May
17

Tay Hua Trading Review

May 17, 2009 · Filed Under DSLR, GPLZ Gold, Online Shops, Web  · 566 views

I have been scouring the web for some new light stands as the ones I have are rusty and old. Those set I decided, is ready to retire as they have served two owners already; My Cousin who used it to light up his artwork, then me whom he decided to sell it to.

Anyway, I was assuming that I would easily find affordable yet quality light stands online. For a month I was trying to find those light stands I wanted, but most of what I found are included on studio sets or packaged as a kit with some of the things I did not need.

For a while I was almost fixed on getting these strobist sets/kit which included a soft box, or an umbrella. Then one day, I was reading through the archives of a strobist topic that mentioned a reliable shop in Manila who was established long before I can say my A-B-C’s.

It was Tay Hua Trading Corporation. I asked around about them on some web forums I am in, then I figured that in this time and age, they must already have a website. I found out they did at www.tayhua.com. I then started to go thorough their listings, I tried to look for a search function on their website, but there was none. I resorted to build my own widget to scan through their site and look for, as you might have guessed,  “light stands”.

Tay Hua Trading

Tay Hua Trading

I first found the “Kits”, they also have strobist kits which included a strobist softbox and a strobist umbrella kit with some options to upgrade, like adding radio triggers with the package or changing the size and types of stands or umbrella. After reading through these kits, I found out they also sell the items individually.

It took me a week to decide which one I would purchase. Then I decided to contact them through the e-mail address they provided on the site. At first I tried on Yahoo Messenger, waited for a while but it is constantly offline. So instead I e-mailed them. A few hours later, I got a response. Few more queries, and Tay Hua’s e-mail reply is fairly fast. I found out some of the kits are out of stock and then I finally knew who was responding to me. It was actually Sir Ackerly Chua of Tay Hua himself.

Mr. Chua is pretty responsive and amicable. He suggested some items to me and asked for my planned usage of the items. He suggest what he thinks is the best option and added some tips here and there. You can seldom find a merchant who is willing to discuss how your ordered items can be useful and suggest things to make the desired result of your purchase plan, a success.

I decided to make my own Kit. After a few exchanges and tips from Mr. Chua, I finalized my order and asked for the invoice. He gave me the invoice with some discounts on the items, then he gave me details on how to pay for the items, and informed me that If I could pay that day before three in the afternoon, he could ship the items immediately.

Before I finalized my order, Sir Chua had to be specific about the shipping expense which the buyer covers. He was open to any courier suggestions you may have and I opted for LBC. Although LBC is a bit expensive, at least they deliver quicker based on my experience.

Sir Chua had my proposed orders weighed and shipping was then calculated with LBC. He then e-mailed me the shipping charge. After I agreed with the total fees, he gave me his mobile number and banking details. After lunch I went to the bank and sent the payment to  Sir Chua’s account. I then sms’ed him to confirm that payment was done, he readily replied an informed me that he will send the tracking number after he has shipped the items.

Later that afternoon, I received the e-mail of the tracking number and we thanked each other for the successful transaction. I mentioned that I’ll let him know when the package arrives. To my surprise, Sir Chua later mentioned that he changed my light stands to a better model as opposed to the ones I ordered for the same price. I bought a couple of other accessories for the light stands, aside from the light stands themselves. This item upgrade came as a surprise.

About three in the afternoon the next day, my package arrived from LBC. It was well-packed and all items are plastic wrapped individually, it was also boxed pretty tight. Packaging was superb and items quality is A-plus. It’s only been a week that I have been toying with the new stuff. I’m sure to order more things from Tay Hua in the future because of this positive experience. I hope they hire a better web developer for their website though, to make it more user-friendly. I was just wondering, where my Free Tripod is At? Lol!

So are you ready to order at Tay Hua? I highly recommend them; tell Sir Chua you found the info on this site.

Wait for my review of the individual items I ordered on future posts.

Congratulations Tay Hua Trading for achieving the Gee Please Gold Standard.

If you have any feedback for Tay Hua Trading, don’t hesitate to leave your comments below.

Tay Hua Trading, please copy your Gold Seal Above and display it proudly on your site!

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Comments

One Response to “Tay Hua Trading Review”

  1. Luigi on May 22nd, 2009 2:09 am

    will definitely be ordering soon. I’ve been browsing their website a couple of days ago and all their products are dirt cheap compared to other online stores. Will email Mr. Chua soon.

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