Alberta Land Rover Enthusiasts Club Forum
General => Non Technical Discussion => Topic started by: roverwanabe on March 17, 2017, 01:47 PM
I know its not the $2500.00 type of tent, quality. but for $77.00 and a few uses a year..... Something odd about this
https://www.amazon.ca/Tepui-Baja-Ultralite-Canopy-Green/dp/B01N7MEYE5/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1489779726&sr=8-8&keywords=roof+top+tent
Wow. That's an amazing price.
I checked, and double checked, appears legitimate. I have ordered several things on amazon. Good prices and free shipping and you don't have to leave the house. But, never saw anything like this before.
Chinese crap. I'm guessing you'd have a lot of fun in that thing keeping it together, and the weather on the outside.
I'm not terribly surprised at the price, I see a ton of incredibly low priced Chinese sourced items across all spheres of the economy now. It's very common to see product well below their cost to produce. More so now as the Chinese government has extended/expand their export subsidization program (in civilized, free trade oriented countries, they call that "dumping"...sshh, don't let Trudeau know I said that, he'll be most irked I spoke poorly about our overlords).
The Chinese program works like this:
...Chinese company in applicable sector builds something for export
...sells it to a foreign buyer at set price based on cost+ calc, applies "discount" (10% to 40% range, based on industry) to "make the sale"
...Chinese government grants a 10% --> 40% credit back based on cost+ calc, as an export credit
...end result is Chinese company just sold a product below cost on the market, but made full price with the subsidy from the government
One of the many reasons China should be completely shit-canned from the global market. Ultimately though we as consumers are the ones really at fault. We happily buy their crap because it's all about price, making sure we stay oblivious to what's really happening (because, you know, figuring that stuff out is hard!), and thus support their subsided, western-job-killing, money printing machine.
Buy...enjoy! It's all good!
Says $6.95 shipping from NY.
I can't remember the last item I bought that Was Not made in China. Our slimy business community is bringing in containers full under the insulting " Can't afford Canadian wages" BS.
I See tents on Allibaba, straight from China for $300.00 being sold $1400.00 by US markets. They even use the same photos in their advertising. I guess I am hurting the Canadian market by buying from overseas, but if I buy the same product here, I am still doing the same through Costco, Walmart, Canadian Tire etc. And being ripped off by them in the process. This tent is an anomaly, as I have done Extensive research and this seems to be an error of some sort. I ordered one just to check it out, if it only lasts a couple of years, then I will know. As they say a $20,000.00 Car gets you to point B just as well as a $100,000.00 one.
I spend a lot of time hunting down made in Canada, US, (or, well, anywhere that's not China is a good start) items when purchasing. It's tough, but doable. Example...I just bought a new water heater and although they had readily available made in China brands, they also had options made in the US (Alabama in this case). That's what I went with, had to wait for it to arrive, but I'm good with that.
Same thing with some hip waders I bought last year. Hunted high and low and pretty much everything is made in China now from any of the big names...except one brand that still makes them in Boseman, MT. Ton more expensive, but absolutely great quality and I'm doing my little bit to not support the China money funnel.
Bought a faucet last year, same story....finally found one that was made in Quebec (took a lot of hunting through the local stores). Price was pretty good too, and nice quality.
I don't buy suits, slacks or dress shirts that aren't made here from a tailor, or from Montreal or Europe. Chinese crap is everywhere, but I read labels and avoid it. It costs me more, but it's not always about price.
You can't avoid all of it, because you're right, China's craps has spread everywhere. But you don't change that simply by continuing to buy blindly.
It's all about small steps. They add up over time to big steps.
I agree, I don't really buy much, trying to reduce my buying so I don't have to go back to work. Get my health back on track, a roof top tent on the Rover an head out where you can't buy anything and don't need to because you have nature and scenery.
http://tepuitents.com/collections/3-person-roof-top-tents/products/baja-series-kukenam#
This appears to be the same tent, US $1450.00.....maybe the $77.00 dollar one is a sample, 6 inches long.
I see the grey one is even cheaper. Tempted to buy this for a laugh... it is the same as the rip off priced USA at >1400 usd 8)
I would not trust it is a real company. They just formed the account. Most likely a fake account.
That is cheap. $77 isn't far off of where many Chinese tents are coming off on Alibaba. If someone shipped a container of rooftop tents they could perhaps make a profit. I would expect you to get what you paid for, likely Walmart-grade, and it depends on your perspective and needs. I think you'd be a bigger sucker picking up the same tent with a Motomaster or Powerfist logo on it and paying several times more.
There was a time when Japanese products were known as poor quality, and much earlier, German ones too. To win at industry, one must lose at war?
Having a closer look. At a 75 kg shipping weight and $6 shipping it is obviously a fake account. Don't waste your time as you will get to spend a bunch of time trying to get your money back.
Usually Amazon is pretty reliable. I have bought a few things off there, drum rollers for clothes dryer, repairman wanted $150.00 for 2! I got 4 for $50.00. Most tents from Aliababa are $300.00 to $500.00 US. Some are the exact same as being sold in US for $1500.00 to $2400.00. I got an estimate on door to door shipping, $750.00 US for 1 tent. Cheapest tent I could find in North America was one on EBay for $850.00 US
You are not buying from Amazon though in this case. You are buying from someone that made an account yesterday and has no contact information. I would suggest never buying from 3rd party Amazon seller unless they have feedback history.
I've seen stuff like this before, a few months ago I ordered a Dewalt cordless tool on Amazon.ca that was selling for an unbelievable price ($40 instead of $150). It simply never shipped and I was never billed.
That said, I'm game. I've ordered one. I'll report back on the outcome.
Quote from: SpeedyJ on March 17, 2017, 09:43 PM
That said, I'm game. I've ordered one. I'll report back on the outcome.
Looks like all of the products from the seller have disappeared from Amazon. What is happening with the order?
I received a shipment notice, but I'm obviously not optimistic.
I have been tracking this site for a bit and yesterday the prices for shipping and cost rose a bit, there are still some of the 2 people roof tops tents up for sale, but about 90 cdn$ now. I hope it works out in a good way for you. :-\
Ah well, the way things are looking I may not be driving anytime soon. Had a nice ride in the ambulance Saturday night to the royal alex. Something strange with heart they think..Could turn the Land Rover into an ambulance I suppose.
Quote from: Rambler on March 20, 2017, 11:11 PM
I have been tracking this site for a bit and yesterday the prices for shipping and cost rose a bit, there are still some of the 2 people roof tops tents up for sale, but about 90 cdn$ now. I hope it works out in a good way for you. :-\
It is a different seller now. It will be another fake account. The first seller was "Pinache Products" from New York.
https://www.amazon.ca/s?marketplaceID=A2EUQ1WTGCTBG2&me=A291ZK4F750817&merchant=A291ZK4F750817&redirect=true
The new one is "martajakov" from Ohio. All the same products.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aag/main/ref=olp_merch_new_seller_1?ie=UTF8&asin=B01N7MEYE5&isAmazonFulfilled=0&seller=A14P96E8KPKJUQ
It will all be the same guy setting up fake accounts. Did you notice the tent is listed under socket sets? They just set up these accounts and hope to get money from Amazon before they are caught.
Here is the manufacturer of the tents in California. http://tepuitents.com/collections/baja-series
I suppose the old adage rings true.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Oops, I nearly forgot to update this. The tracking number never became active (I waited about a week), so I made a quick call to Amazon. I received a full refund three days later.
I'll also explain why I took this risk - In the past I have gotten some strange deals from Amazon.ca, examples:
1. William 1/4 metric sockets (the good made in USA ones) normally ~ $125, purchased for $27
2. Doug Thorely stainless exhaust for my 100 Series Land Cruiser, normally ~$700-$900 for $325
3. RC Truck for my kid, normally ~ $500-$600 for $300
These are all items that are rarely discounted, which made the deals all the more sweet.
I know that not all club members approve of Amazon, but for those of us that can stomach it, a useful tool is Keepa. It allows you to look at the price history of a specific product to see if it has been substantially more or less expensive in the past. You can also set alerts on products if they happen to drop below a certain price. I used this to track the price on a 20v Dewalt impact driver that usually sells for ~$150, I was able to get it delivered, in my hands for $99cad. Not a bad deal if you're like me and trying to stretch the budget as far as it will go.
Cheers
Jeff