Hi Guys,
todd0218 - thank you for the reply. You bring up some great points. Its true, when we first started selling HIDs years ago there were a handful of companies selling the product. As I mentioned in my post, now its all about price as consumers really do have the ability to quickly search and find the best possible price. As a result, merchants feel that they need to compete in the price wars and in turn pressure their suppliers to reduce costs. As a result, the manufactureres cut corners and use cheap components to offer products at a lower price. By doing this, product quality, reliability, and even saftey is compromised. I'm sure that if you follow the news about the problems with some of the products coming out of China these days (ie lead in toys, dog food, pharmaceuticals, etc..) you will know exactly what I am talking about. Again, I am not saying that all the HID kits coming out of China are bad. However, there definitely are a lot of kits that pose saftey issues. A lot of these kits all look the same as most Chinese suppliers pretty much copied the shape of the classic Hella Generation III ballast. However, when you actually open up the ballast and look at the internal design and the components used they are completely different. We have seen high tech facilities where these kits are made and we have also seen literally "work rooms" where these things are hand assemebled...
I appreciate that you would like to see pricing more competitive with ebay. Unfortunately, no matter what we do we will not be able to compete with ebay pricing. Our goal is to offer our customers quality lighting products with a higher level of support/service. We will not jeaprodize/compromise the quality of the product in order to save costs. As a result, we pay a premium for our products. The difference with us is that we stand behind our products. We actually stand behind the warranty and do offer after sales/service or support once you purchase the product. We would not have stayed in business selling products online this long if we did not. The other thing is that we also spend money on supporting enthusiast forums (such as this one). I'm not sure if you know this about ebay however alot of the time the merchants dont even make money on the product. They make their money on the shipping. With margins that tight, certain things like warranties, support, product quality, etc.. have to compromised. As the saying goes, "something gotta give." There will always be people that want to pay as little as possible and do not mind taking chances. However, there will always be people that dont mind paying a little more for an established product from a reliable company for the peace of mind. Its really just a question of what your vision is.
You will find people that say that they can replace 3 kits by the time they buy one of ours. However, thats assuming that no damage was done to your vehicle (which can happen). Thats also assuming that they dont mind installing/uninstalling products (to some people time = money). There is also the chance that you will get a ticket for a burnt out headlight (we hear this alot). And lastly, there is also the important aspect of saftey. For some people, their car is not only drive by just them. They have husbands, wives, kids, etc.. that drive the car. The last thing they would want happening is for the lights to go out. This could be quite an uncomfortable experience to say the least if this was to happen at night.
As for the idea that you have about putting our products in the hands of new members for a discounted price in exchanges for reviews, this is something that we do on a regular basis. We have actually dont this with various members on this board. You can find some of their reviews here:
Chrysler 300c Testimonial - 9006 6500k kit for the fogs & 6000k D1S bulbs for the lows
Chrysler 300c Testimonial - 9006 6500k kit for the fogs & 6000k D1S bulbs for the lows
Chrysler 300c- 9006 6500k and 9005 6500k Low beam / Fog Light HID Upgrade
Chrysler 300c Testimonial - 9006 5000k XenonDepot kit
You can find more testimonitals/reviews on this page:
KBcarstuff.com is your one stop shop for all your automotive performance needs. We strive to provide speedy delivery and excellent customer service.
We are always looking to work with forum members so dont be shy to contact us with any suggestions/opportunities.
Take care,
Steve
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