RSS FeedTay Hua Trading Review
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
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.
Filters-Exchange Review
I was looking for an online shop locally that accepts Paypal, it was hard to sort out through heaps and heaps of sites on google. I finally decided that I would post an inquiry to one of the forums I am in. I asked for a call to action in sharing the sites they know locally that accept paypal. I received two to three suggestions and one stood out. It is Filters Exchange.
Filters Exchange stood out because the owner actually responded on my thread that he is willing to accept paypal although not mentioned anywhere on his multiply e-store. However, he mentioned that the only thing that concerns him is that Paypal charges the seller or the recipient of the payment a particular amount at around 4 to 10% including the bank withdrawal percentage. So if I bought a 100USD item, it would then add up another 10% meaning I have to pay 110USD which is significant. Sir Joseph the owner of Filters Exchange said that he doesn’t want to add that additional burden to the buyer. The additional problem at that time was that the item I plan to order was still out of stock, so I had to wait a week or two for it to be available. I asked Sir Joseph to contact me when it is available, he agreed, but I got to learn it was available a couple of weeks later just as he was posting an update on the stock availiability.
Filters Exchange
I mentioned, well usually a buyer using paypal is already aware of the additional charge, if not then he should inform them, and they may not mind. So I said I don’t mind the additional fee as long as the transaction is reasonably fast and efficient. Another problem we encountered is that there was no fixed calculations for the items how much to add to the retail price when doing the paypal-to-paypal transaction. We had some rough calculations; that’s why I decided to build a new paypal calculator for this purpose on this blog.
Fast –forward to the time when the items are finally on-stock. After we mutually agreed that I’ll be charged extra for doing a paypal-to-paypal transaction, I selected some items on his multiply e-store. Sir Joseph, fondly called Sir Lehboy on forums, tipidpc ads or sulit.ph ads was quick enough to respond on our Instant Messenger conversations. We not only talked about the transaction but we talked about other stuff as well. The atmosphere was laid back and reassuring. After I confirmed what I would want, I private messaged the items I plan to order to him. The next day we YM again to confirm the calculations on the extra charges and whatnots. Then a couple of clarifications later, I sent the payment to his paypal address. He confirmed details on some of the items and asked for what shipping courier would be comfortable for me.
That was on Thursday April 23, 2009. The next day I contacted Sir Joseph again to ask for the shipping info, it was that day when he shipped that item, I got the shipping info later that day, he encountered some problems with the courier and one of the items I ordered was declined by the courier, so that other item will be shipped later.
Package Received
Saturday April 25, 2009 after lunch, I got a call from the courier asking for my exact location. 10 minutes later, package has arrived. It was well wrapped and all items have no speck of dust in it, even the packaging. I was pleased of how fast my transaction with Filter Exchange ensued. Basically I would say, Responsiveness is about an 8 out of 10 since sometimes Sir Lehboy is so busy with other orders, but he takes time to confirm the orders if you are already decided. Shipping efficiency and delivery I rank 10 out of 10, another recipient of the GP Gold Seal.
I am still waiting for the shipment of the final item of this set, judging by the reliability of the previous set, I bet it would be here sooner than I think…
Package Opened
Items Pristine
So are you ready to order at Filters Exchange? I highly recommend them; tell Sir Joseph you found the info on this site.
Wait for my review of the individual items I ordered on future posts.
Congratulations Filters Exchange for achieving the Gee Please Gold Standard.
If you have any feedback for Filters Exchange, don’t hesitate to leave your comments below.
ILC Imaging aka inkdepot Part2
Monday March 23, 2009, exactly ten days after my initial inquiry my items were shipped by ILC Imaging a.k.a. inkdepot. Miss Joan Chua texted me that the shipping was initiated and I have to wait until Friday for my package to get to me. So I figured, that would be about 5 days, I was figuring it would only take them a day or three days to the most. Anyway, this was because the shipping possibly uses an actual ship to ship out the items. Kidding aside, I am a patient person, so I was happy still that my order is progressing. I am doing this review for the benefit of the other customers who are still hesitant to the power of Online Merchants, read my side-story and intro to this here.
I texted Miss Joan for the tracking number and the Address of the Courier since the items are for pick-up. I called the courier by Friday and my item wasn’t there yet. It took four more days for my orders to finally arrive. I picked the order up on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. There were two boxes and shipping cost was quite reasonable, the other box was heavy and the other light. I was excited to open the box, and I noticed the box wrapping is wrapped all over by packing tape, you can’t see bare box skin on the package, the whole thing is zombified by the packing tape, now that is what you call Packing! ILC imaging does make sure your package is well-packed, another Plus on my list. What mad the package a little pretty was my name computer printed under the ILC Logo on the package, I like seeing my name on a package, lol!
Ok so I got home, I then slowly unwrapped the package like a kid on Christmas Day, I was practically drooling. After a few minutes of figuring out how to open the packing tape wrapped box, I was finally able to see the items. They are packed neatly inside the box, not even a mosquito can breathe inside the package, and no item was out of place, it was all really well wrapped and packed and neatly organized, until I notice the printer, looking inside it’s box, my first instinct was to reach for the manual. Oh no! The manual wasn’t there, so I executed my perennial items checking mode. Okay so the individual kits were there, inks check, PVC check, Laminating kit check, Printer Kit…. There was no Manual, CD-Installer, Power Cord and USB cord. So I again hurriedly texted Miss Joan about this, I informed her that I made sure to check for everything and those were the only items missing. So I had to wait three more days to sort this out, Miss Joan finally shipped the missing items on Friday April 3, 2009. I then received the rest of the items via Fed-Ex/Air21 Local four days later. Download the Instruction Manual at the end of this article for the check list I made for your convenience including instructions on the CISS.
Epson R230
All in all it took about twenty days for me to actually try out my order, when I had problems with testing the kits, all I needed to do was call or text Miss Joan and she replies promptly.
Now on to the fun part, I setup the printer and tried some prints, first print was not too perfect, so I figured I clean up the clogged printer heads and refill the inks. Tried again and still no luck, so I tried to re-prime the CISS as instructed on some online videos I found. Don’t worry I have made a Special Instruction Manual at the end of this article for the convenience of ILC imaging customers who encounters some issues, so that you don’t have to bug Miss Joan all the time, right Miss Joan?
So it took me several more times to figure out priming the inks until it printed ok. Then I tried printing on to the PVC, print outs were all smudged, so I called Miss Joan again, until I finally notice that the ink cartridge needs to be removed because there was an overflow at the bottom of the ink head, possibly caused by shipping the printer. I cleaned those up, re-primed again and all was going smoothly, until I decided to laminate the PVC I printed.
Six Inks Set
Laminator
Now on to the Laminating machine. I was too excited that I forgot to check all the other things I usually check. I checked if Printer and Laminating machine was rated at 220Volts, and it was. Don’t forget to check yours too; you might burn your unit if the corresponding voltage rating is set differently. Then I checked the plugs, the printer plugs were ok, the laminator it is then that I noticed that it has a special plug. To my dismay, I contemplated cutting the cord and replace it with a regular plug, until I figured it is much easier to go to a local hardware store and look for a Universal Outlet Plug Adaptor (pictured below).
Not Regular Plug
Universal Plug Adaptor
Don’t forget to screw in the lever arm of the card cutter, if you can’t turn the lever the proper way; unscrew the hinge that locks it in. The two little metal stoppers where the lever is supposed to be in between of. Those little stoppers can be screwed out. Enough of the screwing around and let’s proceed to laminating.
Puncher
Cutter and Puncher
So I successfully laminated the PVC using the settings pictured below. If you watched the video on ILC Imaging about laminating, it took the operator a much longer time to get the system to heat up right? One tip, put it instead of the ¼ position to the ½ position of the dial, then after a minute, turn it back to the ¼ desired position. That will heat the laminator up way quicker.
Laminator
So are you ready to order at ILC Imaging? I highly recommend them; tell Miss Joan you found the info on this site. Oh and the promised Instruction Manual for the CISS you can view or download here. Click to view, or Right-Click then Save as to save.
Congratulations to ILC Imaging for receiving the Gold Standard!
Our First Ever GP Gold Seal is awarded to you!
Give your feedback to ILC imaging on the comment section below if you like thanks!
ILC Imaging aka inkdepot Part1
I saw a TV episode of ABS-CBN titled KSS (Kabuhayang Swak na Swak) last Sunday March 8, 2009. One of the mentioned companies is ILC Imaging which happens to have the items I was looking for. It was perfect timing, as I was previously sick and had to rest a lot, I had time to think about the things I needed done and this was one of them, purchase a CISS(Continuous Ink Supply System) and the Laminator kit which I needed for my friends special project. I thought, it’s a good way to start my recovery, getting busy helping a friend and making some profit in the process.
As I was accustomed to online e-commerce, having dealt with purchasing and selling stuff online, I figured I’ll checkout ILC Imaging’s provided Multiply site on the TV slot. So I researched about them and the items but sadly I found limited info. So after about 4 days of searching and making sure I needed what I’m going to purchase, I contacted one of the e-mails posted on their multiply site. That was Friday, March 13, 2009.
I inquired about the CISS and Laminator Kit and had to make sure of some things. I asked the following things I didn’t find in their website and listed are their corresponding answers:
Do you Ship to the Province?
Yes they do, buyer covers shipping costs.
Do you have Bundle Prices for multiple orders?
Yes they have and with special pricing too.
Do you sell the refill for the inks?
Yes they do, they supply inks.
Do you sell PVC Cards?
Yes they do, they supply box sets of PVC.
How do you give me free training since I am from the province?
They provide phone support and links to training videos if you have any concerns.
Visit their Multiply Website Below if you need more info:
- ILC Imaging
However, when ordering inks from them, they cannot use regular couriers like LBC or Air21, so they used a different freight service which took 7 days to deliver cargo and have to pick them up at their drop-off point, so no door-to-door for this kind of special order. Add that to the slight delay in packaging my orders of about 3 days and it took all in all 10days for the package to arrive, and I have to call the freight service most of the time to confirm if package has arrived. Basically ILC imaging is quite prompt in shipping your orders, but the courier might encounter further delays.
Continuing… It took me a couple more days to set my orders, there have several options of the printer set, and several packages for inks and PVC’s so you need to make sure which to order. So I clarified some items, asked for advantages and disadvantages. Miss Joan Chua the owner is kind enough to answer all my queries and this was all through e-mail. It took me Five more days of asking and querying, since it is best to be an informed buyer and making sure you get what you want before placing an order. It is hard to return items you dont want later. I asked for payment options, and the most convenient was through bank-to-bank transfer. Payment can be made through bank transfer for (BPI, BDO, Chinabank, and Metrobank) and/or G-cash. Warranty was also covered by ILC Imaging for their items.
The process was quite hassle-free. You place and confirm the order, Miss Chua sends you an Invoice, you confirm the invoice and ask for ILC imaging’s bank account info, and you deposit the amount to pay for on ILC’s account, have the receipt enlarged and fax it to their number which they will provide. Miss Joan also gave me her mobile number so all I had to do was sms/text or call her to confirm that I have sent the money and I have faxed the bank receipt. She will then confirm if money was received on her end, and then she contacts you when the order will be shipped. Then you can ask her for the tracking number of the package so you can track the items your self. Don’t hesitate to call or text her if you need anything, she will answer all your queries promptly and that is an A Plus Plus for customer satisfaction in my book. You need to provide ILC first and foremost the following when placing an order:
1. Complete Name
2. Complete Address
3. Contact Number (Incl. Mobile)
4. Company Name (if applicable)
See Part 2 for this article to see what happened when I received the orders.
.
GP Gold Achievers
GIZMODO- JooJoo Tablet Gets New Interface With Updated Home Screen, Navigation and Keyboards [Jooojoo] March 11, 2010
- Intel's 6-Core Gulftown Gets Tested, Blows Us Away [CPUs] March 11, 2010
- Apple iBooks' Many Ebook Categories Include "Erotica" [Unconfirmed] March 11, 2010
- I Would Be Happy With Just Half an Infinity Bath [Bath] March 11, 2010
- Heavy Rain: A Peek Into the Future of Movies and Games [Entertain Me] March 11, 2010
- Emergency Vehicle Gadget Overload Will Kill/Save Us All [Trends] March 11, 2010
- The Barnes & Noble eReader iPad App Is On the Way (But Will Apple Maim It?) [Apple] March 11, 2010
- Chatroulette Map Shows You Where These Creeps Live [Chatroulette] March 11, 2010
- Pink Floyd Wins Legal Battle to Only Sell Full Albums Online [Downloads] March 11, 2010
- Where Next for the Manned Space Program? [Space] March 11, 2010
Recent Comments
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Worried. Yes, most Nissin Di866 depending on where you bought it from has some...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Ricky, Not unless your Metz Manual flash is set to trigger at TTL, then it...
- worried: i just bought mine last saturday, to shot for my brother’s wedding… it was very noisy...
- Ricky: Hi, firstly, good job on this informative review. I’m looking for a 2nd slave flash for my Pentax...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Sorry for the long wait, as you can see we haven’t updated the site yet,...
- Migs: Sir! I have two questions. 1) I have a Canon 430EX II, planning to buy Di622 which will serve as my slave....
- Jack: Hi, I just bought a Nissin Di622. When I try yesterday the unit with my Canon 7d as slave the di622 work but...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: @Michael: It will work off-camera via ttl triggering. @Long: The red glass...
- benting: hello newbie here. which do you think is a best buy? two nissin di622 or 1 nikon sb-600? and i really...
- long: my red glass have broken and scattered to pieces…do i need to buy a new flashlight or can change the red...
