Pro Tip: Check Temu

[QuarterMillionMan]

Anyone have experience buying from Alibaba? I've been looking at electric surfboards for about $2000 vs eBay which is double at $4000. It seems Alibaba sellers require bulk purchases such as minimum 2 units, etc.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Apparently the threads is not 5/16" on this eBay purchase above. The seller provide a shipping label which I just dropped off at UPS. These caster wheels will be harder to find. I also went to Harbor Freight where they have all thread sizes except my 5/16" thread size. Hum.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This caster wheels (5/16" thread size) will fit my old wire shelf for $21.74 on eBay. Harbor Freight has a caster wheel for $3.99 each but does not list the thread size which makes it inconvenient to have to drive to Inglewood, CA, which has it in stock in aisle 12. Easier to order off eBay. Temu is $25. Amazon is about the same but need $35 to qualify for free shipping. Looks like eBay is the best.


Set of 4 NEW Shepherd Regent Swivel Caster Wheels 2" Wheel 5/16" x 3/4" Threaded | eBay

[QuarterMillionMan]

Temu's website gave the dimensions of the shelf (L x W x H) but not the pipe size of the support poles. I made the mistake of thinking it would be the same 1" diameter as my old shelf. As for the caster wheels for my old shelf, I like ua_guy's recommendation to go to Harbor Freight. I've already taken off the adjustable toe thing from my old shelf so I can use it as a guide as to the thread size of the caster wheel.

[disneysteve]

I enjoy Harbor Freight. When everything is coming from overseas anyway, HF usually offers a good value for things, as you said, that are good enough. Some of their stuff is truly competitive, and for the stuff which may be a little less robust, there's usually a significant price advantage. That's what I appreciate about being able to walk into one of their stores. It gives me the opportunity to evaluate if what I'm buying is something I'd rather go trusted/name-brand, or if it looks/feels like it will work well for my needs I'll buy it there. Can't do that with TEMU (or even HF's website).

A couple of years ago, DD wanted a fire safe for important documents and such. We bought a well-known brand name one online and it turned out to be crap. I searched online and discovered that HF sells them so we went over in person to check them out. Not only was the quality excellent, it was a good deal cheaper than the famous brand name one.

[ua_guy]

Harbor Freight is a great store. My late cousin was a car guy and very handy around the house and he had a ton of tools from HF. I got them all when he died and I've been pleased with the quality. I've since gone there a few times to buy things for myself rather than hitting Lowe's. Overall quality is probably a bit lower but still very functional for routine use. Maybe not the place to go if you're a contractor and are hard on your tools but for anyone else it can really save you some money.

I enjoy Harbor Freight. When everything is coming from overseas anyway, HF usually offers a good value for things, as you said, that are good enough. Some of their stuff is truly competitive, and for the stuff which may be a little less robust, there's usually a significant price advantage. That's what I appreciate about being able to walk into one of their stores. It gives me the opportunity to evaluate if what I'm buying is something I'd rather go trusted/name-brand, or if it looks/feels like it will work well for my needs I'll buy it there. Can't do that with TEMU (or even HF's website).

[disneysteve]

Try Harbor Freight for a set of casters. It's like TEMU for tools and hardware, but they have a brick & mortar presence. You can feel the cheapness before you decide to buy it.

Harbor Freight is a great store. My late cousin was a car guy and very handy around the house and he had a ton of tools from HF. I got them all when he died and I've been pleased with the quality. I've since gone there a few times to buy things for myself rather than hitting Lowe's. Overall quality is probably a bit lower but still very functional for routine use. Maybe not the place to go if you're a contractor and are hard on your tools but for anyone else it can really save you some money.

[ua_guy]

I concede disneysteve was right the shelf is not as good quality as I thought it would be. I have another similar shelf where the support poles are about 1" in diameter so I was expecting the same. This Temu one the support poles are about 1/2" in diameter which seems flimsy. And the metal shelving is weak and bulges with heavy items such as a floor jack or 5 gallon Igloo orange water cooler filled with water. I have to position the Igloo water cooler to sit near the edges where it can support more weight. I like the caster wheels which can roll out to sweep dust in the future. My other one doesn't have casters which I'll look into if I can buy just the casters for it.

Try Harbor Freight for a set of casters. It's like TEMU for tools and hardware, but they have a brick & mortar presence. You can feel the cheapness before you decide to buy it.

[disneysteve]

I concede disneysteve was right the shelf is not as good quality as I thought it would be.

Did you truly expect the Temu item to be the same as the one from a mainstream retailer? Did the listing give specifications that would have prevented that mistake? I've never shopped on Temu so I'm not familiar with their format. Did it state size or thickness of supports or weight rating for shelving or anything like that?

[QuarterMillionMan]

I concede disneysteve was right the shelf is not as good quality as I thought it would be. I have another similar shelf where the support poles are about 1" in diameter so I was expecting the same. This Temu one the support poles are about 1/2" in diameter which seems flimsy. And the metal shelving is weak and bulges with heavy items such as a floor jack or 5 gallon Igloo orange water cooler filled with water. I have to position the Igloo water cooler to sit near the edges where it can support more weight. I like the caster wheels which can roll out to sweep dust in the future. My other one doesn't have casters which I'll look into if I can buy just the casters for it.

[disneysteve]

QMM, you can't compare apples and oranges. Unless those two wire racks are the identical brand and model, the price difference is meaningless. Those things come in a wide range of quality. You can pick one up at Walmart for maybe $75 or Lowe's for $300. They certainly aren't the same. The Lowe's one will be far better quality, higher grade metal, greater weight capacity, etc. Now granted you don't always need top quality. It depends on how you plan to use it, but you can't just blindly buy based on the lowest price because to a large extent, you get what you pay for.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Temu doesn't carry everything. I had to buy a Braun replacement foil replacement head for $15 from eBay just now. A Temu search had 0 results. The current shaver head was scratching my face and upon closer inspection the foil head was torn and the metal was cutting my skin.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Another example to check Temu as James recommended. At first I was going to order this 6 tier shelf with wheels from ebay for $109. But figured to check Temu and found the exact same dimensions 82" x 46" x 18" for $75 with free 2 shipping.

[disneysteve]

I don't think it makes me or anyone else "happy", but we did warn you. Filing off a sharp edge doesn't fix the problem that it's likely cheap stainless and will begin rusting eventually. Or, who knows what other metals are in there....

Agreed. That doesn't make me happy at all. It makes me angry that they're allowed to sell such poor quality and even dangerous items like that. The old adage that you get what you pay for is often true.

[ua_guy]

This will make disneysteve & ua_guy happy, the stainless steel cutting board did have a splinter which I felt by dabbing my finger along the edges but easily fixed in 5 minutes by sanding it. I know as disneysteve said when buying new items why would I want to have to fix it but for $13, I have no problem fixing it.

I don't think it makes me or anyone else "happy", but we did warn you. Filing off a sharp edge doesn't fix the problem that it's likely cheap stainless and will begin rusting eventually. Or, who knows what other metals are in there....