China Ball System 1.0

Thanks for your kind words slondon.

We did think about this for quite a while and thought we had the best solutions to cover costs. In the scenario you gave, the person buying 1 product would still pay the same whether the $10 was in the price of the product or in the shipping as a handling fee. However, the person buying 2 or more gets penalized with $10 more per product than in the current scenario where there is $10 once no matter how many items you buy vs. $10 for each item. You'd be surprised at the costs of packing too once you get to the size you can't do everything yourself or you're not doing it in your garage. Its not easy to find people that put things in boxes for free or next to nothing. Nor is it easy to store products for next to nothing when you need massive space to do things in the quantities it takes to keep the end price lower.

Its never easy to make everyone happy.
 
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2. Yes, you have to charge what you have to to make a go of business or there isn't one. However, marketing 101 tells you that the game is partly the cold hard facts and partly perception. I'm turned off by shipping charges like this because I have a lot of experience buying stuff here and there and these charges are simply far from the norm. Nothing turns people off more than somebody on eBay who advertises low prices but is clearly making it up with shipping charges that are way above the real, reasonable costs of packing and shipping. IMO you would be better off to charge ten bucks more for the product - who can know what 5600K and a high CRI can really be worth - and ten bucks less for the shipping because almost everyone has a good sense of what appropriate shipping and handling costs are.
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I agree
First of all, sorry Richard if my English don't let me explain using the correct words. I'm also buying gear around the world for some years and when I tried to buy some coollight lights was also scared with the shipping cost. Was difficult understand it. You said me because all the items were in different packages (1led-1package, 1led-1package,1softbox-1package...) and not all in one of two packages (I bought kits with more weight a lot of times).
I hear now your reasons and to me deserves all the respect but I also think that this cost that you told would be better if they were in the cost of the product, as in any other company, and the shipping cost were normal. This would avoid surprises because you'll know the real cost of the product. I always though that the cost of the product is one thing and the shipping cost are exactly this, the shipping cost. Just my opinion.
Said that, I like a lot your work, your products and how you're always available to talk about everything and to teach your knowledge. Thanks.
Anyway, I'll buy a kit from coollights in a few time (I'm saving for the shipping cost :grin:)
 
First of all I want to say that Richard is one of the kindest and most helpful posters on these boards. He never fails to give a smart and helpful answer regardless of the benefits it may provide Coollights. I only have one of Richard's instrument but It has always performed flawlessly.

Now on to the original subject of China balls. I have always used 500 watt photo floods in China balls. They are available in daylight and tungsten and are VERY bright and you can dim them. Now these come with some drawbacks. One is the obviously amount of power used and the heat generated. You need to be very careful to never let the globe touch the paper or you will have a fire. The second is the short life of these powerful little globes.

I find the drawbacks are far outweighed by the advantages provided but you really need to decide for yourself. As a side note, I most often find these globes on Ebay for a fraction of the cost of a photo store.
 
Finally pulled the trigger on 3 Matthews Hollywood Century C Stand Grip Arm Kits from B&H. Will post pics of my setup comparing it to using a Savage stand for real this time. Delivery date is May 28 so should have pics up in early June.
 
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