The New Guys LEDs for 2011

[Ryan Gardner]

Hello all,

I am Ryan Gardner. I am out of San Antonio, Texas and have been putting up christmas lights since I was 11 years old. I have been lucky enough to get to combinded my passion with my job. For the past 4 years I have worked at a local theme park and been incharge of all the seasonal decor and lighting for Halloween and Christmas seasons. We started out 100% incandecent in 2007 and have slowly moved to LEDs. All that being said I am also apart of a company called Magic in The Sky. This company sells and creates display pyrotechnics. We have been importing good from China since 1999. For 2009 we got a few cases of LED samples from a few factories in China to test in our displays in 2009. We found out which were the best and decided that since we have an import company already that we should start importing LED light stringers.

Now we are the new kids on the block for sure and I can tell are ruffling a bit of feathers. There are the typical questions of do they know what they are doing and how much this and that cost. Are we really who we say we are? And such. all of which are good concerns that I would have too in most peoples position. So below I will answer a few questions I have seen while lurking on many forums in Christmas cyber space.

1. Why does the C6 say M6 on some pages? That was a typo by my web guy the excel sheet he was sent formatted wrong and the M6 was added to the C6 part as well. The bulbs are infact the C6 strawberry bulbs. This will be corrected on the website as soon as my web guy gets back into town (which happens to be tonight, hmmm even if he has jet lag I should ask him to do it )

2. How can these prices be so much cheaper than some of the other vendors? Are they poor quality? Did you drink to much eggnog and forget the import taxes and such?

-Well maybe it is the eggnog that put me in a good mood, but this sale is mainly for the lighting community. Why? My business partner and I are apart of that community. We want to sale lights big time for sure, but let big businesses that make moneys off their displays pay the higher prices.

-Most of us here could almost be considered a non-profit. Many people use their displays to raise money for good causes.

-So how did we arrive at our prices? We took the total cost to get them here added what we felt made it worth our time and bam thats the prices we came up with.

3. Ok ok so you are as Jolly as Santa surely there is something your not disclosing in your price!? Ok well incase you are worried the only thing not FULLY shown is shiping to you and any local taxes you may have to pay. Shipping will be added at the time of shipping and if you want to drive to SA to pick it up for free you may. And any local taxes will be added based of the billing zip code you provide.

Ok so thats the main things I have seen. Now of course if you are anything like me you have a million more questions. I hope to have a million answers. So fire away even if you think I am some crazy Looney Tune feel free to share that.

Oh and in case you want to look at our prices and read about the sale follow the link below.

http://www.magicinthesky.com/lighting/pc.htm

Happy Lighting all!

Ryan Gardner

[George Simmons]

Thanks Ryan for the info. I believe competition is the best way for the marketplace to police itself and I welcome your presence. As you have no-doubt already ascertained, there are good lighting vendors and not-so-good lighting vendors. As long as you have a no-gouging price policy and deliver on your customer service promises I think you'll develop a loyal following. The good ones always do.

[TitusCarnathan]

Ah a fellow theme park employee

I work in rides at Hershey Park

[garyfunk]

Hi Ryan,

I would not say you are 'ruffling a bit of feather' as much as I would say everyone is cautious when a new kid comes on the block selling ice cream. Too many time in the past, promises have been made, only to be broken.

Thank you for the message and answers. It’s nice to have you introduce yourself and tell us why and what you are doing.

I look forward to seeing you on here.

Gary

[Fabian]

Ryan,

Any chance this "LED Killer" can get his hands on a few samples?

Fabian

[GaryBo]

Ryan,

Please forgive my cynicism, I am cautious about purchasing items from a “newbie” vendor on the internet. It is not my intent to disparage, but I followed your link and neither saw the products (description) nor the pricing for any such item. I can not give my personal info, credit card info, etc, without some confirmation, that I am dealing with a reputable entity. Depositing 60 % for a Feb manufacture date and a shipment date in April. I am also concerned with dealing with third parties in an Asian country.


I do not mean to imply you are such, but there are many “scams” out there, and your offer does not on the surface seem all that good and on the up and up.


I notice you have only been a member of this forum since 12-27-2010


I apologize, if I am incorrect.

Edit note- I went back and followed the purchase link and saw the lights, but still no
real description. Shipping cost??

[Ryan Gardner]

I understand 100% and no hard feelings. Some one who shows up on your door step on December 27th with a offer that seems to good to be true.... Well I understand EYEBROWS are raise. This sale has been discussed at length over on PC. I only decided to post here after I heard that there was some mention of the "new guy" and some confussion reagarding that.

The website seems to not like FIREFOX. I know this creates an issuse for some, but I am not web wizzard and the only person who I could get to give their time is kind of an old school person. They are doing it for free so I can't complain to much.

The info for the lights can be found on the main page, but I will copy the it below...




[align=left]Welcome to the 2011 lighting enthusiasts group light buy page! We have now entered the order phase.[/align]
We are happy to accept major credit cards through our partner Google Checkout; and check or cash by mail.

Order terms are: 60% down and 40% when the lights arrive in the USA. When 100% of your payment is received your lights will be shipped to you ground.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUR LIGHTS: MITS lights are of the highest commercial quality (and come Santa approved!) Each strand is full wave, UL rated, dimmable and can be used on a number of light controllers. Bulbs are sealed and the socket is a molded husk construction that seals the lead wires in as well. They are rated at 100,000 hours of life. The wire is 22Awg gauge. Bulbs are spaced 4 inches apart. The lead and tail are each 6 inches.

Strand lengths are as follows:

50ct 16.67 feet bulb to bulb, 17.67 feet total
70ct 23.33 feet bulb to bulb, 24.33 feet total
100ct 33.33 feet bulb to bulb, 34.33 total

100% PAYMENT BONUS: Have all the money now? Orders paid in full will receive an additional 5% product free! Once we receive your payment we will contact you via email to get your order for the extra 5% product.

Limited Warranty: Magic in the Sky is proud to stand behind our product. We test every strand before it is shipped. In the event you receive a strand that fails during the first twelve months from purchase we will replace it free of charge. During the thirteenth to twenty-forth month you will receive a 50% credit towards the purchase of new strands at the current wholesale price. Replacement will only be made on defective strands. Stands damaged from customer electrical surge/overload, installation, or misuse is not covered under this warranty. Magic in the Sky may request customer return failed strand for inspection before a replacement is issued.



To place your order please choose an option:

Full payment by credit card

60% payment by credit card

Mail order form

The schedule for the group buy is:

Order Phase: Dec 15, 2010- Jan 31, 2011

Manufacture Phase: Feb 2011-Mar 2011 Lights made in China and shipped to USA

Shipping Phase: April 2011 Final payment due and lights shipped to you





That should help I hope. And don't worry like I said no one will hurt my feelings if you have deep questions or concerns. One more thing you can order by the string or case. order 1 or order a full container! =) hehehe (if anyone orders a full container ot heck half, I may just have to be your personal light hanging slave for a day or two hahaha)



Ryan

[ainsworth]

Ryan;

I wish you the best of luck, and have shown my support through my order. When I saw you were from San Anton I really wanted to support a local business, so I did.

I have been laughing to myself about your offer to allow pick-ups. It's a 300 mile round trip for me depending on where in SA you are located. I wonder if USPS can deliver the order for less than I can drive up and get it?

Anyway Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Bruce

[beeiilll]

Hi Ryan

I too share the "worry about the new guy" feeling like everyone else at your sales offer. I have been bitten by a couple of less than stellar vendors in the last year and that makes my eyes raise when I see these new offers.

I must admit that your prices are very good though after spending some time early this morning looking things over and comparing your price with some others out there. I am very tempted to try out some strings but unfortunately for me the economy where I live is at bottom for work and things are looking pretty bleak till spring right now.

I am curious though as to whose brand of LED's are you importing? I am using all Holiday Creation brand in my display and have had very minimal problems with them unlike some other brands of LEDs out there. Hence my "need to know" on the manufacturer of your strings. I'm sure that quite a few people who have had trouble will want to know that these strings are from a reputable manufacturer and not a startup company that may have unknown failure rates in their product.

You will also have a much better chance of breaking into the light sales area if your strings come from a trusted source. Let's face it, LEDs are a big expense and we all expect them to perform and last more than just a season (or less in some cases).

Just my 2 cents FWIW.

Bill Ellick

[ItsMeBobO]

ainsworth wrote:

Ryan;

I wish you the best of luck, and have shown my support through my order.
Bruce

Prices are still not shown? How did you order without prices Bruce. FYI I am using Chrome.

I am curious and considering. But you made a post saying here are the prices with no prices on it. Your site has no prices visible.

I am sorry to be the first to report that F-secure has a warning page to not go to your site as it is harmful. I want to give you a chance to compete Ryan but need to get past these obstacles first.

[shfr26]

ItsMeBobO wrote:

ainsworth wrote:

Ryan;

I wish you the best of luck, and have shown my support through my order.
Bruce

Prices are still not shown? How did you order without prices Bruce. FYI I am using Chrome.

I am curious and considering. But you made a post saying here are the prices with no prices on it. Your site has no prices visible.

I am sorry to be the first to report that F-secure has a warning page to not go to your site as it is harmful. I want to give you a chance to compete Ryan but need to get past these obstacles first.

Prices show up if you click anything except "mail order form"

[ItsMeBobO]

Ok. I stuck with it and found the prices on the mail order form. They do seem pretty good. But if I may suggest you put your company name on it. There is nothing on the sheet to tie these prices back to MagicInTheSky.

[ainsworth]

I use FireFox and I had to highlight the page to see the text. If you use IE it shows up with no issues.

I don't know if highlighting the space between the picture and the order button will work on chrome, but it does on firefox.

[lightzilla]

Who makes these LED light strings? Holiday Creation, Danson, Universal Lights? It would be good to know that.

[Ryan Gardner]

The lights are from Jinjiang Wonderful Photovoltaic Lighting Co.

The web site issuse are I agree annoying. I have Chrome and IE and can get it on both. It is odd that the order page is not working on Chrome as that whole part is hosted by goole check out. I am unsure on Firefox and I am sure Safari is having the same problem. All this is prompting me to look into pushing a head and getting a full service site quicker. I had plan on doing that once we sold to the commercial market, but since many are having major problems and it is coming across as being fishy I don't want to lose people over a less than user friendly site.



Thanks for all the input guys!

Ryan

[Guest wbottomley]

lightzilla wrote:

Who makes these LED light strings? Holiday Creation, Danson, Universal Lights? It would be good to know that.

I'm curious too.

[Keith Adams]

You might want to hop over to Planetchristmas and check out their forums. Some of the more famous members like Bill V. from "Invasion of the Christmas Lights" have been testing them and said "

Well, I'm no Santa but I also have to add my approval of the lights....Having been asked by Ryan to do some testing on his 2011 product. I have been putting the strings through the wringer in my display for the last two weeks and they haven't missed a beat. The colors are vibrant, strings are full wave sealed and their construction and blobs seem identical to the 2007-08 CDI strings I have. I have included a few photos, the second being a side by side of Holiday Creations M5 mini's on the left and MITS mini ice on the right. The other photos are of the construction. Did want to add a disclaimer " I am in no way involved in the sale of this product but was asked to perform an independent review which I have done as I believe all of us will benefit tremendously by the introduction of another vendor to the PC community". That being said, I will be participating in the pre sale. Now if I can just find a place to put all the lights.

"

I also am not conected to Ryan but wanted people to know that some people have been testing them and have posted on that forum. By the way he meant the strings the year previous to the bad ones Paul got that tended to burst into flames or dim after multiple fades.

[Fabian]

Ryan Gardner wrote:

The lights are from Jinjiang Wonderful Photovoltaic Lighting Co.

Well, that's good news for the most part. What this means is that most popular (and some unpopular) vendors are now selling the same product line, even though they are using different brand names for it. The Wonderful product has been very reliable in general - at least more reliable than every other brand I've used. Color consistency has been excellent from shipment to shipment, which has been a big issue for many that add on from year to year.

Ryan, I'll pick up a couple of strings to test with, but if the product is what I think it is you'll have satisfied customers - as long as you service them well.

Good luck!

Fabian

[isimpleman]

hmmm i'll have to hit you up for a few strings to try and go from there. best of luck on your sale,s im sure if things run correctly you'll grow a loyal buyer list quikly

[garyfunk]

Ryan Gardner wrote:

The lights are from Jinjiang Wonderful Photovoltaic Lighting Co.

The web site issuse are I agree annoying. I have Chrome and IE and can get it on both. It is odd that the order page is not working on Chrome as that whole part is hosted by goole check out. I am unsure on Firefox and I am sure Safari is having the same problem. All this is prompting me to look into pushing a head and getting a full service site quicker. I had plan on doing that once we sold to the commercial market, but since many are having major problems and it is coming across as being fishy I don't want to lose people over a less than user friendly site.



Thanks for all the input guys!

Ryan

Well, I can see why some have a problem with some browser. I have not seen such malformed html in years.



I am sending you an email.