Are eBAY HID Bulbs That Much Different from places like Xenondepot? Price is half
08-29-08, 10:31 PM
#1
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Are eBAY HID Bulbs That Much Different from places like Xenondepot? Price is half
Are Xenon bulbs from eBay that much different from brand names (Mtec, is that a brand name?) or stores like Xenondepot?
eBay has them from a seller with positive feedback for $70 shipped, for 6000K bulbs, and Xenondepot has them for $100 a bulb! And the eBay seller has many satisfied customers & positive feedback.
I'm looking for direct replacement for my 350. Not to sound like a cheap a$$, but is there really a $130 difference? eBay price is actually a third what Xenondepot charges. Yes, a third.
Not to knock them, I'm sure they're great, but does anybody have personal experience with eBay bulbs and actually notice a significant difference from other "premium" brands with the same temperature, 6000K preferably?
eBay has them from a seller with positive feedback for $70 shipped, for 6000K bulbs, and Xenondepot has them for $100 a bulb! And the eBay seller has many satisfied customers & positive feedback.
I'm looking for direct replacement for my 350. Not to sound like a cheap a$$, but is there really a $130 difference? eBay price is actually a third what Xenondepot charges. Yes, a third.
Not to knock them, I'm sure they're great, but does anybody have personal experience with eBay bulbs and actually notice a significant difference from other "premium" brands with the same temperature, 6000K preferably?
Last edited by S to the K; 08-29-08 at 10:48 PM.
08-29-08, 10:36 PM
#2
I think a lot of the price has to do with warranty. Regarding the differences in quality and stuff, I don't know if the difference is that GREAT but obviously you don't want bulbs that go out quick or don't give you good light output, color, etc.
08-29-08, 10:41 PM
#3
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Actually, a lot of the eBay sellers offer 6-12 month no hassle warranties. I would like to know if the performance is that much different. Enough difference to pay well more than double what eBay charges. Does anybody know for sure?
Last edited by S to the K; 08-29-08 at 10:47 PM.
08-29-08, 11:57 PM
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Okay I've had plenty of experience with Ebay and their HID kits and I can tell you many things so make sure you read my thoughts before you go off possibly wasting $70. (Take note I did say possibly)
First HID sellers on ebay offer a typical 1 year warranty and sometimes as long as 3 years. Technically speaking they are offering a warranty however the service for it is minimal. I have a friend who bought a set of HID H7's for $65 shipped and the kit broke (we found it was the ballast). The kit was sent back in for a warranty replacement as stated in the Ebay sales and they never contacted us and the kit was lost forever. As much of a warranty they have, there's a significant risk of them not keeping their word. And although you can claim through Ebay for recovery, it'll still be a VERY LONG HASSLE. Keep note of that.
Next lets look at the seller ratings. I've been monitoring several HID powersellers on Ebay and have found many of them to be frauds. In fact I've watched one particular seller who went under multiple names such as HID4Less2008 and HID4sale2006 and other variants which generally are the same. I began to monitor their sales and found that their kits start at $.99 with a $20 shipping fee. Normal on ebay to attract buyers to bid. In any case, about 1-2 days before a particular item's bidding time ends, the seller would log onto a buyer name which was xkk2022 or something like that to bid and raise the prices for those who are already bidding. He did that for every single post he made. This is a powerseller with a 95% postive rating. Eventually his account was closed due to this scamming. Beware of such sellers.
Now lets look at the bulb qualities of different companies. D4S/R/C bulbs for the IS OEM HID are all HID as this fitment does not come in halogen (at least not that I know of). As such these are somewhat of a "specialty" bulb being that only Lexus uses them and only on their more recent cars equipped with HID. That makes these bulbs different to find due to their low demand and the stock being HID ready with Philips bulbs (which are top quality). They're also mercury free which is a completely different technology (relatively speaking) in comparison to tradional HID bulbs with mercury. This is why many sellers (Ebay for example) are actually selling rebased D2 bulbs. Now will they work? They may turn on initially but eventually something WILL break. D2 and D4 bulbs both run a 35W but their currents and amps I believe are different. Either way D4 bulbs require a special ballast for their different technology. So going on Ebay to get these bulbs is a serious risk of buying fake products. Now will you? Probably not but you might still.
Even if you were to find a real D4 bulb for sale, unless it's a namebrand or high quality as proven by customers, chances are they are precisely made that they'll just burn out quicker than normal which happens a LOT on HID kits. In particular, most HID kits on the market are not precision made. It's mostly factories in China that manufacture and sell the kits as "Made in Japan, Designed in Germany" and other such claims. So it happens.
Buying from a vendor like xenondepot will run you $140+shipping for 2 6000k hid bulbs but that's an extra $70 for quality assurance and a proven warranty and great service. If you want to take that gamble and buy a possibly not-so-well-made, maybe fake, unbacked-up warranty, no name brand, made by who knows who and possibly break your ballast or wiring due to some crazy problem just to save $70, go for it!
First HID sellers on ebay offer a typical 1 year warranty and sometimes as long as 3 years. Technically speaking they are offering a warranty however the service for it is minimal. I have a friend who bought a set of HID H7's for $65 shipped and the kit broke (we found it was the ballast). The kit was sent back in for a warranty replacement as stated in the Ebay sales and they never contacted us and the kit was lost forever. As much of a warranty they have, there's a significant risk of them not keeping their word. And although you can claim through Ebay for recovery, it'll still be a VERY LONG HASSLE. Keep note of that.
Next lets look at the seller ratings. I've been monitoring several HID powersellers on Ebay and have found many of them to be frauds. In fact I've watched one particular seller who went under multiple names such as HID4Less2008 and HID4sale2006 and other variants which generally are the same. I began to monitor their sales and found that their kits start at $.99 with a $20 shipping fee. Normal on ebay to attract buyers to bid. In any case, about 1-2 days before a particular item's bidding time ends, the seller would log onto a buyer name which was xkk2022 or something like that to bid and raise the prices for those who are already bidding. He did that for every single post he made. This is a powerseller with a 95% postive rating. Eventually his account was closed due to this scamming. Beware of such sellers.
Now lets look at the bulb qualities of different companies. D4S/R/C bulbs for the IS OEM HID are all HID as this fitment does not come in halogen (at least not that I know of). As such these are somewhat of a "specialty" bulb being that only Lexus uses them and only on their more recent cars equipped with HID. That makes these bulbs different to find due to their low demand and the stock being HID ready with Philips bulbs (which are top quality). They're also mercury free which is a completely different technology (relatively speaking) in comparison to tradional HID bulbs with mercury. This is why many sellers (Ebay for example) are actually selling rebased D2 bulbs. Now will they work? They may turn on initially but eventually something WILL break. D2 and D4 bulbs both run a 35W but their currents and amps I believe are different. Either way D4 bulbs require a special ballast for their different technology. So going on Ebay to get these bulbs is a serious risk of buying fake products. Now will you? Probably not but you might still.
Even if you were to find a real D4 bulb for sale, unless it's a namebrand or high quality as proven by customers, chances are they are precisely made that they'll just burn out quicker than normal which happens a LOT on HID kits. In particular, most HID kits on the market are not precision made. It's mostly factories in China that manufacture and sell the kits as "Made in Japan, Designed in Germany" and other such claims. So it happens.
Buying from a vendor like xenondepot will run you $140+shipping for 2 6000k hid bulbs but that's an extra $70 for quality assurance and a proven warranty and great service. If you want to take that gamble and buy a possibly not-so-well-made, maybe fake, unbacked-up warranty, no name brand, made by who knows who and possibly break your ballast or wiring due to some crazy problem just to save $70, go for it!
08-30-08, 12:04 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
In hawaii right now weesped has XD 6k bulbs, about 2wks old and today i just put in 6k hid from JDM_Toy *ebay*, this may be a long term thing but maybe in 1yr from NOW we'll be able to compare how these bulbs from these companies are holding up so... stay tuned for my update... next yr or so 
course i drive mostly day and maybe only 1 nite a wk for our starbucks meets do i drive at nite while weesped drives at nite everyday for work... not a very 'controlled' experiment...
course i drive mostly day and maybe only 1 nite a wk for our starbucks meets do i drive at nite while weesped drives at nite everyday for work... not a very 'controlled' experiment...
08-30-08, 01:29 AM
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Like people have when you buy from a place xeon depot you get a company that will stand by the product they sold you. I ended up buying my 8000K HID bulbs off ebay for about $100. However I did so knowing in my mind if they failed I could probably kiss that $100 goodbye. You just have know what you're getting into and make your choice. So far about 6 months after purchase, my bulbs are still going strong.
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08-30-08, 01:49 AM
#8
wow - guess i'm undercharging because the special offer deal for the CL crew via mobilehid.com is $60 a pair.
http://www.mobilehid.com/cl.htm
<edit>lol - i thought we were talking about HID kit replacement bulbs</edit>
http://www.mobilehid.com/cl.htm
<edit>lol - i thought we were talking about HID kit replacement bulbs</edit>
08-30-08, 07:21 AM
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i have a high quality set for my HID and a ebay cheap set for my highbeams in my opinion the hids are expensive on the car so dont **** wit em and get the good stuff... if your doing the replacing yourself its a pain in the *** to get in there just for the bulbs...
so far i have no issues with either my high quality ones and cheap ones...
so far i have no issues with either my high quality ones and cheap ones...
08-30-08, 07:31 AM
#10
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Okay I've had plenty of experience with Ebay and their HID kits and I can tell you many things so make sure you read my thoughts before you go off possibly wasting $70. (Take note I did say possibly)
First HID sellers on ebay offer a typical 1 year warranty and sometimes as long as 3 years. Technically speaking they are offering a warranty however the service for it is minimal. I have a friend who bought a set of HID H7's for $65 shipped and the kit broke (we found it was the ballast). The kit was sent back in for a warranty replacement as stated in the Ebay sales and they never contacted us and the kit was lost forever. As much of a warranty they have, there's a significant risk of them not keeping their word. And although you can claim through Ebay for recovery, it'll still be a VERY LONG HASSLE. Keep note of that.
The seller I am looking at offers a 1 year no hassle warranty. If an item fails, they will be replaced, no questions asked.
Next lets look at the seller ratings. I've been monitoring several HID powersellers on Ebay and have found many of them to be frauds. In fact I've watched one particular seller who went under multiple names such as HID4Less2008 and HID4sale2006 and other variants which generally are the same. I began to monitor their sales and found that their kits start at $.99 with a $20 shipping fee. Normal on ebay to attract buyers to bid. In any case, about 1-2 days before a particular item's bidding time ends, the seller would log onto a buyer name which was xkk2022 or something like that to bid and raise the prices for those who are already bidding. He did that for every single post he made. This is a powerseller with a 95% postive rating. Eventually his account was closed due to this scamming. Beware of such sellers.
The seller uses "Buy it Now" pricing as opposed to conventional auction type listing. This eliminates the unscrupulous tactics some sellers use at the end of auctions to raise auctions bid pricing. So this is a moot point.
Now lets look at the bulb qualities of different companies. D4S/R/C bulbs for the IS OEM HID are all HID as this fitment does not come in halogen (at least not that I know of). As such these are somewhat of a "specialty" bulb being that only Lexus uses them and only on their more recent cars equipped with HID. That makes these bulbs different to find due to their low demand and the stock being HID ready with Philips bulbs (which are top quality). They're also mercury free which is a completely different technology (relatively speaking) in comparison to tradional HID bulbs with mercury. This is why many sellers (Ebay for example) are actually selling rebased D2 bulbs. Now will they work? They may turn on initially but eventually something WILL break. D2 and D4 bulbs both run a 35W but their currents and amps I believe are different. Either way D4 bulbs require a special ballast for their different technology. So going on Ebay to get these bulbs is a serious risk of buying fake products. Now will you? Probably not but you might still.
Even if you were to find a real D4 bulb for sale, unless it's a namebrand or high quality as proven by customers, chances are they are precisely made that they'll just burn out quicker than normal which happens a LOT on HID kits. In particular, most HID kits on the market are not precision made. It's mostly factories in China that manufacture and sell the kits as "Made in Japan, Designed in Germany" and other such claims. So it happens.
Buying from a vendor like xenondepot will run you $140+shipping for 2 6000k hid bulbs but that's an extra $70 for quality assurance and a proven warranty and great service. If you want to take that gamble and buy a possibly not-so-well-made, maybe fake, unbacked-up warranty, no name brand, made by who knows who and possibly break your ballast or wiring due to some crazy problem just to save $70, go for it!
First HID sellers on ebay offer a typical 1 year warranty and sometimes as long as 3 years. Technically speaking they are offering a warranty however the service for it is minimal. I have a friend who bought a set of HID H7's for $65 shipped and the kit broke (we found it was the ballast). The kit was sent back in for a warranty replacement as stated in the Ebay sales and they never contacted us and the kit was lost forever. As much of a warranty they have, there's a significant risk of them not keeping their word. And although you can claim through Ebay for recovery, it'll still be a VERY LONG HASSLE. Keep note of that.
The seller I am looking at offers a 1 year no hassle warranty. If an item fails, they will be replaced, no questions asked.
Next lets look at the seller ratings. I've been monitoring several HID powersellers on Ebay and have found many of them to be frauds. In fact I've watched one particular seller who went under multiple names such as HID4Less2008 and HID4sale2006 and other variants which generally are the same. I began to monitor their sales and found that their kits start at $.99 with a $20 shipping fee. Normal on ebay to attract buyers to bid. In any case, about 1-2 days before a particular item's bidding time ends, the seller would log onto a buyer name which was xkk2022 or something like that to bid and raise the prices for those who are already bidding. He did that for every single post he made. This is a powerseller with a 95% postive rating. Eventually his account was closed due to this scamming. Beware of such sellers.
The seller uses "Buy it Now" pricing as opposed to conventional auction type listing. This eliminates the unscrupulous tactics some sellers use at the end of auctions to raise auctions bid pricing. So this is a moot point.
Now lets look at the bulb qualities of different companies. D4S/R/C bulbs for the IS OEM HID are all HID as this fitment does not come in halogen (at least not that I know of). As such these are somewhat of a "specialty" bulb being that only Lexus uses them and only on their more recent cars equipped with HID. That makes these bulbs different to find due to their low demand and the stock being HID ready with Philips bulbs (which are top quality). They're also mercury free which is a completely different technology (relatively speaking) in comparison to tradional HID bulbs with mercury. This is why many sellers (Ebay for example) are actually selling rebased D2 bulbs. Now will they work? They may turn on initially but eventually something WILL break. D2 and D4 bulbs both run a 35W but their currents and amps I believe are different. Either way D4 bulbs require a special ballast for their different technology. So going on Ebay to get these bulbs is a serious risk of buying fake products. Now will you? Probably not but you might still.
Even if you were to find a real D4 bulb for sale, unless it's a namebrand or high quality as proven by customers, chances are they are precisely made that they'll just burn out quicker than normal which happens a LOT on HID kits. In particular, most HID kits on the market are not precision made. It's mostly factories in China that manufacture and sell the kits as "Made in Japan, Designed in Germany" and other such claims. So it happens.
Buying from a vendor like xenondepot will run you $140+shipping for 2 6000k hid bulbs but that's an extra $70 for quality assurance and a proven warranty and great service. If you want to take that gamble and buy a possibly not-so-well-made, maybe fake, unbacked-up warranty, no name brand, made by who knows who and possibly break your ballast or wiring due to some crazy problem just to save $70, go for it!
I appreciate the extensive info, but what I am looking for is whether or not people have seen the actual performance difference b/t eBay bulbs and other premium brands and their experience with them. Again, the eBay seller offers a 1 year, no hassle warranty, so at least 1 full year is covered. I would like to know if 6000K bulbs from each perform differently. It looks like a lot of people who buy from eBay are satisfied customers. This particular seller has over 97% postive feedback with most to all people praising his products.
Again, not to be on the cheap, but I could use that extra $100 for something else on my car. $160 just for bulbs seems a bit much.
08-30-08, 07:34 AM
#11
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In hawaii right now weesped has XD 6k bulbs, about 2wks old and today i just put in 6k hid from JDM_Toy *ebay*, this may be a long term thing but maybe in 1yr from NOW we'll be able to compare how these bulbs from these companies are holding up so... stay tuned for my update... next yr or so
course i drive mostly day and maybe only 1 nite a wk for our starbucks meets do i drive at nite while weesped drives at nite everyday for work... not a very 'controlled' experiment...
course i drive mostly day and maybe only 1 nite a wk for our starbucks meets do i drive at nite while weesped drives at nite everyday for work... not a very 'controlled' experiment...
So are you staisifed with your eBay bulbs? Have you noticed any performance differences form other brands with the same temperature?
08-30-08, 07:42 AM
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ok well actually i got some cheap vleds from ebay and look waht they do..but you cannot see the blink without using a camera...the human eye doesnt see it so it isnt wierd drivin around.
http://intericeacademy.com/is250/P1010009.MOV
check that vid i took yesterday.
http://intericeacademy.com/is250/P1010009.MOV
check that vid i took yesterday.
08-30-08, 07:47 AM
#13
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i bought a set of xentec for my gf corolla, so far so good. good output! 5k
was thinking about getting a set for my fogs but, nokoya bulbs are doing the trick for 1/3 the cost.
was thinking about getting a set for my fogs but, nokoya bulbs are doing the trick for 1/3 the cost.
08-30-08, 07:58 AM
#14
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wow - guess i'm undercharging because the special offer deal for the CL crew via mobilehid.com is $60 a pair.
http://www.mobilehid.com/cl.htm
<edit>lol - i thought we were talking about HID kit replacement bulbs</edit>
http://www.mobilehid.com/cl.htm
<edit>lol - i thought we were talking about HID kit replacement bulbs</edit>
Are they made in Japan or China? Are they genuine D4S bulbs? What type of warranty do you offer? Is it a no hassle guarantee, or a "manufacture defect" warranty, where you have to jump through hoops and wait and wait to obtain a replacement.
08-30-08, 09:47 AM
#15
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Like people have when you buy from a place xeon depot you get a company that will stand by the product they sold you. I ended up buying my 8000K HID bulbs off ebay for about $100. However I did so knowing in my mind if they failed I could probably kiss that $100 goodbye. You just have know what you're getting into and make your choice. So far about 6 months after purchase, my bulbs are still going strong.
So are you staisifed with your eBay bulbs? Have you noticed any performance differences form other brands with the same temperature?