September 2010 edit: 3.5 years have past since I wrote this article, and all of the items are still available, but substantially cheaper! The universal power adapter that cost me $7.70 now costs just $3.89, and that's still with free shipping (even if you buy just one)
As of January 22, 2009, Deal Extreme seems (was) to be down. Check this page I made for any updates. Update: Use the following address: http://www2.dealextreme.com/
My review of how much crap you can actually buy for just over US$20 from Hong Kong (including shipping and tracking) from Deal Extreme. This is the kind of place where you can pick up a cheap R4 DS, R4 NDS, remote controlled helicopter, LED flashlight or miscellaneous stuff like I did. The numbers now don't add up anymore, I'm trying to find out what went up in price or wasn't selected properly.
Here's what I bought (The Products):
- A set of screwdrivers (The special kinds, like those used to open up hard drives with their star tips, and for prying open iPod cases)
- 4" Metal Tripod for my Digital Camera (A Casio EXILIM EX-Z600 )
- Truly International Power Adapter (That converts the plug from any country to just about any country). This is the kind that DOESN'T do voltage conversion, but my digicam and cell phone power adapters are just fine with that.
-Stapleless Stapler (A truly earth-shattering invention that will surely save the environment and put staple manufacturers out of business, or at least change their product into stapleless staplers)
-USB Flash Memory Card Reader
First, a little background. Their website seems to periodically go down at times or require multiple attempts to access it, but I'd say it is more a matter of growing pains, rather than being untrustworthy. All of their products have ignore-worthy Ikea-esque names.
The Screwdriver Set - $8.01 with Free Shipping
This was a set of non-standard screwdrivers, the type that can be used for prying open snap-together devices, like the iPod, and funky-shaped screws, like those on cell phones, and hard drives. I liked how the red top can spin independently of the screw(driver), which allows one to use one hand to apply pressure, and use the other to turn the screwdriver. Unfortunately, I did find that the metal that they are made from is somewhat soft, so when I used an inappropriately sized screwdriver to open up one hard drive, instead of rounding the screw, I actually ended up rounding the screwdriver. With that exception, the set was rather diverse, and would make an excellent complement to the usual mini-screwdriver sets, at a good price too.
The tweezers and magnifying glass were certainly a nice touch as well.
The 4" Tripod - $1.58 with FREE SHIPPING!!!
Most digital cameras have a tripod mount, just look at the bottom for what looks like something that a bolt would screw on to. This particular tripod was recommended over the other tripods available from DealExtreme. It seems that this advice was good, as this Tripod was exactly as I expected it to be. The legs bend as one would expect, making it easy to balance and aim, and it seems rather durable. The few pictures that I did take with the tripod certainly had a more stable appearance than the pictures taken without the tripod.
Again, the price was good too.
The International Power Plug Adapter - $7.70 with Free Shipping
This unit (which even came with the gray carrying case), as you can see in the pictures, has a wide variety of modes of operation. You can plug into the device any format in which it can plug into (if that makes any sense). The countries listed on the device itself are Europe, Spain, UK, North America, Brazil, Japan&China. Likely, this covers every format that does exist. The North America/China/Japan plug actually rotates by hand to adjust to each country. The green tabs lock the plugs so that they don't go back into the device while plugging them in. These are present because the plugs are spring loaded, and it seems like they used very powerful springs on these units.
The adapter does say that it has surge protection, but I doubt I'd really trust it. I should note that the device does NOT do voltage and/or frequency conversions. It is good for appliances that are listed as being able to handle the voltage/frequency that you are using it in. For example, my laptop, purchased in North America, states 100VAC-240VAC on the adapter, so I can use it in any country in the world (Japan using 100VAC, Europe/Australia using 240VAC).
The Stapleless Stapler - $2.68 with shipping
I had seen this on Ebay auctions previously, but couldn't justify the shipping cost of one unit. But since DealExtreme carried them, I added them to my order. It's a bit bigger than I thought, but works well if you don't have too many pages. I find that you shouldn't really try to attach more than 5 or 6 pages together. But it really does work pretty well, you can turn pages both backward and forward without having them come apart. The device works by cutting a flap through all the pages, while somehow folding the flap into a linear cut it also makes into the paper. I'm sure this invention will change the world. The translucent blue plastic looks neat too.
USB Memory Card Reader - $4.40 with Free Shipping
Apparently this unit isn't particularly fast, but that wasn't really my concern. Nor was my concern in which formats it can handle (SD/MMC/MS/DUO/XD), as long as it could handle SD. I believe MicroSD requires an adapter, which is usually included when you purchase the memory itself. I wasn't able to take a picture of it (for obvious reasons), but it can hold regular sized SD cards with the cap on. This makes it a good device for those that want to use those old cards to make a DIY memory key. It IS very small too, rivalling that of most USB memory keys, although it is a bit wider, causing clearance issues with some computers. It was rapidly detected as a USB Mass Storage Device under both Win2k and WinXP with no drivers needed, so this is a good device for a digital camera user that needs to periodically dump photos at places like internet cafes.
Ordering & Packaging
The Deal Extreme Website could use a bit of cleanup as far as its interface goes, but it does work quite well. Feel free to combine orders that include free shipping and ones that do not include free shipping, it will only add the shipping cost to the appropriate items selected.
Paypal is accepted for payment. Deal Extreme runs a loyalty points program called DX Points, but they amount to 1% of your purchase. Be sure to create an account in order to collect these points if you so desire them.
They really do keep you in touch along the ordering process. Right after my order I received an email with my order # and a receipt # (why they need two numbers for this is my guess). The email also included information on how to login to check my order.
My particular order was submitted on April 24th and shipment was on April 26th (two business days).
Deal Extreme says that it ships via "Hong Kong Post Registered Mail", but I imagine that "registered" to them means with proof of receipt of the package by the post office, not special shipping. Your package will end up being delivered by Letterpost or Regular Parcel, or your country's equivalent. All that the post office tracking number told me was that my package left Hong Kong on April 29th, and the destination was Canada. My package was received on May 14th, which is as I would expect coming from HK to Canada. No signature was required.
Service
Not that I had to send them an email, but they do provide various contact addresses, and even a Hong Kong phone number to call (which is not that expensive with decent long distance plans or VoIP). They even provide a US address for product returns.
Packaging
Because Canada has a rather low limit for a package to be received duty free (CAD$20, about USD$18), I deliberately ordered (minus shipping) a quantity of goods that would be worth less than CAD$20. It turned out that the green CN22 customs declaration label was rubber stamped "LED Flashlight" with a value of something like HKD$50, which works out to about USD$6.40. Interesting since I never ordered any flashlights :) So, Canadians and citizens whose nation likes to charge VAT, rejoice when you order from them.
The packaging itself was just a bubble envelope, which I consider sufficient for the goods I was ordering. All information was typed out, not hand-written as I submitted it, so be sure to enter in your address according to international standards. After buying and selling items over eBay for years, I've learned that a bubble envelope is usually sufficient packaging for most goods. Rarely will something become crushed or such. I felt that the cost of reimbursing users for the rare damaged good was less than the costs of additional packaging and postage.
Future Order
My next order (and I will be making one) will likely include a Cree LED flashlight , and a Cheap Multimeter. I'll likely go over the CAD$20 level without risking big customs charges.
i ordered 4 motors off this
i ordered 4 motors off this company, the advert says 4-piece-pack , they sent me one single one, when i complained they said :
This is the picture on our site,you can see it has only one motor,isn't it?
i think they are just stealing peoples money what do you think ?
http://dx.com/p/f4006-kv950-disk-brushless-outrunner-motor-4-piece-pack-123233
BEWARE! DealExtreme censors product reviews
Reply from DealExtreme, after I inquired why my scathing review of a certain product I had purchased from them was never posted:
Dear customer
Yes,a negative review can not be posted on our forum,should you have any question about it ,please feedback here to let me help you handle it .
WoW
Nice products for a very
Nice products for a very affordable price and free shipping.
Had the last several months two RMAs, which were handled differently. One delivery did not make to my home and was shipped back to HK. Finally and with some delay it was shipped back to me (not yet arrived). On the other hand: one blue tooth dongle was defective on arrival and was replaced free of charge !!! TOP SERVICE !!
BEWARE! DealExtreme censors product reviews
I too had a few good experiences with them. I thought they were OK, until this:
Reply from DealExtreme, after I inquired why my scathing review of a certain product I had purchased from them was never posted:
Dear customer
Yes,a negative review can not be posted on our forum,should you have any question about it ,please feedback here to let me help you handle it .
WoW
The DealExtreme is a great website
The DealExtreme is a great website.They have many cheap and wonderful stuff, I bought many $2 Gadgets. And they are free shipping! Good luck! Be patient, you will receive a surprise!
quality problem
DX aren't scammers. Crap quality products does NOT mean scammers.
DX sell dodgy products at very low prices. They don't grab your money and run, like how I picture a scammer. Or send you a product completely different to advertised (like an empty pen case instead of a working laser).
I've spent probably closer to half a grand at DX by now. And not once have I been dissatisfied with ANY of those purchases.
I bought some crappy bullet lasers for the heck of it, they work perfectly. I bought some cheap button batteries to go with, powers them nicely. The dilda, amazing laser. Then all the batteries and chargers I've got, worked a charm. Then other things, like USB wireless adapters. Couldn't beat them at $25, so I bought several. And each one has worked perfectly, in fact it's how I'm connecting to the internet right now.
I've ordered a package in
I've ordered a package in September - it arrived late October with empty bags! Not only was shipping extremely late - their screwed it up. I asked for them to send it again - this time making sure the bags are full and to expedite the shipping. They only sent the replacement a week later. Again - 1.5 months later I only got the package - and again - empty bags!
Their customer support sucks ass! They kept on asking me to wait for the mail. I've asked for a refund numerous times and they kept on saying - wait for the package - disregarding my claims that I already got the package!
This is not the first time. I don't know why I kept giving them another chance - but this is the last straw. I can't take it anymore with their horrible disregard for their customers. They just suck badly.
DealExtreme Sucks!
I've ordered a package in September - it arrived late October with empty bags! Not only was shipping extremely late - their screwed it up. I asked for them to send it again - this time making sure the bags are full and to expedite the shipping. They only sent the replacement a week later. Again - 1.5 months later I only got the package - and again - empty bags!
Their customer support sucks ass! They kept on asking me to wait for the mail. I've asked for a refund numerous times and they kept on saying - wait for the package - disregarding my claims that I already got the package!
This is not the first time. I don't know why I kept giving them another chance - but this is the last straw. I can't take it anymore with their horrible disregard for their customers. They just suck badly.
DealExtreme Sucks!
I've ordered a package in September - it arrived late October with empty bags! Not only was shipping extremely late - their screwed it up. I asked for them to send it again - this time making sure the bags are full and to expedite the shipping. They only sent the replacement a week later. Again - 1.5 months later I only got the package - and again - empty bags!
Their customer support sucks ass! They kept on asking me to wait for the mail. I've asked for a refund numerous times and they kept on saying - wait for the package - disregarding my claims that I already got the package!
This is not the first time. I don't know why I kept giving them another chance - but this is the last straw. I can't take it anymore with their horrible disregard for their customers. They just suck badly.
i had the same problem with deal extreme
i ordered 4 motors off this company, the advert says 4-piece-pack , they sent me one single one, when i complained they said :
This is the picture on our site,you can see it has only one motor,isn't it?
i think they are just stealing peoples money what do you think ?
http://dx.com/p/f4006-kv950-disk-brushless-outrunner-motor-4-piece-pack-123233
FREE Shipping indicates NO SHIPPING at all
Buyers beware!!!! I’m completely dissatisfied with this company, the order was placed and paid on October 15th 2010 and as of today November 19th 2010 I have not received the order. I wrote three emails to DealExtreme and they ignored all of them. It was paid by PayPal and I placed a complaint with them. After DealExtreme received my complaint, they responded back stating that they issued a refund which it was less then what I had to pay for the item. I’m checking my account with PayPal every day but to-date; they did not refund the money. Their price is attractive and they advertising that the shipping is FREE, now I know why, because we pay and they ship nothing. I’m very upset with this company and I DO NOT recommend anyone to deal with DealExtreme. IT SUCKS BIG TIME.
delayed shipments
Apart from the slightly longer wait (about 2-3 weeks) for your package to arrive, a single order containing more than 1 product, may be delivered separately and arrive on different dates. This is because the products may come from different factories and their delivery schedules differ.
deal extreame sucks like
deal extreame sucks like shit,i orderded so much stuff but it never came
I've ordered 46 orders from
I've ordered 46 orders from DX and never had a problem with one. maybe you put in the wrong shipping address.
Oddly, I've never had a
Oddly, I've never had a problem. I've probably completed 6 or 7 orders so far.
Buy with me
Hey folks,
I run a site called Extreme Deals Canada ( www.extremedeals.ca) . I was a big time shopper and got really tired of waiting for 25 days to get a phone case from their site.. i've started my own site. My Deal is very simple. Keep the site clean as much as i can and ship the item on the same day. I'm constantly adding products as i need $$ to bring more deals. My whole poing is to allow everyone to buy closer to home.
Anyways, i'm hoping to provide a lot more stuff in the near future.
Thanks
I never got my order!!
I ordered 60.00 worth of stuff I never got it!! It has been over 120 days \ they do not try and resolve I went through paypal they did not help either. Do not buy from them!
Poor Service
I've noticed a huge decrease in service over the last year. Customer Service doesn't respond to service requests. forme 1 out of 5 items are defective. When you order items they say in stock several days later they aren't in stock. When you try to get something else none of those items are in stock.
When I tried to apply store credits for my order they kept incorrectly adding up the credits. I one case I was ignored until I posted a complaint in their public fourm.
I ordered and they denied me
I ordered and they denied me access to my receipt.
DX is....
I was a returning customer for a while, and they just keep on getting worse.
I am not going to troll the company, they have some nice gadgets, some of them cheaper than other places, though not as much as it used to be. I actually find a lot more things cheaper on EBAY now, and together with bay sellers being keen to impress (well, a lot more than DX are at least) it doesnt make any sense for me to shop with DX anymore. they just don't
the products are generally not of a great quality, a lot of them seem to be seconds or obselete products. the stock levels are not accurate (they actually hold little stock and act as a broker) and shipping is generally VERY SLOW.
feel free to shop there, just be prepared to wait a good month for your items to be received, if the item is available (they are not prepared to tell you that quickly anymore if the product is out of stock).
the bottom line is, there are other sites which offer better service, deal perfect seems to be a good alternative.
DealExtreme Defects
I have ordered several times from DealExtreme and the shipping time was 1-2 weeks as expected but the last order was a single LED flashlight that arrived defective.
It is taking a huge amount of time to get them to replace a $13.00 item.
This may be the last time I order from them.
same here
same here, it's October now and I still have not received my missing items from an April 2009 order. Charlene of Customer Services granted me a store credit but she failed to tell me how I could access the credit. I cannot enter any further correspondence on the ticket as that option has been removed.
My September order also has missing items but I cannot correspond with them as I do not have photographs of the original packaging.
Admin and general queries and other 'contact us' links have been disabled and you can only correspond with them view the 'ticket' system.
THEY SUCK AT COSTUMER
THEY SUCK AT COSTUMER SERVICE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PEACE OF SHIT.
My item was out of stock. They asked me to pay more for a better item witch I did, but never received the item.
We are in october 2009 and the order was in april 2009
GANG DE TAPETTE" Deal Extreme.
Micro SD Card
I ordered an R4 and Micro sd card for my nephews birthday at the beginning of April, with payment via PayPal. The R4 card arrived after 2 weeks of ordering. I am still waiting for the Micro SD. I was first told that the SD card hadn't been shipped "due to a shortage".
Two months later, I am told the item "because it has been sold out". I immediatly asked them for a refund as I had already had to purchase from somewhere else (bearing in mind nephews birthday was two months prior!).
A further month down the line and I am without any response, so I send them a courtesy remnder to cancel my order, to which I was told "as your payment was made over 60 days ago, direct refund is not allowed by PayPal" and asked to accept a credit note.
This company has bad communication problems, bearing in mind that you have to log into their website to pick up any notices from them.... you would think they would send emails for ease of contact and speed - or maybe thats their plan. It took them over four months (and ongoing) to sort my problem out and it looks like I am left with a credit note and may even have to go through all of this for a second time!
My recommendation to you? AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!!
Deal Extreme works for me
Ordered a LED watch from DX. It arrived in 10 days to Vancouver. Package arrived via lettercarrier in bubble pack lined envelope without damage. Will buy again from them.
POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, CROOKS PULLING ITEMS FROM ORDER.
I too have had problems with DX, one item never showed up at a cost of over $20 US, I contacted them
but they could care a less about my problem. ALWAYS use a credit card with your PayPal then you'll have
a chance doing a Charge back on the credit card. This is what I ended up doing and Visa told me they've
had many problems with Deal Extreme and to avoid them. I must say my past orders did make it to me
but be warned if you have a problem don't expect an easy fix, they make you jump rings and still you get
NOTHING. Too bad because they loose many good customers treating them POORLY when they need help.
Well, by the sounds of this
Well, by the sounds of this site, i'd say they must be related to UXCELL. They love to sell you stuff that doesn't work and also then ask for $35USD for shipping costs to replace a couple of silicone covers for a DS and screen protectors! Really, how dumb do they think we aussies are?? Beware!! They are novelty sites and expect to lose as well as gain.
Damn it, you get what you pay for!
Honestly, what do you expect?
Yes, they have a poor customer service. They send you the wrong stuff sometimes. The stuff is often crappy.
But hell, it's CHEAP. It's fun. Do you really think you are buying quality stuff there? The key is to have FUN with the dealextreme orderings. Don't buy anything >$20 there, it's certainly not worth it. Enjoy the small things. Especially tools like tweezers, cables, clips, adapters are incredible cheap there.
So calm down - and have fun!
I once bought 5 packages of some electronic clips. Instead, I got 5 red laserpointers. I thought about contacting them, but in the end i thought: Screw it. I paid <$6 including shipping, so I just ordered the same thing again, and it was the right thing this time! I got creative with the laserpointers instead and reused the lens for another laser.
Dealextreme has most fun/$. Isn't that what counts?
"IN MARCH : I ordered 2 n5
"IN MARCH : I ordered 2 n5 ds card and those cards broke both of my daughter's DSlite. I asked for a refund for those cards, they said OK but I have to ship them back to their US office with a copy of the mail fees and they were supposed to do the refund. THEY HAVE RECEIVE MY PACKAGE, I DID CHECKED WITH CANADA POST WITH THE TRACKING NUMBER. I did what they asked me to do. I paid 13,82 $ CAN to send those broken cards back and believe it or not, we are in May and I still haven't received my refund yet.
VERY VERY VERY POOR CUSTUMERS SERVICE, TO MUCH STEPS WITH PEOPLE WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.
BUYER BEWARE OF DEAL EXTREME. I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS AGAIN WITH THIS COMPANY"
First of all, a card cannot brake a ds, unless you're a monkey and try to put it in the wrong way, secondly putting things in capital sounds like you're screaming. Now, did you try installing the firmware? or did you just send them back after you found that "broke" both your daughter DS lites. There are no capacitors in the N5 that can damage the DS, only malicious software such as the DS trojans and thats if you downloaded them and put it on the memory stick and then ran them!!!, even then there's a way to recover.The N5 has had some fakes from DX but none of them are deadly to the DS themselves.Clearly sir, YOU have some issues that are very worrying.
As for me Deal Extreme takes a long time and can sometimes give fake cards. Although two of my DS cards were fake, they were replaced for free by Deal Extreme.Things are really cheap on DX and they are real more times than they are fake, so it's up to buyer discretion to decide whether to buy or not. Remember that if you want to buy something for someone buy it 2-3 months in advance.
Packaging
With packaging, I think that bubble packaging would not be sufficient for goods that I purchase from ebay, they are a bit more sensitive which include camera lens and eye lens.
No problems at all
I have bought 4 times on dealextreme and with excellent results. You want find very usefull most of the stuff after a while, but they are so funny :)
DEAL EXTREME SELLS CRAP & CANNOT BE REACHED!
I bought some LED lights from DealExtreme. The minute I opened the first one up and turned it on it completely exploded and started smoking. I contacted them via their customer service link on their website and it took weeks to even get a reply. They simply told me to return the items to them and they'd replace them with the same items again. I re-emailed them over and over again, asking them to confirm for me that they would issue a refund and not a replacement item (since who would want to take another chance on an electrical device that could explode and start a fire?). After two weeks and numerous emails they ignored all of them and will not reply to me at all. Their customer service sucks and their product was faulty and defective. STAY AWAY!! Not reputable and not honest! The should change their name to DealExtremelyFrustrating.com
buyer beware of deal extreme
VERY BAD EXPERIENCE WITH DEAL EXTREME
IN MARCH : I ordered 2 n5 ds card and those cards broke both of my daughter's DSlite. I asked for a refund for those cards, they said OK but I have to ship them back to their US office with a copy of the mail fees and they were supposed to do the refund. THEY HAVE RECEIVE MY PACKAGE, I DID CHECKED WITH CANADA POST WITH THE TRACKING NUMBER. I did what they asked me to do. I paid 13,82 $ CAN to send those broken cards back and believe it or not, we are in May and I still haven't received my refund yet.
VERY VERY VERY POOR CUSTUMERS SERVICE, TO MUCH STEPS WITH PEOPLE WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.
BUYER BEWARE OF DEAL EXTREME. I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS AGAIN WITH THIS COMPANY.
Wow
fuck you deal xtreame
deal xtreame sucks like shit
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