Online Shopping Reviews

Best iPhone 4 Alternatives: i68 4G VS. AirPhone 4G

If you love iPhone 4 but can’t afford it, some made-in-China cell phones like i68 4G and AirPhone 4G may be a great alternative. These cell phones are developed with similar features of iPhone 4 but offered at much lower prices. Technically, they are not “replica iPhone 4” or “knock-off iPhone 4” as their manufacturers will never put the Apple iPhone logo on their bodies. But they do copy a number of distinctive features from iPhone 4. In China, people call such cell phones “iPhone Shanzhai Ji” while in some English speaking regions, people call them “iPhone clones”.

Though the Apple iPhone 4 was released just two months ago in some countries, China has already seen some high-end cell phones that feature very closely to iPhone 4. Among all, i68 4G and AirPhone 4G are the best in terms of quality, features and prices, all of which are the biggest concerns for most iPhone 4 style cell phone seekers. Below is a detailed comparison made between i68 4G and AirPhone 4G, in terms of their main features, specifications, prices as well as suppliers.

Note: The major differences are all highlighted in green and bold.

1. i68 4G

Supplier 1: www.davismicro.com

Purchase quantity-based wholesale prices available:

Purchase Qty. Unit Price
1—2:                          US $72.33 per piece
3—6:                            US $70.66 per piece
More:                             Even lower price

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Best College Graduation Dresses for Summer 2013

The college graduation season is coming around and girls start looking for gorgeous graduation dresses that fit their budgets. As a sub-category of special occasion dresses, ladies’ graduations dresses can be easily found at Chinese fashion stores and new styles are being constantly added to attract customers around the world. This post will introduce the best 2013 college graduation dresses handpicked from Chinese stores that serve global buyers such as Lightinthebox.com, Milaoo.com or Dinodirect.com.

I share lovely graduation dresses at reasonable prices or on sale at China shopping sites from time to time. Yesterday, I searched Google Image and came across an image of cheap graduation dresses for college posted at my own blog by myself in 2011. There are all together 12 styles of college graduation dresses in the image – all selected from the graduation dress collection of Lightinthebox.com (read review), a renowned Chinese international online retailer. Seriously, though the stunningly beautiful dresses were 2011 hot styles, they are still great choices for 2013 graduation ceremonies or parties. They are so classy that they seem never out-of-fashion. Click the image below to see details.

cheap college graduation dresses at Lightinthebox.com — Cheap college graduation dresses from Chinese store Lightinthebox.com

The good news is: if you find a dreamed style from the Lightinthebox 2011 graduation series, you can still order it with the site now. All formal or semi-formal dresses like college graduation gowns are custom-made based on customers’ specific measurements by their own dressmakers. For this reason they are able to make a dress listed at the site anytime and you don’t have to worry about sizing problems. However, note that as it takes time to tailor a dress and to ship the order, you should read carefully the time frames indicated at the product page before you place an order. You know, your graduation dress must arrive in time!

Besides the styles mentioned above, Lightinthebox.com also carries a selection of college graduation dresses that follow closely the 2013 latest trends. Most are available at around $100 and discounts are frequently offered. Here are a few cute styles with high customer ratings:

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Deals on 2013 Summer Beach Dresses, Hats, Shoes and Swimwear from Dinodirect.com

If you visit my blogging site regularly, you may have noticed that I am posting deals on summer fashion and accessories quite frequently here. All of the deals are offered by Chinese sites, of course. You know, I focus on discussing China-based online retail stores or wholesale stores only, though I occasionally do share something about US or European stores. As I mentioned in an early article, Dinodirect.com has released a promotional collection of summer 2013 wardrobe statements for men and women. This post will focus on the “colorful” beach apparel and accessories part.

The “Beaches” subcategory of the Dinodirect 2013 summer first-round sale includes women’s beach dresses, hats, shoes and swimsuits with up to 23% off plus free shipping. As a tradition, the deals will last for a limited time only though so far I haven’t made clear about the exact deadline. Anyway, if you see any deal of your interest there and are satisfied with the after-discount price for it, just take it as soon as possible. Based on my research, although they issue Dinodirect coupon codes very frequently but the discount scope is generally no more than 10% off and it is order value-based.

For the current beach clothing and accessories sale, you don’t have to reach any order value threshold in order to enjoy the discount. The price has already been reduced by the discount displayed on the product page so you only need to add it to the shopping cart and then check it out. The product you order will be shipped to your doorstep in 15-25 business days if you choose the free shipping service. If you want a quicker delivery, you can choose an expedited shipping method like EMS, USA Express, FedEx, DHL or DHL by paying a shipping fee as displayed on the product page. Then you will get the package in 3-12 business days depending on your destination as well as the specific shipping method you choose.

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TS Brand Story: A Famous Chinese Fashion Brand Backed by Lightinthebox.com

I hadn’t done any serious research on the TS (Three Seasons) clothing brand until one day I suddenly realized that it must be in close relationship with Lightinthebox.com (read the detaile review) otherwise the famous Chinese international shopping site won’t give such an important exposure rate to it. In addition to highlighting the Chinese apparel brand in the menu of the “Fashion” category as well as the homepage featured categories zone, Lightinthebox also frequently launches sales for the brand. In particular, you can see TS clothing deals released in their Today’s Sales page quite regularly.

I though TS is simply a famed Chinese fashion brand that works closely with Lightinthebox.com and uses the site to promote their products to buyers around the world, just like many other powerful clothing brands or manufacturers do. For instance, at the well-known Chinese shopping sites like Aliexpress.com, Dinodirect.com or Milanoo.com, we can find a good number of Chinese clothing brands selling their products there.

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FocalPrice Review: from eBay Big Seller to Electronic Gadget Shopping Site

In early 2010, a friend mentioned to me FocalPrice.com and asked whether I know this electronic gadget online store or not. My answer was “No.”. To be honest, at that time my focus was all on giant e-commerce websites like Lightinthebox.com and AliExpress.com. The friend told me FocalPrice is widely known among stores around Huaqiangbei, the famous trading centre of consumer electronics, computing products and communications products (3C) in the Shenzhen city. Months ago, I started to extend my attention to smaller China-based international shopping sites and have posted reviews of some such sites. Below is what I’ve learnt about FocalPrice.com.

Created by Peiliang Li at his early 20’s in 2008, the customer base of FocalPrice grew quickly as the young man has already developed plenty of customers with his team at eBay. Many small and medium-sized Chinese foreign trade websites have similar stories. They are established because their founders are no longer satisfied with the success they have achieved at eBay as big sellers – they want their own websites to further expand their businesses. However, not all such sites turn out successful. FocalPrice is one of the few that survive well. It earns huge revenues every year and it never needs to attract any venture capital to keep itself go on.

FocalPrice specializes in the 3C product lines and offers a variety of electronic gadgets to global buyers. Popular items there include accessories for Apple devices (iPhone4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, Mac, iPod Nano, iPod Touch, iPod classic), made-in-China cell phones, Chinese featured tablet PCs and laptops and accessories, car accessories and lots more. Both wholesale and retail orders are accepted and dropshipping service is available. When it comes to the China wholesale electronic market, FocalPrice is ranked the third in my personal list, following DinoDirect.com (see DinoDirect Review) and ChinaVasion.com (see ChinaVasion Review).

If the complete collection of electronic gadgets is one big reason for the great success FocalPrice.com has made, the competitive pricing should be another equally big reason. Generally, the prices FocalPrice offers are 10%-17% lower than market wholesale prices (and times lower than market retail prices). The fact that most of FocalPrice’s cooperative suppliers come from Huaqiangbei well explains why the site is able to offer such low factory prices. As I mentioned above, Huaqiangbei is the hub of electronic shops. Almost every shop there has one or more factories behind. By building long-term business relationships with such shops, FocalPrice can always get the bottom manufacturing prices in order to enhance its own competitive capacities. As I know, the supplier network of FocalPrice is extremely huge.

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DinoDirect Review: A China Wholesaler or A China Wholesale Transaction Platform?

When it comes to the China wholesale market, it is interesting to mention that some of the wholesale shopping websites are making huge revenues every year while they may not be widely known in the arena. In particular, three names are the best representatives: DinoDirect.com, DealExtreme.com and ChinaVasion.com. I have introduced some basic facts about Chinavasion in a previous post (See ChinaVasion Review), and here I would like to share my findings of DinoDirect.com.

Business Model

DinoDirect.com adopts a special business model. It looks like a transaction platform as you can find supplier information on the product description pages. However, the website handles orders through its own order processing system and keeps a number of warehouses in the United States, Canada and other countries or regions. I was stunningly impressed by its advanced warehouse management system – it’s hard to find another wholesale site that has the same good warehouses.

Offices, Warehouses, Brands & Products

Based on my knowledge, DinoDirect is owned by DinoDirect China Limited and has a head office in Chongqing, Sichuan Province. Their major warehouse is located in Shenzhen — based on the latest report, the city’s foreign trade volume is the biggest in Chin this year. Besides, it has 10 branch offices in different countries and regions. The products sent to buyers are basically from its overseas warehouses.

Continue reading DinoDirect Review: A China Wholesaler or A China Wholesale Transaction Platform?