Ebay/Low Cost Custom Sword Forge Buying Experience/Results.
Sept 30, 2020 22:05:44 GMT
Post by Robert in California on Sept 30, 2020 22:05:44 GMT
1. Name of vendor/forge. Huawei
2. Type of sword. Katanas (2) and wakizashi's (2)
3. Off the shelf or custom. Custom
4. What customization asked. Changes in blade length and tsuka furniture.
5. Time frame for completion/delivery. Varied...couple months on the short side, a full year on the long side.
6. Price(if you wish to share). Most in the $300 category. Nothing too fancy nor exotic. I normally would ask for "that sword but with these changes".
Scored:
1. Vendors reply time to initial inquiry. 5 - Very good initial response...within a day or two.
2. Vendors ability to meet requests. 5 - Very good.
3. Quality of received items. Varied. Of the four sword purchased over a period of about 5 years, I'd rate quality:
Katana#1 (4 - good but blade rattle); Wakizashi#1 (5 - blade rattle(in saya) but magnificent blade! Genuine within hamon activity like a nihonto) Katana#2 (4 - nice everything but a lot of blade rattle) Wakizashi#2 (1 - blade rattle in saya; oversized, out of round mekugi ana; loose tsuka ito)
4. Accuracy of any customization requested. 5 - very good
5. Vendors reply time to inquiries once deal has been made. 1 - Awful. Weeks, even months would go by before a reply.
6. Overall satisfaction with vendors/representatives treatment. Probably a 5 if I bought "off the shelf" Huawei swords. More like a 3 for customs.
7. Overall satisfaction with transaction. Varied. Of the 4 swords bought: 5, 5, 3 (took a year), 2 (awful sword but later gave me a $50 discount)
Comment: Please note that these 4 Huawei purchases are from 3 to 5 years ago. So not reflective of current products. I did put in an order early in 2020, for a mild custom, but after 4 months, the order had not been started yet. And emails asking for order status would go unanswered for weeks. All in all, Huawei makes perhaps the best, most reliable production swords for the money of anyone IMO, but has difficulty with custom orders.
2. Type of sword. Katanas (2) and wakizashi's (2)
3. Off the shelf or custom. Custom
4. What customization asked. Changes in blade length and tsuka furniture.
5. Time frame for completion/delivery. Varied...couple months on the short side, a full year on the long side.
6. Price(if you wish to share). Most in the $300 category. Nothing too fancy nor exotic. I normally would ask for "that sword but with these changes".
Scored:
1. Vendors reply time to initial inquiry. 5 - Very good initial response...within a day or two.
2. Vendors ability to meet requests. 5 - Very good.
3. Quality of received items. Varied. Of the four sword purchased over a period of about 5 years, I'd rate quality:
Katana#1 (4 - good but blade rattle); Wakizashi#1 (5 - blade rattle(in saya) but magnificent blade! Genuine within hamon activity like a nihonto) Katana#2 (4 - nice everything but a lot of blade rattle) Wakizashi#2 (1 - blade rattle in saya; oversized, out of round mekugi ana; loose tsuka ito)
4. Accuracy of any customization requested. 5 - very good
5. Vendors reply time to inquiries once deal has been made. 1 - Awful. Weeks, even months would go by before a reply.
6. Overall satisfaction with vendors/representatives treatment. Probably a 5 if I bought "off the shelf" Huawei swords. More like a 3 for customs.
7. Overall satisfaction with transaction. Varied. Of the 4 swords bought: 5, 5, 3 (took a year), 2 (awful sword but later gave me a $50 discount)
Comment: Please note that these 4 Huawei purchases are from 3 to 5 years ago. So not reflective of current products. I did put in an order early in 2020, for a mild custom, but after 4 months, the order had not been started yet. And emails asking for order status would go unanswered for weeks. All in all, Huawei makes perhaps the best, most reliable production swords for the money of anyone IMO, but has difficulty with custom orders.