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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2016 20:57:03 GMT
I know this isn't exactly relevant to the thread (sorry for the interruption), but how does Sinosword stack up to the other eBay sellers and vendors? Does anyone know if they have a physical location? Thank you for the very good information on eBay vendors. It's very helpful. You're contributing a great deal of important information to the sword community, and I'd like to thank you for your time and help.
This is the address I found #249-251, JianChuan Road, LongQuan town, LiShui city, ZheJiang, China. 323700
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Post by Kiyoshi on Feb 27, 2016 0:24:08 GMT
This is infinitely helpful, thanks a ton. In the case of huawei, it must be owned by/is a friend of huawei because a SBG member sent sword parts there to be added to a sword of theirs which they did get. So basically we can assume this: Most eBay sellers are likely individuals who commission swords from factories/assembly shops and send them out as if they owned a factory themselves?
Looks like I'll be waiting for a reputable company like you guys or hanwei to come out with a sword geared more towards my uses comes out or I save enough for a full custom from a known smith, I have no plans in helping out "companies" like these. I wonder if there is any way we can put this in a sticky or something beginners will find easy if they join this forum or do a google search?
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Post by nddave on Feb 27, 2016 0:33:57 GMT
I think that just proves how much a good customer experience or service can add to an item, even if the item is of equal or even lesser quality.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Feb 27, 2016 1:01:08 GMT
You mean huawei? I wouldn't exactly call their customer service overall "good." Their recent customer service has been nice but in the past it has been horrible. I think people going into it with the assumption that they are getting something of higher quality and that Jackie is a stand up guy makes them think differently than if they weren't. I really don't see any company like huawei being much better than st-nihonto or any other similar thing. If I had the same treatment from huawei that I've seen people on here have, I would have renounced them just the same as I did st-nihonto. You guys were just a lot more lenient than I would have been. If anything sheng had better customer service because I'd at least hear back from him 90% of the time within a day or so. I don't mean this as a bash towards huawei or anyone, just trying to show that perspective and preconceptions go a long way in how we treat a company. I don't have a very high opinion of any longquan eBay seller, and this just brings it down more, but I have to try to be fair all the same.
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Post by Robert in California on Feb 29, 2016 7:46:46 GMT
Great posts by Ronin! +100 karma.
re. Huawei, I have noticed their DH mono T10 blades with fancy hamons have high prices. So I ordered suguha hamons in part as I like them and in part to save money...time is money.
RinC
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Post by JAK85 on Feb 29, 2016 16:40:24 GMT
I recently bought something from lyuesword on eBay, they also go by tommy_lee85, tckruan88, katana_best, all on eBay. here's the address: HouSha Rd (next to the ems, so I was told) LongquanShi LiShuiShi ZHEJIANG CN 323700 I'll ask her to drive by, but like Hanbon, they are not providing a return address that is an actual address, but an area. Those are probably people who run their business out of their apartment. Most companies that engage in one way trade will do this to satisfy filling in the slot on the EMS form. By one way trade, I mean they will ship to you, but have no intention of letting you ship back to them. Anything on lyuesword?
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Post by Ronin Katana on Feb 29, 2016 19:34:48 GMT
I'll ask her to drive by, but like Hanbon, they are not providing a return address that is an actual address, but an area. Those are probably people who run their business out of their apartment. Most companies that engage in one way trade will do this to satisfy filling in the slot on the EMS form. By one way trade, I mean they will ship to you, but have no intention of letting you ship back to them. Anything on lyuesword? It's a general area address. No sword factories anywhere near it. Odds are high these are sellers that work out of their apartment Bennitt - It is a restaurant. There is tourist sword shop further down the road, but they don't speak English or ship outside of China. No factory. Above the restaurant there are several floors of apartments. The sellers probably lives there. Pictures added to the blog.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2016 21:30:00 GMT
Thank you very much for the information. I appreciate it. With all of the fake addresses, I'm now wondering how many real factories there actually are in China
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Post by Croccifixio on Mar 1, 2016 4:39:02 GMT
I think Chris or Paul wrote about it before, but there are around 3 big forges (factories, actually) out there where ebay katana sellers get their blades: Zheng's at Longquan, Paul Chen's at Dalian, and another one at Longquan. Don't know if that's comprehensive.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Mar 1, 2016 4:41:42 GMT
Any clue which ones do the polish on the kurin/kaneie swords? I think the geometry on those is terrible but the psuedo-traditional polish is nice looking.
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Post by zabazagobo on Mar 1, 2016 20:29:32 GMT
A candy shop? I mean when I first got into swords I always felt like a kid in a candy shop surfing Huawei's ebay page, so the irony's a bit much. Really odd though: it definitely reinforces the "dealer" idea versus the "smith" idea, unless it is just a business/shipping address and the forge is elsewhere (and possibly shared by a dozen other "vendors").
Thanks to you and your wife, Ronin, for going through the efforts of looking into this for the forum.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Mar 1, 2016 21:17:37 GMT
I see the "order from a factory and resell it" option to be more likely than a factory or store using a candy shop or non specific address as a shipping address for... What benefit? To me it doesn't seem like that would be helpful at all.
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Post by Kiyoshi on Mar 1, 2016 22:05:18 GMT
Ronin Katana Would the water method to make hamon that you were talking about happen to be one in which they use a blow torch on the blade and dip it into water?
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Post by pyzik on Mar 3, 2016 18:35:02 GMT
I've been looking at a Katana from the Musashi "Shirakawa" line as my first non-SLO sword. But, after following this thread and seeing Ronin posting and interacting throughout the forum I think I am going to go ahead and grab a Ronin. Most likely an Entry Level and see if the hobby sticks. I've already got an expensive hobby (guns).
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Post by nddave on Mar 5, 2016 6:36:14 GMT
I've been looking at a Katana from the Musashi "Shirakawa" line as my first non-SLO sword. But, after following this thread and seeing Ronin posting and interacting throughout the forum I think I am going to go ahead and grab a Ronin. Most likely an Entry Level and see if the hobby sticks. I've already got an expensive hobby (guns). The Shirakawas are great swords and made by a respected name brand manufacturer. I wouldn't necessarily place Musashi brand in the same category as the fleabay dozen. They have a great reputation here as the best sub $100-$200 katana manufacturer. Honestly in my opinion the $90 Musashi Shirakawa is right in the same league as the $130 Ronin you thinking about. For around the price of the Ronin actually you can actually get a T-10 Silver Line Musashi. Which offers a more durable DH blade than the 1060 Shirakawa or Ronin Entry level. For only $100 the Shirakawa line is a great line of katana.
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addertooth
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Working the tsuka on two bare blades from Ninja-Katana, slow progress
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Post by addertooth on Mar 9, 2016 14:44:57 GMT
Although your wife is probably long gone from China, I would like to throw in one other address. It is for an Ebay seller Kaze99. A triple set was ordered from this vendor, and successfully returned for a full refund.
Zheng Wei Dong/ 郑伟东 DaShuiCao 6 dong,/ 大水 曹 6 洞, 101 ZheJiang province LongQuan / 101 浙江省龙泉市 Longquan city/龙泉市 323700 China/ 323700 中国
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Post by pellius on Apr 21, 2016 21:09:16 GMT
(This is a re-post from another thread that linked here. My apologies if that violates any local rules or customs. I'm just trying to be helpful.)
I appreciate the great info on this site, so I try to add info when I can.
I just received my first katana today - it was a gift. It is a Hanbon/Yao customized katana. I'll maybe do a review at some point.
I have always been a Chinese martial arts guy, so my knowledge of the katana is anecdotal and second hand. Nonetheless, I am currently holding in my hand my new katana, and I must say it seems pretty good. The customizations are as directed/promised, including engravings, materials, design, etc. Fit and finish seem good to my untrained eye, and pass my various non-expert "tests" (e.g., the sword does not rattle in or fall out of the scabbard, etc.). I don't know how much this one cost, but I believe it was a mid-priced (maybe $250-350) example.
The person who gifted this sword to me was very particular in customization so as to match a wakizashi already in the collection. Considering the various communication barriers, I'm impressed that the katana was done exactly as requested and really quickly.
This is the second item my family bought from Yao. So far, everything has been exactly as advertised, and communication has been exceptional.
One other thing. I've never been to China, but a quick Google-map search for the return address on my shipping label leads to an area with a number of commercial/industrial business listings, among them being "Longquan Shenfenf Daojian Factory," "Jinping Daojian," "Zengshi Daojian," "Bangping Daojian," etc. I don't speak Chinese (any dialect), but Google-translate indicates "daojiang" is Chinese for "the sword." No Google Streetview in China, of course, but the satellite image looks a lot like dedicated industrial development that is similar in appearance to the various Youtube videos of Longquan forge tours. FWIW.
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