I was skeptical about using dealextreme as the prices seem too good too be true. I ordered 2 bike Cree bike flashlights that came with a mount for $24 total. It took 2 weeks from the day I ordered and I was surprised. They are pretty good quality & both worked 100%.

Bookmark this thread, come back in three months, and tell us if that is still the case.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...shlights/page6

I was gonna say "Oh yeah? Wait..."

OP, I hope those flashlights continue to serve you well. I have to say nearly all the rechargeable cells I purchased from DX have proven to be good deals.

I have not had the same good experience with their flashlights. I bought 4 lights from DX three years ago. One worked as described and still works today, bought in my first small "test" order. For my larger second order, they sent me one dead light and one that worked half-assed. The dead light was returned and replaced by another nearly-dead light that was rendered slightly usuable after much tinkering. That's about 2 out of 4 lights working to normal expectations.

In contrast, I've bought 6 lights from Shiningbeam, all worked perfectly from the beginning and still work today, 3 years later. They cost no more than the similar DX lights I bought.

DX is basically a clearinghouse for defective goods, IMO. DX knows only a minority will go to the trouble to return defective merchandise. I bothered to return a ~$45 DOA light to their FL-based "US returns center", but they wouldn't refund cash, instead they offered a replacement. The replacement they sent was dead too. At this point I'd dealt with them for 5-6 weeks, gave up and never dealt with them since.

I take feeble revenge on those thieving bastards by offering warnings whenever the opportunity arises. I like to think my message will eventually cost DX more in lost sales than I lost making a poor decision to buy from them in the first place. BTW, at the time there were a couple people shilling relentlessly for DX flashlights in this forum, and P7 emitters and flashlights had just debuted at the time. Mods eventually banned the shillers.

Here's what I thought about DX nearly 3 years ago, posted in the same thread linked by CaptainCool above:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=1#post8124789

I got some TrustFire 18650s with my first good light. They're decent, possibly good for the price, but the slightly pricier ones I got from Solarforce are definitely better -- runtime is better even though the stated capacity is less, and they're still holding a charge a year later while a couple of the TrustFires are not. I haven't used the TrustFires in a while.

As for good things from DX: these light holders are fantastic for 18650 lights. I have three of them.

DX's light are usually good out of the gate, but the bouncing around that they take when riding the bike, will kill most of them. Then try to get them replaced under warranty.. It is a roll of the dice, sometimes they respond and other times they just blow you off.. I have found some better sellers on ebay that when a light I bought came doa, they sent a replacement, no questions asked..

+1

For the most part DX sells rubbish. The only things I have from them which hasn't broken in short order are some AA to D battery converters and a 3.5mm male to male cable. You'll notice that these two items are very simple, with a minimum of moving parts.....

I've been very happy with everything I bought from DX apart from the flashlights. I've been only moderately happy with them, because they'd start to flicker and I had to tighten the switch ring inside the endcap. Usually after 2 or 3 times tightening, they're OK from then on.

I bought a Magicshine light from DX, after a year of use, works ok, including the battery.

I've been happy with my DX flashlights: P7 and a Q5. I decided on DX because I didn't want lights with battery packs and I didn't want to spend more on the lights than I did on the bike. I've been happy with the $100 I spent to get lights, battery and charger. I have yet to use any of these lights in wet weather. There is a lot of light discussion on mtbr.com. There are a lot of new products on the market in the under $200 range that have decent lumens. You need to do a good amount of research and reading to find the best DX products. And while I have had good luck, I expect that it can be hit or miss. You wait a month to get your flashlights in a thin bubble wrap package. You wait longer if you get get broken products. I think DX is pretty good about replacing broken stuff.

Two years on a MagicShine 802 with great battery life and no problems ($70). I just bought a MagicShine 872 two months ago ($140) and have been happy so far. Only complaint, it took a month to get here on the slow boat from china.
I did buy a blinky 1 watt bar mount led light for $5 a year ago. Didn't think it would last, it didn't.

Is dealextreme run completely by Chinese and everything comes from China? That's my impression. However, according to my credit card company, the billing address for the DX transaction was Mauritius??

I found some cree flashlights on ebay. $7 each shipped from hong kong. I bought 10 of them and handed them out to my co-workers (electronics technicians) most of them are all still working.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CREE-Q5-LED-...item4173486903

I've pretty much stopped buying from DX, because pretty much everything they have is available on eBay for the same or less money and faster shipping.

The problem with ebay is there are both new and used items for sale, so I'm not sure if something is used even if described as new. Also the bidding seems too complicated for me, so I only "Buy Now".

I have never had a problem. I just click "buy now" and "free shipping" and "new only"

Generally anything I'm buying comes up "over 10 available, 216 sold" or something like that. That makes it extremely unlikely that it's a used item.

I do have my first dispute in 10 years of using ebay open right now. I bought an RD32II camera from China, and it's been stuck in the post for 8 weeks. I told him I'd give him until Tuesday, which is 3 days before the last date to settle the dispute. Honestly, it's just never going to show up. I ordered another identical camera from another Chinese vendor 5 weeks after ordering the first one, and I've already been using it for over a week.

Only got a few items from DX over the years, all have been fine.
Charger, batteries, cam mount, etc. Last week I got my 1st
light from them:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...7#post15723917

DX takes waaaay too long for the delivery. I have ordered twice from them. The first time, I almost forgot I had that order and was about to order something similar from elsewhere. Now during the long wait for my second order ever, I have found better deals elsewhere and developed buyer's remorse even before receiving the order.

Edit 6/24:
Just received my 2nd order from DX. Tool 19 days from shipping to delivery, 30 days from placing the order. Better than 1st time.