What's Going On In China?

[bvf]

Most of the gear I use for UV & IR originates in China, and I buy it online. I'll try to use a local supplier if possible, but have often used Chinese suppliers where I'm in no hurry, or there's a compelling price differential, or the item is not available locally. For years I experienced no problems in buying stuff from China, but in the last 2 months:

• Convoy S2+ Nichia UV bought on AliExpress - never arrived, even though tracking showed it delivered. Refund claim pending.
  
• Convoy S2+ Nichia UV bought on ebay (to replace the AliExpress one) - never arrived. Refund claim pending.
  
• 4 x WS560 flashguns bought on ebay (for modification for use with UVIVF) - never arrived. When I finally checked the tracking it showed returned to sender from within China. Refund provided through ebay.
  
• 3 x WS560 flashguns bought on ebay. I didn't really need them, but they were very cheap ($15 for 3, instead of the usual $30 each): I though they were maybe liquidated stock, or a simple seller error. Never arrived. Refund provided through ebay.
  

Anyone else been experiencing similar problems recently?

 

Being a sucker, I've ordered 4 more flashguns, from China again.

 

But I'm not such a big sucker that I want to order the Convoy from China again, esp. as I haven't had any refunds yet. I can only see suppliers in China (apart from UVIROPTICS in the US, who charges 5x as much by providing 2 torches and some accessories I don't need). Can anyone recommend a reliable source to get 1 Convoy, at a sensible price?

[dabateman]

Bernard,

Its Chinese New Year!

Everything will be back to normal this Friday or Monday.

Most places took 2 weeks off for the celebration.

So things haven't been shipping or haven't left. Don't expect anything to have been shipped from January 16th to February 12th.

I would wait out some stuff. I am waiting on 4 things from china now.

[ulf]

Bernard,

Its Chinese New Year!

Everything will be back to normal this Friday or Monday.

Most places took 2 weeks off for the celebration.

So things haven't been shipping or haven't left. Don't expect anything to have been shipped from January 16th to February 12th.

I would wait out some stuff. I am waiting on 4 things from china now.

 

And the Corona virus.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html

 

I think the delay will be longer.

[Cadmium]

The virus. They say there is no problem with items being shipped, but I am hearing there is.

Don't be afraid of the items though.

[GaryR]

Hi Bernard,

Some of my ebay purchases from China arrive within a couple of weeks, others take over a month, but that's the price you pay for low cost and free shipping. Last year, I completely forgot about my Convoy S2+ Nichia order, before it finally arrived. There are virtually no local dealers for the hobbyist items that I purchase online. That would be devastating indeed, if someone were to be infected with norovirus Coronavirus Covid-19 from a package.

[Andy Perrin]

1) It’s corona virus not norovirus

2) I don’t think anyone has been infected via this route so far, so I’m guessing it’s not possible.

 

ETA: The WHO site above says the virus does not survive on packages.

[dabateman]

Forgot about coronavirus. I have two packages coming from Wuhan.

SARS was a "big" deal in Toronto. I served on a follow-up hospital task force.

 

Its an RNA virus, with protein coat. So shouldn't be too bad from a package. I am waiting on some filters. So a quick cleaning with IPA should help for both the clarity and any viral residue.

 

Wash your hands. In general, wash your hands.

 

Andy,

Never say never. But unlikely. I think SARS only lasted about 48 hours on an elevator button.

[Stefano]

Its an RNA virus, with protein coat. So shouldn't be too bad from a package. I am waiting on some filters. So a quick cleaning with IPA should help for both the clarity and any viral residue.

Maybe a bit of UVC irradiation can also help?

[dabateman]

Yep looks like many cities are under quarantine. I have delivery estimates out to April. May things aren't shipping.

 

I hope the people there are doing ok and managing. Its hard to be down with the flu, but this also affects business and livelihoods. Once they recover from the disease, I hope they can recover from the time away.

[Guest]

@dabateman: I wholeheartedly agree - my thoughts go out to the people there who are dealing with nCov, and the aftermath they'll have to recover from as well. Getting back to business as usual probably won't be so easy. I will admit I am a big baby when I get sick - I don't even want to imagine for myself having to go through this sickness, along with entire communities, and have to bounce back, etc. I don't buy much of anything from China, but once this is 'over' I may just buy a couple things/filters/whatever, if that can help in some small economic way. And I'd get a new filter - so, win-win (who here doesn't like a new filter to play with?!).

[eye4invisible]

I buy most of my hobby stuff from China. Not really had any issues, apart from a couple of ebay sellers in China who didn't respond to non-delivery refund requests. I've found AliExpress sellers to be a bit more reliable (plus I have my preferred suppliers who ship via e-packet instead of China Post).

 

Recently bulk-ordered some clear UV filters, so that I can re-use the rings for mounting different filter glass. Not expecting them to come anytime soon, given Chinese New Year and the coronavirus, but that's okay as there's no foliage right now, just snow and more snow. Hopefully they will arrive in time for spring.

[SteveE]

CNN says COVID-19 might survive on surfaces for up to 9 days:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/17/health/novel-coronavirus-surfaces-study/index.html

[dabateman]

My china orders from January and early February are shipping. My 2 Wuhan filter orders still haven't shipped. So still might be under quarantine.

Any Chinese product stock held in the USA seems to shipp super fast now for some reason. Orders take 2 or less days from California to DC.

[Cadmium]

Don't worry about the virus coming in on orders. You know there are zillions of orders from China to all over the planet, and that is not an issue.

The reason orders are slow is because of production and handling shutdown, not because of quarantine.

[bvf]

My lost orders date back to December, so before COVID-19 and Chinese New Year.

 

I got my money back on the 3 ebay orders.

 

But AliExpress refused, so I've lost the $25 or so I paid for a Convoy: problem was that the item was tracked and tracking said it had been delivered.I showed them the British Post Office information that said queries have to be submitted by the seller in their own country and not by the receiver - but AliExpress just ignored this. Oh well, a lesson learned to stick to ebay - fortunately it was only a small amount.

 

Replacement order for one of the ebay items has now been delivered OK - just waiting on the third attempt to buy a Convoy.

[Cadmium]

What is it with that AliExpress? They won't take PayPal? What is wrong with them?

They only take CC's and some Google ap?

I don't trust that gig.

I am not giving China my CC!

PayPal rocks, and if they can't do that, forget it.

eBay rocks too.

[dabateman]

PayPal is safe, just as Elon Musk designed it to be. That's were here got the money to start Tesla and Space X once sold. Google App is really sketchy. No fee, no safety, just your money is gone.

Visa is good at cracking down on odd purchases. But there can be a dangerous delay.

I still do trust PayPal.

 

On to survival. This version of SARS still needs to be moist and transfers in mist clouds. That being in a cough or sneeze spray. Once it dries out it seems to loose transmission. But that is for the current known strain. This is an RNA virus so I will not say much as they do change.

It does still seem mostly concentrated in China though.

 

Cadmium, I ordered some odd filters from one guy, whom is most likely still under quarantine. I didn't mean the actual filter. Just the person responsible for shipping it to me probably can't.

I do hope they can get business up and running again. Loosing lots of customers due to delays could really hurt small business.