My Experience with hvStar.com a.k.a MaxSaver BEstEastern hkDirect hvPhoto VIDEO

agreed.

condyk wrote in post #3163819
What a pointless, assumption filled ramble ... man, if you don't like them or don't want to buy from them or don't trust them then let it go and shop at B&H. Have we seen any actual complaints from the many buyers here? What a strange little mission you have taken up: saving people from buying cheap product.

The issue most of us (maybe not you) want to know is whether the filters sold by MaxSaver are real or not. I never said I don't like them. I would go on to say that I don't trust them 100%. My reply was meant to demonstrate that retail margins are not as simple as you had put and that there is reason to question how one reseller could possible sell something so much cheaper than someone else. It's unfortunate if you took the attack personally as that was not the intent.

I always wonder why people will buy something that seems too good to be true and not wonder. This is one of those cases, IMO.

For others' information, I received an email back from the German head office over the weekend and they stated the following facts:
- B+W has no connections to MaxSaver so they do not know where the filters are coming from
- Other customers have sent him images of the MaxSaver filters and they have not appeared to be the "premium" versions
- B+W makes some products for countries with low GDP and believes, from the pictures he saw, that the MaxSaver ones are these
- From the prices that are listed on MaxSaver's site, he said the "price is not comprehensible".
- He said he cannot know for sure unless he sees the filters in person which I'm going to assume, he hasn't gone through the trouble of yet.

If no one finds this information of any value, I will let the moderators pull the thread/post, but my guess is that there are in fact, people who take their photography seriously in this forum and are of the mind that they don't want to use gear that could be fake or not optimal. If you don't find any value in this information, please skip past it.

I agree it is almost too good to be true and seems like a fake (I am very careful about not being ripped off by fakes).

I took the plunge with them though as the price was very good, people were happy with the product, and it performs well.

I think they may be the typical selling overrun asian seller.

Seems like their shipping costs are excessive. For the heck of it, I threw the following into my cart:

NEW Diffuser for Canon 430EX Speedlite 430
$3.90 1 $3.90
NEW 1GB Kingston High-Speed USB Flash Pen Drive
$2.90 9 $26.10

The total weight has got to be well under a pound. Shipping comes out to be $81.10 US. Is anyone else here getting seriously gouged on the shipping?

Thunder_cb wrote in post #3174522
Seems like their shipping costs are excessive. For the heck of it, I threw the following into my cart:

NEW Diffuser for Canon 430EX Speedlite 430
$3.90 1 $3.90
NEW 1GB Kingston High-Speed USB Flash Pen Drive
$2.90 9 $26.10

The total weight has got to be well under a pound. Shipping comes out to be $81.10 US. Is anyone else here getting seriously gouged on the shipping?

I put the same 2 items in my cart and it calculated shipping to Richmond, Virginia at $9.90 for "Hong Kong Post Air Mail." It gave something similar (same?) the other day when I priced a circular polarizer. Did you select some alternate shipping method? Weird.

Ya, the shipping should not be that high thunder.

Thunder_cb wrote in post #3174522
Seems like their shipping costs are excessive. For the heck of it, I threw the following into my cart:

NEW Diffuser for Canon 430EX Speedlite 430
$3.90 1 $3.90
NEW 1GB Kingston High-Speed USB Flash Pen Drive
$2.90 9 $26.10

The total weight has got to be well under a pound. Shipping comes out to be $81.10 US. Is anyone else here getting seriously gouged on the shipping?

nothing weird about that. many people sell items for a very low price and make up the rest on the shipping. this is one way of avoiding paying alot in listing fees which are calculated as a % of the price. do you really think that they would sell you a 1gig card for $2.90 and a diffuser for $3.90???

Interesting though, Dah-Dee's shipping came out to $9.90 and we are both in the US. I'll look again.

I tried it again and I still get this:

Hongkong Post Air Mail Hongkong Post Air Mail $81.10

I had it set to international (since I'm not in HK) and this is my only shipping choice.

I figured it was too good to be true, but worth looking into. Why not stock up on 1 GB thumb drives at under $3 each.

Thunder_cb wrote in post #3175480
I tried it again:

Hongkong Post Air Mail Hongkong Post Air Mail $81.10
Why not stock up on 1 GB thumb drives at under $3 each.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....becaus​e $84 a pop is not a good price? I tried the same order and my shipping cost was $9.90....not sure what you are doing to get such extreme costs.

Thunder_cb, I think something's gone wacky with your session at their website; their prices on eBay are not *that* much different for me than the website.

Same diffuser for $9.90 shipped:
http://cgi.ebay.com …ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcm​dZViewItem

Same flash drive for $14.50 shipped:
http://cgi.ebay.com …ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcm​dZViewItem

Looks like a small combined shipping discount is available. For me, though, just like with the filters, it's cheaper to order these through their website (with the $9.90 total shipping) than through eBay. It should be the same for you. Again... weird.

You have to hit the checkout button and do the next in order to calculate shipping. The shipping costs appear to be $9.90 per item. For each additional filter or SD card, the checkout added $9.90.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #3196780
You have to hit the checkout button and do the next in order to calculate shipping. The shipping costs appear to be $9.90 per item. For each additional filter or SD card, the checkout added $9.90.

My shipping was $9.90 total for multiple items.

Dah-Dee wrote in post #3198161
My shipping was $9.90 total for multiple items.

No matter what combo of Kenko 77mm and other items I put in and then do the checkout->next->, I get 9.90 per item. Weird.

I just tried to see what would happen if I ordered a bunch lf filters and I'm getting about USD9 for each item as well.
Example below:


7 Items In Your Cart

B+W 77mm Kaesemann MRC Circular Polarizer Filter NEW
Qty: x $113.90

B+W 82mm MRC SLIM Circular Polarizer Filter NEW *
Qty: x $149.90

EW-83E Lens Hood for Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM *
Qty: x $0.99

New Cylindrical Collapsible Light Tent 100 x 170cm
Qty: x $18.90

NEW 58mm Snap-On Front Lens/Filter/Hood Cap for Canon
Qty: x $3.90

B+W 77mm MRC UV 010 Filter NEW F-PRO Multi-Coated BRASS
Qty: x $51.80

B+W 58mm MRC UV 010 Filter NEW F-PRO Multi-Coated BRASS
Qty: x $23.60

Subtotal: $362.99

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Hongkong Post Air Mail
$72.20
Hongkong Post Air Mail