PLAN FOR THE WORST, HOPE FOR THE BEST
Buying components and equipment directly from China is becoming easier by the day, even for the home constructor. Part of the reason for this is the growing familiarity of dealing with Chinese vendors directly, and this process is made more attractive by the ridiculously low shipping costs — free international shipping when using AliExpress, and sometimes its mother company, Alibaba.
I embarked on a reasonably thorough process before buying a laser cutter from China and importing it into New Zealand. The end product ultimately was delivered in a crate 1600x800x800mm, and weighed in at just over 124kg. One small issue developed a couple of weeks after the unit had been commissioned, and the supplier went to great lengths to courier replacement parts. Apart from this small failure, I have been very satisfied with the purchase so far.
When buying smaller items (say, less than NZ$50) applying the 80/20 rule has served me well to manage any disappointment that occasionally occurs with these kind of purchases.
It seems reasonable that, 80 per cent of the time, what has been ordered should be satisfactory on delivery
Basically if you are spending 20 per cent of the cost of a locally sourced part (and are willing to wait the requisite six weeks for delivery) it
