Buying tools from china

[Jozf]

Having dealt with chinese factories for several years I thought I'd take a punt and buy myself a drum sander which is very similar to a well know UK brands version bar the paint job and the price tag, I paid 1700 for this and that was including all taxes and delivery to my door, they also chucked in several roll of different grit sandpapers. Having unboxed and tested the machine it works spot on and the build quality if very good. Next mission is to find a bandsaw.

 

[Bingy man]

Nice- can’t speak for such a large machine as that but I’ve purchased several smaller machines ( drill -pressure tester - and a chain hoist etc ) no problems with any , like you say a massive price difference free or cheap shipping . I’ve also taken a chance at some of the Chinese copies of the more well known USA brand and tbch I can’t complain and it leaves money over for other tools // equipment ..

 

[johnnyb]

Wow that's impressive. Shows how easy these transactions can be. Also how much margin axminster et al are making.

 

[Inspector]

What selling website are you using or do you know which companies to deal with directly?

Pete

 

[johnnyb]

Can you tell us anymore?

 

[sometimewoodworker]

While I haven’t sourced my bigger tools direct from China yet I bought a metal cutting saw that is remarkably similar to ones directly purchased it cost ฿11,780 or £270


I’ve bought M42 blades for my current Inca saw for ฿331 or £7.5 including shipping from AliExpress

Since TuffSaws will no longer ship outside the U.K. I had to find a different supplier and it turned out that AliExpress has the same quality at less than half the price including delivery.

i have been buying a lot from AliExpress and while you must be careful of the exact store since it is an aggregation site the service is excellent and I have only had a very few faulty deliveries (probably less than 0.5%) all have been very quickly resolved

 

[Jozf]

What selling website are you using or do you know which companies to deal with directly?

Pete

I brought through alibaba, company name and details and in the image.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I bought a 2MT revolving centre from Banggood which turned up with three "noses" and two duplicates instead of five different ones. Despite the photographs, for some reason best known to themselves they asked me for measurements of the duplicate parts. I pointed out as they already had the photos there was no point in asking for measurements, and that as they manufactured them they they knew the measurements anyway. They replied with their message repeated. As my daughter had bought them as a present it was she who was attempting to sort it out and I told her to leave it go, it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[Spectric]

Buying any of these asian manufactured goods is always russian roulette, you only have to look at the reviews left by others to get a feel for the quality and functionality. It is a real shame because many of the designs are good, but poorly manufactured.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

The low esteem in which Chinese goods are held is IMHO largely unjustified.

In manufacturing and engineering they are overall the equal of anything Europe and the US has to offer - a space program, military capability, vehicle technology, consumer electronics etc etc etc.

If folk buy goods based largely on price, there will inevitably be compromises in the quality of the product to minimise cost - in materials, precision, quality control etc. The same would be true if buying cheap machinery from Coventry, Detroit, or Frankfurt.

What differentiates the Chinese (compared to US and Europe) is distance, language, culture and complaint resolution, all of which can combine to increase the risk of dissatisfaction.

 

[Spectric]

In manufacturing and engineering they are overall the equal of anything Europe and the US has to offer

Their engineering ability is as you say very good and to high standards but there is a big difference between capability and what is actually delivered. This is our fault because we have a big problem when it comes to recognising quality and accepting that it comes at a cost. If we buy only based on price then as we all you know, you only get what you pay for. We can also lay some blame on our retailers, they are buying in from asia and setting there prices on profit margins, again because they can sell it on to customers then they have no need to improve quality or to iron out the problems we often have to resolve ourselves.

 

[Adam W.]

The low esteem in which Chinese goods are held is IMHO largely unjustified.

In manufacturing and engineering they are overall the equal of anything Europe and the US has to offer - a space program, military capability, vehicle technology, consumer electronics etc etc etc.

If folk buy goods based largely on price, there will inevitably be compromises in the quality of the product to minimise cost - in materials, precision, quality control etc. The same would be true if buying cheap machinery from Coventry, Detroit, or Frankfurt.

What differentiates the Chinese (compared to US and Europe) is distance, language, culture and complaint resolution, all of which can combine to increase the risk of dissatisfaction.

Possibly, but quite a few people are concerned with China's human rights record, particularly their annexing of Tibet.

 

[Rhossydd]

Shows how easy these transactions can be. Also how much margin axminster et al are making.

You really can't have much of an idea of what profit Axminster are making on this. You'd need to know their finance costs, storage costs, how much their showrooms cost to run, whether the machine is exactly the same or how much adaptation Axi have to make/specify to conform to UK trading laws, plus the costs of being able to offer a three year warranty.

Buying small cheap bits that don't have many parts to fail is relatively risk free. Buying big machines with lots of bits that can fail has a very different level of risk.

 

[Sangy]

Having dealt with chinese factories for several years I thought I'd take a punt and buy myself a drum sander which is very similar to a well know UK brands version bar the paint job and the price tag, I paid 1700 for this and that was including all taxes and delivery to my door, they also chucked in several roll of different grit sandpapers. Having unboxed and tested the machine it works spot on and the build quality if very good. Next mission is to find a bandsaw.
View attachment 170018

Can you please post details of where you got it and spec please

 

[ade99]

Can you please post details of where you got it and spec please

He does in post #7 (above)... from Alibaba

 

[SimonV]

While I haven’t sourced my bigger tools direct from China yet I bought a metal cutting saw that is remarkably similar to ones directly purchased it cost ฿11,780 or £270
View attachment 170039

I’ve bought M42 blades for my current Inca saw for ฿331 or £7.5 including shipping from AliExpress
View attachment 170040
Since TuffSaws will no longer ship outside the U.K. I had to find a different supplier and it turned out that AliExpress has the same quality at less than half the price including delivery.

i have been buying a lot from AliExpress and while you must be careful of the exact store since it is an aggregation site the service is excellent and I have only had a very few faulty deliveries (probably less than 0.5%) all have been very quickly resolved

Being outside the UK also I would love to hear which AliExpress brand / supplier you can recommend for bandsaw blades.
Simon

 

[Blackswanwood]

Wow that's impressive. Shows how easy these transactions can be. Also how much margin axminster et al are making.

Possibly a measure of the gross margin (sales - cost of goods sold) but that's not really reflecting what they "make". They have the costs of retailing the product and a cursory glance at Axminster's accounts shows they are not a high margin business.

I'm not disputing it shows what savings can be made in buying direct if you know exactly what you want. Doing so does carry a degree of risk though i.e. enforcing a claim for a substandard product could be much more difficult than dealing with the likes of Axminster.

 

[Sangy]

He does in post #7 (above)... from Alibaba

Thanks

 

[Stuartgb100]

I use Banggood.com as a source.
HookedOnWood does a China Tools review which seems pretty accurate.
HTH.
Cheers.

 

[koomrat]

I've bought a few of the hooked on wood stuff. The squares are square and the sharpening jig made short work of the chisels my wife knackered (if being completely over the top). That was a completely ott purchase.

I have bought a lot of astronomy gear from AliExpress though.

The thing with the china stuff is that if it looks to good to be true, it probably is, but if it looks to be a bargain it'll be better than you expect.