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I just bought a 6 foot HDMI cable from China for 99 cents, how is this possible

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Eug said:
A lot of those cheap cables really, really suck. Seriously, just spend $3.50 for the ones at Monoprice, or "splurge" and spend $7.50 for the 24 AWG ones.
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Sure those $1 cables maybe of shoddy quality but it is already amazing at it is to even have a functional product for that price. If the market demands higher quality cable they can just put in like $1 more per unit and have the quality skyrocket. Their mass production efficiency has been refined to the point that no third world country can even come close, this is the real scary part.
 
The prices are crazy, makes it all the worst to do an emergency purchase at a local store. Bestbuy, walmart, you'll never get an HDMI cable without feeling like you wanted lube. Cables in general I think have the biggest discrepancy in pricing between local store and internet. Really more than anything else I can think of.
 
99cents for an HDMI cable with shipping included?

The Chinesers have built tunnels through the earth to the US. They are waiting to invade, but currently they're using them for easier shipping of goods.
 
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Is this stuff (cables, phone chargers, ect) actually shipped from China to your door? I would think they would just send a big-ass shipping container stuffed with them over on a boat.

But even then, USPS charges a solid buck, minimum, to ship any envelope with more than some paper inside. I know it costs me at least $2 to ship a DVD.
 
StrangerGuy said:
Sure those $1 cables maybe of shoddy quality but it is already amazing at it is to even have a functional product for that price. If the market demands higher quality cable they can just put in like $1 more per unit and have the quality skyrocket. Their mass production efficiency has been refined to the point that no third world country can even come close, this is the real scary part.
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That's my point actually. Those $3.50 Monoprice cables are also made in China but are much better quality than the 99¢ Chinese cables. On eBay maybe they go for $2.50, or a buck cheaper, but at that point who cares? The problem with eBay is you never know. Some of the eBay $2.50 cables also suck. With the $3.50 Monoprice 6-ft cables you know they're at least OK.

The main problem with Monoprice pricing is that shipping is extra, but if you're in the US, it's still cheap. For us Canadians shipping is a bit more expensive, but I still order from them because the improvement in quality is significant and worth it, and the shipping is usually faster anyway. I just buy a few cables at a time, esp. when I'm ordering other stuff, sometimes of varying grades depending upon the length, and keep the extras as backups. Its always nice to have these cables handy instead of waiting 3 weeks for a delivery or spending $30 at Best Buy.
 
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Shipping is essentially free if you can wait long enough for spare space on a freighter. That's how come they can make money even on sub-dollar sales after ebay/paypal fees. It just takes like 3+ weeks to reach you from China; that's the main problem.
 
amdhunter said:
Well, when even 1 point gets you auto-banned for a week, one starts to lose his edge when trying to find that perfect balance between pissing a n00b off, and pissing Doc Pizza or Perknose off.

A simple infraction and I am fudged big time.

The worst part is, my current points here will take longer to expire than points for driving in NYC.
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You were warned well in advance about points and continued the same behavior.

Apparently you believed that the Mods were bluffing.

You lost that hand big time.

A complete year of double checking yourself. Maybe it will create a decent impression.
 
blastingcap said:
Shipping is essentially free if you can wait long enough for spare space on a freighter. That's how come they can make money even on sub-dollar sales after ebay/paypal fees. It just takes like 3+ weeks to reach you from China; that's the main problem.
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They find an pallet going in a container that has some space. Drop on a load grease a palm and it is on a slow boat from Chins.
 
Sorry, but I rolled my eyes at this. I can't say I've ever spent more than $3 or $4 on an HDMI cable of any length that wasn't a specialty cable.

I always thought that charging more than $5 for almost any kind of cable of any reasonable length was insane but doing so anyway changed the public's perception. This all started with printer and USB cables. Now they are happy to pay the prices I demand as a maximum and AMAZED by anything less.
 
I only buy from monoprice. I do buy the cables with the smallest gauge wire for the length I need. I experimented once with their larger gauges and they do not like to bend at the connector end. Actually the connector is a little too fragile.

I have thought since that an electrical tape or duct tape wrap might be a good thing for stress relief ... bit trailer, I know, but none of my friends have ever looked at the cable connections ... that would be a bit trailer also. So trailer - trailer = 0!

Does anyone really believe that even Mon$ter is made anywhere but China/Malaysia? Except for lengthy cables, digital cable either work or they don't. Very long cables (subjective) can have other issues tho. I have a few 15' & 25' HDMI cables from monoprice without issues.

I preordered a SGSIII via amazon wireless. When it shipped I got a tracking number that started in China.
 
Monster HDMI cables actually aren't bad. They're certainly better than the cheapest Chinese cables. However, they should be priced at about 1/10th of their retail price. ie. I think it's reasonable to pay $20 for a $200 Monster Cable. 😛

CZroe said:
Sorry, but I rolled my eyes at this. I can't say I've ever spent more than $3 or $4 on an HDMI cable of any length that wasn't a specialty cable.

I always thought that charging more than $5 for almost any kind of cable of any reasonable length was insane but doing so anyway changed the public's perception. This all started with printer and USB cables. Now they are happy to pay the prices I demand as a maximum and AMAZED by anything less.
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If you buy HDMI cables around say 15 ft in length or longer, you're almost guaranteed to run into problems eventually if you're buying only cables that are $5 or less.
 
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You do somewhat get what you pay for.
You do not have to spend an arm and a leg, but I bought some cheap HDMI cables from a local place that has a lot of surplus shit, and the HDMI cables flake out at high resolution, often making the TV flicker on and off. I also tried to use some cheap cables to link some switches together at work and the link would not work until we got some higher quality cables. The advertised bandwidth and features of the cable were just a flat out lie. The one, which I am returning today, I have to run at 1280x720 for it to work properly on my TV.. Terrible product.
 
I never had a need for very many HMI cables. I have one HDMI to PCI for PC and a regular one for PS3. Nothing else i have even has the option for such. Got em on Newegg for like $10 a few years back

HamburgerBoy said:
What pleasure do you gain in pissing off n00bs? Is it because you were pissed off as a n00b? Were you born into an unwelcoming forum, and repeatedly pissed off in your very first posts? Were you kidnapped and brought into a dark chatroom by a moderator you thought you could trust, where people repeatedly pissed you off all day? Did you get started by pissing off spambots, JulesMaximus, and other small forum animals that were easier to piss off on? How many n00bs have you pissed off, and when will it end?
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Maybe he started off at sounddomain forums, if so then i understand. They have immature mods who will edit your post to get you banned from another mod, so childish there its funny. You might be suprised to see how many forums out there could really tick off a new member right off the bat just for saying hello in the new members threads....trust me, i know all too well.
 
CraigRT said:
You do somewhat get what you pay for.
You do not have to spend an arm and a leg, but I bought some cheap HDMI cables from a local place that has a lot of surplus shit, and the HDMI cables flake out at high resolution, often making the TV flicker on and off. I also tried to use some cheap cables to link some switches together at work and the link would not work until we got some higher quality cables. The advertised bandwidth and features of the cable were just a flat out lie. The one, which I am returning today, I have to run at 1280x720 for it to work properly on my TV.. Terrible product.
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Yup. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It also depends on the equipment, since some equipment is more tolerant of crap cables than others.

In my experience:

Uber cheap Chinese cables: Very bad QA, sometimes fail even at very short lengths. However, many work up to about 6 feet, esp. if you don't go beyond 1080i. For lengths beyond 6 feet they seem to flake out really, really quickly.
Monoprice 28 AWG cables: Reliable until about 6 feet or so, but may work for longer lengths.
Monoprice 24 AWG cables: Decent until about 15 feet or so but may work for longer lengths.
Monoprice 22 AWG cables: May be decent until about 25 feet or so. However, if I really want a 25 foot I spend more on better quality cables, esp. at those lengths I might be sticking it in a wall, and 22 AWG is extremely stiff too.

A good cable for 25 foot lengths is Blue Jeans Series 1. However, that's $87 for a 25 foot length.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.htm

To put it another way, for anything at about 15 feet or less I buy Monoprice cables. They're a few bucks more than eBay Chinese cables, but the reliability is much, much better. I don't care that I have to pay $2-10 more per cable, as that's not breaking the bank obviously. In this length range, decent cables should be $15 or less, plus shipping. At 25 feet though I pay $$$ for HDMI cables, at close to $100 each including shipping.
 
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The Chinese government actually subsidizes pretty much all of the shipping charges for goods sold to the US. That's how they're able to sell them for 99 cents and still make a profit.
 
Eug said:
Monster HDMI cables actually aren't bad. They're certainly better than the cheapest Chinese cables. However, they should be priced at about 1/10th of their retail price. ie. I think it's reasonable to pay $20 for a $200 Monster Cable. 😛


If you buy HDMI cables around say 15 ft in length or longer, you're almost guaranteed to run into problems eventually if you're buying only cables that are $5 or less.
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Yes, you need quality cables for long runs, but the price should still be within expectations and not increase exponentially. That is also within what I consider a "specialty cable."

The beauty of digital signals is that they either work or they don't. If they don't, the cable is defective and I will exchange it. With this philosophy, cables that develop problems after being bent or mistreated are easily replaced for cheap. As far as longevity, I'm more worried about the ports they plug into. I find them broken as or more often than I find damaged cables/connectors.
 
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Not available in Canada.

Chances are it's shipping from within the US. They probably have some kind of contract with US shippers to ship really cheap.

I usually buy from Monoprice, though the shipping usually ends up around 50-100 bucks + another couple hundred bucks of customs, so I only make big orders to make it worthwhile. I usually order about 1k worth of stuff (if I was to buy it somewhere else) The customs is hit and miss though, I've had times where I only paid like 20 bucks. either way, when I bulk order even if I end up paying 300 bucks in shipping/customs I save a lot compared to if I had paid 30 bucks per cable locally. Even a freaking cat6 cable here is like 30 bucks. It's hilarious.

Though I did order a hydrogen sensor off ebay and think it did come from China and the shipping was actually free. Wonder how they do that. Whether it's by boat or plane, it has to cost quite a lot to get that to me. Guess it's all about volume and the fact that no matter what that boat or plane would be heading here anyway so what's another couple grams to add to it.
 
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Oh man, a .99 cable, your picture and sound is going to be HORRIBLE. Bose really needs to start making high end cables so the world can be a better place.
 
You know Comcast techs give out free high quality gold plated HDMI cables if you ask them nicely. I always get two per visit 🙂
 
It sounds to me like you just experienced the miracle of capitalism without overbearing government regulation. If only America could be more like China. 🙁
 
I but all kind of connectors and cables on ebay for less than 2 dollars, not sure how they do it, but who the fuck cares, they fucking work
 
Eug said:
Yup. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It also depends on the equipment, since some equipment is more tolerant of crap cables than others.

In my experience:

Uber cheap Chinese cables: Very bad QA, sometimes fail even at very short lengths. However, many work up to about 6 feet, esp. if you don't go beyond 1080i. For lengths beyond 6 feet they seem to flake out really, really quickly.
Monoprice 28 AWG cables: Reliable until about 6 feet or so, but may work for longer lengths.
Monoprice 24 AWG cables: Decent until about 15 feet or so but may work for longer lengths.
Monoprice 22 AWG cables: May be decent until about 25 feet or so. However, if I really want a 25 foot I spend more on better quality cables, esp. at those lengths I might be sticking it in a wall, and 22 AWG is extremely stiff too.

A good cable for 25 foot lengths is Blue Jeans Series 1. However, that's $87 for a 25 foot length.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.htm

To put it another way, for anything at about 15 feet or less I buy Monoprice cables. They're a few bucks more than eBay Chinese cables, but the reliability is much, much better. I don't care that I have to pay $2-10 more per cable, as that's not breaking the bank obviously. In this length range, decent cables should be $15 or less, plus shipping. At 25 feet though I pay $$$ for HDMI cables, at close to $100 each including shipping.
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Well, i'm running at 720p, so i should be good to go. I don't see why it would make a difference, digital is digital.
 
StrangerGuy said:
Sure those $1 cables maybe of shoddy quality but it is already amazing at it is to even have a functional product for that price. If the market demands higher quality cable they can just put in like $1 more per unit and have the quality skyrocket. Their mass production efficiency has been refined to the point that no third world country can even come close, this is the real scary part.
Click to expand...

Americans want the best pay, healthcare, environment/labor standards, but refuse to pay for someone making cables under those conditions,

they would rather pay as little as possible for some super EFFICIENT third world country to make such products and spend their time bitching about the injustice of the economic/political system while their quality of life continually declines.
 
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