Head spinning looking at Chinese website

[Chris Scorpio]

There are differences, ask @BudgetLED
Same diods but a lot of other differences that Budgetled has pointed out before

Plus time, shipping, customs in kanuckistan....


But I know a few who got lights from Alibaba and they look pretty good

 

[multiVortex]

Maybe it's just me but, personally, I'll never be ordering anything from "alibaba." I'll pinch my pennies longer if I have to.

 

[SmokingWings]

I understand why people living in rural US or Canada would want to order on-line. Small cities might have only one or two grow or hydro shops and small towns might have none. Buying on-line does make some sense unless the person is driving is doing a shopping trip and will be in the big city anyway.

But, I live in a large metropolitan area and I will buy local when it is possible. Walk in, look at the lights, talk to the other customers looking at lights and then decide whether to talk to the sales people or leave. One local store gets my money for lights. They will open the box and plug it in if that is what I ask. When I did have a problem they replaced the item without any question.

As for saving money by assembling the lights myself I notice that I could go to work for the same amount of time as it takes to put the lights together and still have some money left over.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

My local shop is what got me going again in growing. I still buy from them

Funny thing...owner now makes and sells QB lights, that and hps and MH, that all. Too many other LED to try and stock... Oh and he sells T5 lights

 

[multiVortex]

My local shop is what got me going again in growing. I still buy from them

Funny thing...owner now makes and sells QB lights, that and hps and MH, that all. Too many other LED to try and stock... Oh and he sells T5 lights

I dig my local shop. They don't carry everything, and on some things they are way high, but I definitely buy a much as I can from them.

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Everything at my local shop is same or cheaper than online

Especially like buckets and bigger stuff...wayyyyyy cheaper and easier

I used to be a store and on-line in my old life... Hobby stuff... So I get the battle of them both

 

[multiVortex]

Definitely buckets, pots/fabric pots, plant risers, and the basics are way cheaper at the store.

They're about the same as online for things like nutes, promix, duct fans, controllers, flood table trays, etc.

They are a bit higher on lights, tents and those types of things because they're charging MSRP and you can usually find a 10%-15% discount somewhere online with free shipping.

A great example is a 16" plant riser at the shop is $3. From Mr Bezos' site: $16.

 

[SmokingWings]

Southeast Michigan is a large metro area with a lot of competition for any sort of hydro shop, grow shop or gardening shop. I have 2 grow type shops and one general gardening shop within 5 minutes of driving. Add in getting from the door to the truck and from the stores' parking lot through their front door I end up with 10 minutes or less.

The gardening shop has higher prices but their customer base is not growing Marijuana. They have supplies and landscaping materials and I can be there in 3 minutes of locking the door. The other two seem to be lower priced on everything though I have only compared prices on stuff that I have used, am using now or plan on using in the near future.

 

[Remystemple]

There are differences, ask @BudgetLED
Same diods but a lot of other differences that Budgetled has pointed out before

Plus time, shipping, customs in kanuckistan....


But I know a few who got lights from Alibaba and they look pretty good

can you tell me what makes HLG lights worth so much more than the budget led lights? if they have the same diodes what's the dif?

 

[Chris Scorpio]

Budgetled did a comparison once recently

Try and search for that

 

[Chris Scorpio]

I'd personally buy the @BudgetLED system

They didn't exist when I got mine

When they get some Red 132bds I'll get some to try, from @BudgetLED ,only the 288s are all I can find available now

 

[Elevated Lighting Company]

can you tell me what makes HLG lights worth so much more than the budget led lights? if they have the same diodes what's the dif?

Main thing is mark-up. On all our lighting, we do not have nearly the same mark-up as many in the grow light community. Hence the reason we will never offer a BOGO deal or things like that. On the 420 Mag platform, we offer the highest discount code because we are a sponsor here. It is an introductory code. You can ask @SimpleManZ420 about quality differences. He owns HLG and ours.

The other thing is they have the dust plate and the fancier connections on the back. We are loving that direction though as we gear up for more commercial applications.

 

[Elevated Lighting Company]

I'd personally buy the @BudgetLED system

They didn't exist when I got mine

When they get some Red 132bds I'll get some to try, from @BudgetLED ,only the 288s are all I can find available now

we havent forgot about the smaller red spec board. It is in our

can you tell me what makes HLG lights worth so much more than the budget led lights? if they have the same diodes what's the dif?

Also, same diodes. Not sure what Meanwell driver they use but regardless, we both use Meanwell. We try to only use the Meanwell drivers that carry the 7 year factory warranty . Please note, some Meanwell drivers only come with a 2/3 year warranty.

 

[Virgin Ground]

I have HLG with meanwell driver. It has a 7 yr. Warranty as well.

 

[Remystemple]

Main thing is mark-up. On all our lighting, we do not have nearly the same mark-up as many in the grow light community. Hence the reason we will never offer a BOGO deal or things like that. On the 420 Mag platform, we offer the highest discount code because we are a sponsor here. It is an introductory code. You can ask @SimpleManZ420 about quality differences. He owns HLG and ours.

The other thing is they have the dust plate and the fancier connections on the back. We are loving that direction though as we gear up for more commercial applications.

so like i was saying HLG is a rip off lmao. sorry to sound ignorant but same diodes and drivers but twice the cost means big time rip. maybe they were worth the money when there weren't a thousand other sellers but the prices are coming down. and with the quantum invasion starting on amazon they're gonna have no choice but to lower those prices or close up shop eventually.

 

[Allen42]

Yes I own a few HLG’s and just recently purchased my first BudgetLED light, I ordered their 480 watt light. I was extremely impressed with the customer service @BudgetLED provides.. I was unsure about what spectrum would be best for me, so I talked to the site sponsor and he hooked me up with a custom light to tailor to my needs. They built my light with two 3000k and two 3500k boards while also throwing in blues and more reds on my boards to make for a truly diverse light.. now for quality, budgetLED makes top quality boards.. the heatsink, boards, diodes, wires are all top notch and heavy duty.. every bit as good as HLG, they might even be better in it’s own ways... I noticed the budget boards are lighter then my HLG’s, which makes a big difference when your hanging multiple lights.. also The budget boards scored evenly well compared to my HLG’s when measuring with my meters, so the efficiency of budgetLED’s lights are not mistaken and are just as good as HLG... Another thing I noticed with my budget board that impressed me a lot is the amount of light penetration, I can see the blues and reds reflecting off my floor very brightly, more so then with my HLG’s.. really the only differences being what Justin pointed out with having different wiring and the molex reflectors? I believe their called. covering the diodes... I believe the reason behind the markup in their cost is something most people don’t think about.. their “etl” certified or commercial grow certified lights... I believe HLG had a different target audience when they created their lights and that they were aiming for customers in the commercial grow market. It’s the only reason I can see behind the massive markup HLG has over budgetLED, those are just my two pennies, do what you will with them sir.

 

[multiVortex]

Southeast Michigan is a large metro area with a lot of competition for any sort of hydro shop, grow shop or gardening shop. I have 2 grow type shops and one general gardening shop within 5 minutes of driving. Add in getting from the door to the truck and from the stores' parking lot through their front door I end up with 10 minutes or less.

The gardening shop has higher prices but their customer base is not growing Marijuana. They have supplies and landscaping materials and I can be there in 3 minutes of locking the door. The other two seem to be lower priced on everything though I have only compared prices on stuff that I have used, am using now or plan on using in the near future.

I'm hoping we end up with similar competition. Don't get me wrong, in a 150k population town we have 3 indoor gardening specific shops, which isn't terrible considering I can be on the south side of town in less than 15 minutes. Thankfully the furthest shop is only about 10 minutes, but it pretty much sucks. One is about 5 minutes away, maybe 7 tops at the wrong time of day. This shop is excellent, and the staff are great. It's not real big, two aisles and maybe the entire floor is 20 wide by 60 long. Small, but they pack stuff in from the floor to ceiling. They have a good selection, especially for the space they have. Their prices are hit and miss though. On things you think should be cheap, they're high. (2-pack of ratchet hangers for $16, for example.) Other stuff they are excellent on. Just have to know the prices of things before you go in and most of the time you're good.

The downside of this shop is that they need more space. Thus, they're moving and going to be about 10-12 minutes away. Not as convenient, but still not terrible.

The other shop isn't so good, at least in the knowledge part. I've not been in there, but I've called to check their stock a couple times and they are pretty much clueless. They're about the same distance as the other shop, maybe a minute closer. No idea on their prices, or on the stuff they carry. I may have to wander in one day soon just to take a look around. Unless they're killing it on the price of everything though, I'll stick to the other shop for sure, even when they move.

 

[Remystemple]

I live in a town of about 2000, the nearest hydro shop is a 6 hour drive

 

[SmokingWings]

I live in a town of about 2000, the nearest hydro shop is a 6 hour drive

I guess if you are going to town on a major shopping trip adding a stop at the hydro shop would be part your list of places to stop at. This is the situation where an on-line order makes sense. Even if there is a shipping charge it should come out cheaper than 6 hours on the road and the gas being burned over those 6 hours.

 

[Remystemple]

I guess if you are going to town on a major shopping trip adding a stop at the hydro shop would be part your list of places to stop at. This is the situation where an on-line order makes sense. Even if there is a shipping charge it should come out cheaper than 6 hours on the road and the gas being burned over those 6 hours.

so far i've only ordered stuff from amazon. just placed my first ebay order from premixed STS. lol i know i'm dumb. I don't mind getting everything online. even things i can buy here i order from amazon because every business in this little town expects you to buy local but mark everything up to the point where i'm buying things at amazon for half the price i'd buy it for in town. serves them right.