More like HLG buys their stuff from China, adds a logo and model name and sells it to gullible westerners for 5 times the price. These big companies are just economic parasites, they are selling you stuff sourced from these very production lines and claiming they are superior. I remember awhile back someone who lived in a place where importing costs a tonne asked for advice from Meiju and they told him to buy directly from someone they supplied to and it was HLG
No. No. No.
HLGs boards are manufactured in the US, the first models were originally made in china and they moved manufacturing back home, at that point the clones started showing up on ali and there have been 100 companies knocking them out, some been proven to be using the wrong diode, others are using genuine ones.
Trade assurance doesn't mean anything, the only thing that means anything is how many years the company has been registered on there.
When you have a problem trade assurance will take the sellers side 90% of the time, in the 10% they don't it takes months to sort out.
Its not ebay.
The 5 year warranty on the driver isn't worth anything, meanwells come with 7 year warranty but you need to send it back to the authorised dealer you bought from who will send it back to meanwell. You cant do that with baba, if you do send it back you will be expected to pay shipping and that will cost you a chunk of money.
Do you know what happens when mejui have to honour their warranty? They just say well you've had it 6 month so we will give you 50% of the board value for the board that's burnt out. That's not really a 1 year warranty us it.
Everyone on ali claims to be the factory that make them, but 95% of them are just middle men.
I used to import electrical goods , I know how quick companies you thought you had a good relationship with can turn that warranty to dust or just go dark on you.
Everything on ali is buyer beware. Buy with the understanding that the warranty isn't just words and you wont be disappointed.
Most people accept that.