i always wonder whether the recipient's address play any role here or not.....e.g if the address is to bangsar / kuching, sarawak etc etc the post stuff might be excited cos they thought those people were buying expensive stuff....if the recipient's address is to kampung kampung, i don't think they are interested to find out what's inside the parcel.....

in the case of missing insured parcel, the sender could easily claim it back from USPS....but i might takes 2-3 months long.....that's what my agent told me.

I have noticed that the same postman has been "prowling" my area for a long time. So maybe he knows who is who. And when it comes to me, he must be thinking...AHA new flashlight. Of all you know, he's one of us.

The first batch of lights,hosts & drop ins I got from the US from CPF were sent by First Class Mail and not even 1 got lost. It took 40 days to reach me though. That was the time when I was starting to be active. The 2nd batch a few got lost.

Something is fishy here.

Ok. The saddest man on earth now is going to



This post has been edited by LightJunk: Mar 17 2010, 12:36 AM

I would like for us to use EMS if the rest agree.

I have lost a few parcels myself using the $13 flat rate box priority mail, that is without insurance. But if we pay more for it to come with insurance or registered, I think there should be no problem too. I have also use this method and it is still trackable and only takes longer to reach Malaysia.

@ Lightjunk: Man.. That is absolutely terrible.. =( Scary.. EG is a great guy. Maybe you can ask him to get moddoo to make another unit for u?



I've yet to lose any parcel from 47s so far. Must be lucky. See how big a risk I'm taking for you all Teehee! $400 - 600 per priority mail parcel.



EMS sounds like a plan but I think we should re-calculate postage base on weight or value. My items (and small item buyer's items) are quite cheap and I don't think it would be wise to pay so much for postage. =D
Maybe we can work out the cost and post it so all of us can vote.
I can help calculate the costs as well.

=)

true....some participants only getting 1 items only and yet very small and light item too....

gimme sometime to compile the actual purchase list of each participants, and please help me out on the shipping calculation ya......

[ my previous GB shipping calculation was handle by our Mr. President & polkiuj......a very fair calculation.... ]

Yup. Crazy for them to pay ~USD15 for shipping. Lol.

As far as shipping experience goes, I have yet to lose an item from CONUS - touch wood. BUT I have lose 1 package from Canada AND 2 from Hong Kong (from AW). Luckily I was compensated somewhat for these loses. For expensive items, EMS is the only way to go. For small items, I usually have it sent to a fellow CPF member in Kansas who'll keep it for me until I have accumulated several items then have him ship it to me. Depending on the total cost of the items, I may have him ship them 1st class or EMS. To me there's no point going for priority mail which is more expensive compared to 1st class international - they all get on the same plane anyways.

It is always a risk to have something shipped from overseas. This hobby is already expensive as it is, so when it comes to shipping charges we shouldn't skimp on it, especially for the more valuable stuff. As the saying goes "Don't be penny wise and pound foolish".

Just my 2 cents.

Shipping is 'everything' for our flashaholism, without the right person doing their job or holding their integrity, we'll keep loosing items It is scary indeed. I vote for EMS!!!! but i didn't order anything this time eheh

Last BatteryJunction GB was calculated by the buyer's percentage of the total cost. That percentage is how much you will pay from total shipping cost. I paid the most (USD 17.52) coz my items cost the most, while others need to pay around USD3.50. If the total shipping cost is less than the total cost of items, then you'll never pay shipping more than what you buy. By precentage, everything will be even out.

I would say the Weight and possibly Volume of the purchase is the deciding factor of the buyer's total cost.
For eg below if total shipping is USD55,
If I get a 6D maglite complete with batteries in shrink wrap(say, USD50) and you get a surefire T1A Titan & A2LED(say, USD250+USD250) do you think it is resonable for me to pay USD5 for shipping and you pay USD50 for your share of shipping?

How much different between USPS EMS vs Courier Services i.e. FEDEX, UPS etc

I had one lost case before with USPS amounting USD311. This is the only lost case for me. Now I only use USPS priority with tracking at least.

---

Added on March 17, 2010, 3:07 pmYeah, jwyj is right on this. I think the simplest and fair method would be by weight. (considering not much different in size for flashlight). A group buyer also must take into consideration the effort by the person that organise the buy unless he/she got some benefit out of it such as no shipping charges for his/her items

This post has been edited by Striderman: Mar 17 2010, 03:07 PM

Then do it by weight then if its like that, up to you guys.

Agree with jwyj. That's fair enough. We can go by weight or volume.

Anybody care to explain how I can opt for registered and tracking with USPS Priority Mail? ***Never Mind. I got it***

Thanks.
LightJunk

This post has been edited by LightJunk: Mar 17 2010, 06:10 PM

Was just wondering, what about weight + value? Does seem the fairest.
Some mathematical genius here should come up with a formula.

i have an old grandcell charger.

some of you guys may seen it before. it used to be a popular battery charger in malaysia many years ago.
but the spec says only use to charge alkaline manganese battery.
can i charge current Ni-MH battery using this charger?

i thought grandcell batteries from that days were popular for rechargeable alkaline??

Another one bites the dust.........


Second Dereelight 1SD R2 to be affected.

So, I dissected it....


Seems it's the silicone that got burnt.


After removing much of the silicone, you could still get a decent beam but only with the OP reflector. Unfortunately, I over-cleaned and damaged the tiny wires. Now it has really bit the dust.

Regarding shipping, it's usually calculated by weight, unless the item is bulky, then by volume. Insurance is by value.



@EOW, ouch... That looks like a painful death.. Interesting to note about Deereelight's heatsinking abilities. Hmm...



@Skylinestar: Do not charge Ni-Mh with that unless you want some really interesting results and have too much money to spent. =D

You can try muahaha. I can't seem to get a proper specification on the web. But I also caution that it may overcharge a NiMH overtime because of its low charge rate which are meant for rechargeable alkaline manganese. It can destroy the battery. Do you have a multimeter? So you can monitor the voltage time to time when charging to make sure it's "behaving" correctly. You can let it charge to 1.28v or so then use, it won't be fully charge. Anyway, better still, I would highly recommend to invest in a proper charger for NiMH. What kind of batteries do you use btw?

Well, the experts will say something more


Heys, can you share how it happened? Ran too long on max? Put in wrong battery setup?

Don't charge the Ni-Mh. Ni-Mh is actually a very PITA chemistry to charge. =) Unless you like your battery to not last very long.

Wooh that looks awful :
Anyway PM replied to you.