someone knows Just take it as slowly as you need to Paul. My knee is just grand. Stuffed inside but not holding me back now. Tore all the ankle to bits about 4 weeks back tho, lots of expensive physio later and it's getting there. Gonna do the Welsh 3000s again at the end of September all being well.
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