# Buying LED lights via flee bay



## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

Just a word of caution to anybody buying LED lights and bulbs via flee-bay.

We recently bought some MR11 G4 24 LED spot light bulbs from Hong Kong at a fraction of the price that they are in the shops, in fact less than £1.00 each plus postage .

When I put them in and tested them I was pleased with the result but found that after they were on for less than half an hour the bulb seperated from the holder. 

It appears that they were held together with a product similar to the glue sticks I use in my glue gun.

I have to say the seller has refunded my money without any fuss.

But be warned, if the prices look too good to be true then they probably are


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## makems (Jul 26, 2010)

I also bought same bulbs - as you say less than a pound each.
I found that the two pins on each bulb were too long and too far apart.
Shortening the pins was easy and I used needle nose pliers to bend the pins so they were closer together.
Unfortunately the pins on three of the bulbs were soldered on rather poorly and snapped off when trying to bend them. 5 minutes with the soldering iron had them fixed and they are now all installed and working.
I just hope they last longer then a half hour each :x


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

I have bought quite a few different led bulbs, both 12v and 230v, fortunately they have all been fine.


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## tyreman1 (Apr 18, 2008)

In Ebays defence they didnt sell you the bulbs they just gave you the opportunity of shopping around with the safety of getting your money back through paypal,and led bubs for a quid !!! C'mon scatty you didnt really expect them to be much good did you ???.......i have to admit virtually everything i buy lately comes off the internet and most through ebay and 99% of the time i'm happy......my leds came off ebay but i really pushed the boat out and paid £2.50 each for them and they have been great.


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

We have been very lucky with all our bulbs then from china and ebay.
Brillopad also has bought me the strip of led lights and they are all around my Motorhome inside. Im well pleased with them -they came from ebay.
So a Public --Thanks dennis


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

Scattycat said:


> Just a word of caution to anybody buying LED lights and bulbs via flee-bay.
> 
> But be warned, if the prices look too good to be true then they probably are


I've purchased countless LED lights from eBay over the years and never had a problem. If a problem does arise or the item doesn't turn up the sellers have always refunded promptly, as was the case with you.

I don't think you could ask for better customer service for an item which probably made the seller 4p and was sent 5,000 miles across the world!

Some tips:

Always buy SMD LED's
Buy only 5050 (the brightest) or perhaps 3528 (half as bright)
As many LEDS per fitting as will fit
Warm White if you want a light similar to halogen

The LED strip lights are especially good, you can pick up remote control dimmer switches for under a fiver delivered or a set of colour changing lights and a dimmer remote for £7.


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## makems (Jul 26, 2010)

I didn't think there was any criticism of eBay itself. Just the usual warning that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is. Despite the issues with the bulbs I bought I will be delighted with the value for money.
Provided they last more than 30 minutes!


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## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

tyreman1 said:


> In Ebays defence they didnt sell you the bulbs they just gave you the opportunity of shopping around with the safety of getting your money back through paypal,and led bubs for a quid !!! C'mon scatty you didnt really expect them to be much good did you ???.......i have to admit virtually everything i buy lately comes off the internet and most through ebay and 99% of the time i'm happy......my leds came off ebay but i really pushed the boat out and paid £2.50 each for them and they have been great.


I don't recall blaming e-bay for the quality of the product.

. . . and yes, to be honest, no matter what the price of a product I buy I expect it to be fit for purpose. If you buy a car at a 20% discount would you expect it to be 20% less than perfect than if you'd payed full price? I doubt it.

I've bought loads of items, including other bulbs/lamps via e-bay with no problems regarding quality, it's just that these ones were badly made and as I said, all credit to the seller, they refunded my money without any quibbles.


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## Zepp (May 14, 2009)

My mate bought about 20 last year from China , £1 each and they are all still working its a case of paying your money and taking a chance on quality.

Hats off to the seller for refunding your cash.


Paul


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

Scattycat said:


> . . . and yes, to be honest, no matter what the price of a product I buy I expect it to be fit for purpose. If you buy a car at a 20% discount would you expect it to be 20% less than perfect than if you'd payed full price? I doubt it.


I'd say if I paid £1 for something including delivery rather than £10 in a shop or at a show it would be of an inferior quality, construction and life. I would take a chance on it and not kid myself I was getting 90% off the exact product (although, in reality, it probably IS the same!).

Sure, you need to check things like the sellers feedback, product photos, reviews and recommendations etc but I disagree with:

"But be warned, if the prices look too good to be true then they probably are"

I've had probably in excess of 100 bulbs @ £1 each and strips @ under £5 per meter from eBay, always picking the cheapest seller and always been happy with my purchase once I'd worked out what to look for


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Addie said:


> Scattycat said:
> 
> 
> > . . . and yes, to be honest, no matter what the price of a product I buy I expect it to be fit for purpose. If you buy a car at a 20% discount would you expect it to be 20% less than perfect than if you'd payed full price? I doubt it.
> ...


All this is is the old "Amstrad" quality control concept of just sending out EVERYTHING you make and refunding replacing the duff ones. The customer takes over quality control from the factory and that reduces costs immensely.


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## courty (Apr 25, 2012)

Got all mine off eBay and for the 1st time last month I got a duff one, got a refund but the UK seller was insisting it was my fault ?! Over 10 years I've got a score of just under 300 and I've probably had less than 10 items i've had to return. Must have saved vast amounts (admittedly on things I wouldn't have bought normally, lol) 

I love flee bay.. My best purchase is some Russian nuke bomb parts ! (don't ask..) 8O

Courty


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