The other night I was browsing the net (as you do) and kept being approached by Temu, the Chinese trading consortium that is similar to Ali Baba and wish. I have looked many times previously and know that friend Mark S got a large number of perfectly acceptable palm trees for a pittance, that, had he bought them from Battlefront or someone similar, would have cost £15 for 5 or something like that.
Anyway, I finally plucked up courage to risk a sample purchase, and they were delivered today, 2pm on a Saturday, by an Uber driver!
Hopefully when you click on the image above to enlarge it, it is legible. If not, what it shows is, I ordered on Sunday, it was shipped on Monday and I have received it on Saturday!
This little lot cost me NZ$18 - US$12 or £9 (approximately), post free
10 each of two sizes of trees, 100mm and 80mm (they were the largest available) ......
..... and six strips of various coloured flowers for basing
Not photographed individually but in the main photo above, a pack of summer yellow tree flock - I would imagine that on its own would cost me $20 in a bricks and mortar hobby store in New Zealand.
So, for anyone who has been considering purchasing these types of hobby supplies from the likes of Temu but has hesitated, I would recommend you give them a try, I am very happy with the results and may well look at some 3d printed scenery next - not sure I would risk figures, but ruined house etc should be ok! (See below a couple of random examples of what is available......)
Off to a big Sunday game at Barrys tomorrow, a Back of Beyond type affair put on by Andrew and using his 20th Century rules, so should be lots of pretty pictures in 24-48 hours' time!
Hmm. Something to consider.
ReplyDeleteI think I will definitely be getting some more scenic stuff, Jon!
DeleteThey do look decent and can't go wrong for the price
ReplyDeleteCheers Neil - the tress area actually only 80mm and 60mm (despite what it says on the packaging) but they will still work well.
DeleteI've bought a few bits from Temu myself. They are a pain though. Once you've bought something they bombard you with messages, emails and such to buy more. Saying that I'm perfectly happy with most of the things I've bought i did buy some very nice looking large trees, around the 7-8 inch mark. Only to discover on arrival they're one sided, to go against the backdrop of a railway scene. So nice and fluffy one side, flat as a pancake the other...lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray! I will probably get some slightly more expensive trees (the ones I got were NZ$5 for 10!) in the hope they are a bit larger. I am not too bothered about emails, I already delete about 80% of what's in my inbox without reading it, so will just add Temu to the list!
DeleteIt's amazing what you can pick up from China on various selling platforms, that are a fraction of the price compared to shopping in a store. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what you are getting, as per Ray above, but generally the stuff I've ordered has been fine. The only downside is finding stuff at a suitable scale for 10mm, but I haven't looked for a few years now, so things might have changed...
ReplyDeleteCheers Steve - I think you probably should have another look - a lot of the "60 trees for $9.99" type products were mainly 20 or 30mm trees - too small for 20 or 28mm, but could work well with 10mm?
DeleteHi Steve, I use Aliexpress for my 10mm terrain needs. Search N Scale railway terrain and you will find plenty.
DeleteThe lure of the cheap stuff is ongoing. You did well on your purchase.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is Joe and glad you like my purchases!
DeleteSame experience mate - my jungle foliage was a fraction of the cost it would’ve been from more regular sources…and it arrived very quickly indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks JBM - it got me to thinking about other peripherals - I just picked up 2 packs of 24 dice for $4 each packs from a "$2 shop" (pound shop in the UK) - they obviously came from China - so I wonder how much they would be on Temu?!
DeleteVery good point Keith. Never considered stuff like that. Mmmm.
DeleteI actually looked mate...put in 6mm dice ( for recording casualties) as a search and I think it was something like NZ$3 for 100 of them! Look for 8mm and there are literally hundreds of options.....
DeleteOh, that's looking really good!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Michal!
DeleteInteresting. I might have a go too.
ReplyDeleteI would say a small investment to test the water would be worth a try, OB.
DeleteAll that glistens is not gold! - I had ‘similar’ trees picked up on a bring and buy store and they had two problems. 1) they shed their foliage all too easily 2) the plastic body of the frame was not robust and did not stand up to my re-flocking attempts, causing them to lean over, though they were tall thin poplars, so may have been more susceptible to such attention. Buy cheap, buy twice as my dear old nan used to say …. With some reliability I have found over the years.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point of view too, Norm...fear of receiving absolute rubbish is what put me off trying Temu and co for several years, but with no minimum spend etc, I didn't really think it was that big a risk. The trees seem robust enough to me and are very similar to the ones I bought in a local $2 shop 8 to 12 months ago....which were also cheap by wargaming standards, but only came in one size and were still about three times the price of the ones direct from China!
DeleteInteresting, their ads keep popping up but never took the plunge, something to consider.
ReplyDeleteSame Donnie....I think anyone on the net probably gets the ads!
DeleteThanks for the tip Keith. I'll have a gander.
ReplyDeleteI think it is worth a look, Richard!
DeleteWhen I first purchased through Temu several years ago I had no idea they were shipping from China. I haven't bought a lot and some items are of variable quality, but it has always arrived quickly.
ReplyDeleteCheers Lawrence, based on my one experience and several bits of feedback, I think you get what you pay for, as per my response to Ben below
DeleteHaven't heard of them before: thanks for the tip--although with the current tariff stupidity going on here in the US, I may have to come back to them at a later date.
ReplyDeleteCan't comment on the current tariff nonsense Ed...would they bother/ have the ability to apply a tariff to every one of the thousands of $20 orders every day? I don't know what the current theoretical situation is, but even double the price ie a 100% tariff, would still make the trees and flock a bargain!
DeleteI have been using Aliexpress for about 10 years now Keith. Started like you with very small value purchases but have spent up to $100 a couple of times. In all that time only two packages didn't arrive and I feel I have only been "scammed" once - for $10 so no biggie. The other was probably just lost in the mail.
ReplyDeleteMuch faster postage these days which is better, before it was order and wait a month to 6 weeks 😁
I feel the products are value for money. Trees are not high quality like Noch or other expensive railway terrain but certainly good enough. Some of the other items (cars, trucks, etc) are exactly the same but a 1/10th of the price!
Totally agree with your second paragraph Ben. I knew these trees aren't top quality when I ordered them, but they are good enough for my wargames table, and I think if I paid a little more eg $10 for eight trees or similar, the quality would be significantly better!
DeleteA useful tip - I'm always on the look out for cheap trees - ta!
ReplyDeleteNo problem at all!
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