Foxwing-style awning for $180+ship?

svana

Observer
Hey guys (and gals), I'm hoping I'm not stepping on any toes here but I was looking into getting a Foxwing awning and came across this product.

http://www.sundaycampers.com/Vehicle_Awning/WA01.html

I got in touch with them and they said that their minimum order is 30 units, but the total price per unit after shipping half way across the world would be around $180. As a comparison, CVT's equivalent product runs for $699 shipped. Full disclosure that they're over in China, made in China, it's Chinese product. But for a $500 price difference on a non-electrical/mechanical item, I'd be willing to take the chance. They mentioned all of the framing and hinges are aluminum and the fabric is a rip-stop poly canvas. With doing a pallet's worth of items it'd be a royal pain to ship individually, so I wanted to see if there would be enough interest locally (Northern VA, DC, MD) before opening it up to shipping domestically, but FWIW shipping form Northern VA to CA was quoted as $77 via UPS, so that's not even too bad. Either way if you'd be interested I'm happy to take your name down.

BOTTOM LINE: Would anybody be interested in putting together a group buy on it? I'm working on seeing what their sample policy is now and of course wouldn't require any cash until the order was ready to be placed. There's also a 2 year warranty on it, but not sure what that entails just yet.

They've also got a mosquito netting system available for $100 or a full canvas wall system that you can see on that page for $178. Not sure how shipping would be affected with those as there's a minimum order of 10 for those and wasn't sure if there'd be enough interest. Either way, if you've got any questions feel free to ask either here or via PM. Again, if the post isn't kosher, just let me know.

UPDATE: We've broken 30! I'm still working on some final details with the vendor (shipping info on the nets/walls, official invoice, payment method, etc.) but here's how I was planning on moving forward. I'll give a window between now and the end of the month for everybody to paypal me the amount for their products and allow any last minute stragglers to jump in. IF YOU'RE NOT ON THE LIST AND STILL WANT TO ORDER - YOU STILL CAN! This way hopefully the inevitable last minute drops will be filled in by the last minute stragglers. At that point I'd put in the order and pay the vendor. Fast forward to the shipment arrival, we'll drop off all shipped awnings to UPS and set up a time/place for all of the local pickups to pick up their awnings. I don't want to "officially" take the next step until all those loose ends are tied up, but once they are I'll be sure to let everyone know.

UPDATE 2:
I'm still working with the import folks on getting the final price sent over. However, with keeping the window open we're hitting a moving target because the total amount keeps changing. I'll keep the list open until 9am EST on 4/27 for all those last minute folks that are still on the fence. That being said, I understand that everybody is on this list contingent upon shipping costs. Once the final shipping numbers come back there may be some folks that back out. If they do - I'll mark the spot as "OPEN" on the list and you can fill into their spot. Thank you guys for being patient.

Instead of updating the list multiple times, you can check the latest status of the buy over on the main thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/group-buys/236592-foxwing-style-awning-$180-ship.html

UPDATE 4/27: Alright guys, the window to sign up is officially closed. I'm going to send these final numbers over to the shipping company so I can get an official price on shipping. If you didn't sign up and still want an awning, I'll open up a wait list if anybody drops from their order.

UPDATE 5/12: Well, I've officially got the numbers. I'm sorry for the delay - I was getting hosed by the importing company I was working with originally. Quadrupled the estimate that they had given me initially. I reached out to another importer and was provided figures that were a bit more down to earth. That being said, the figures are as follows (I'm sorry the awning cost went up - it was a byproduct of the issue I had with the first importer):

Awning: $200
Wall: $200
Net: $120

That includes all of the shipping costs from China to Northern VA (Baltimore technically). There's only 1 portion that I couldn't get a confirmation on and that's whether or not they're subject to an in depth customs exam/inspection upon arrival. I'm doing everything I can to mitigate the cost but I may have to ask for an extra $5 per person if they come down hard. I don't anticipate this happening and I wouldn't know until they arrive, but I at least wanted to be transparent about the request.

With all of that being said - here's how I would like to do the payment. Paypal me the cost of the product and include in the following information in the paypal notes:

List Number, name/forum name
Product Ordered
Shipping Info (if you're picking up locally, just put "local pickup")

For Example:

1. svana, ExPo
Awning

Joe Smith
123 Main St
City, State, Zip


At that point I'll put your information down and if I need to ship an item to you, I'll provide the quote for that as well (shipping via UPS).

My paypal is tippmann32503@yahoo.com. If you send via goods and services, please be sure to tack on the 3% fee. I'll provide a 2 week window for those on the list to provide the funds for their product. If I don't receive the funds by 5:00PM EST on 5/26, I will start reaching out to those on the waiting list. Shipping payment does not have to be submitted by this date, I will confirm a date once shipping time gets closer. As payments come in, I will note your name on the list with "Paid" next to it. If you don't see that come up after a day or two, just reach out and I'll confirm.

Again, thank you guys for being so patient with this.
 
Last edited:

eatSleepWoof2

New member
When I read "minimum order is 30 units," I instantly think this is coming from AliBaba or the like. That site is the Chinese "eBay" of copy-cat products (not criticizing), and most sellers there have similar "minimal number of units" requirements. As such, why not order from AliBaba directly, and cut out the middle man? You'll also see there will be about a thousand different options of the same product. And some sellers do sell smaller quantities (even singles) that you would pay a bit more for, but may very well be a better deal than trying to organize 30 people's shipments by yourself.

Edit: I see the seller you're interested in has a shop at AliBaba, so they're not a middle-man, but the manufacturer themselves. I'd still look around for other options and purchase through AliBaba itself (you'll likely find some consumer protection benefits, similar to eBay).
 

svana

Observer
Yep, I originally found them through Alibaba, the page I connected to was just of their actual company and had a couple more shots of the awning. They do indeed have a bunch of other products. Curious what the different pages of seemingly the same awnings are.
 

ttengineer

Adventurer
If anyone does end up buying one of these or already has one, id be interested to know how it turned out.

I have a Chinese nock off carbon fiber MTB frame I bought a few years ago that still is in tip top shape. I use it as an extra beater bike when I'm not in the mood to ride my top shelf bike. To be honest I'm pretty sure it's just a de badged major brand bike.

I have my suspicions that these are the same thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

svana

Observer
If anyone does end up buying one of these or already has one, id be interested to know how it turned out.

I have a Chinese nock off carbon fiber MTB frame I bought a few years ago that still is in tip top shape. I use it as an extra beater bike when I'm not in the mood to ride my top shelf bike. To be honest I'm pretty sure it's just a de badged major brand bike.

I have my suspicions that these are the same thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like this guy's got the model with a square profile on the left, but seems to have had good experiences with it. Looks like one of the knuckles broke off during a storm, but I'd imagine the amount of force on those things would have broken any brand of similar tent.

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...ed-Off-Road-Trailer-The-quot-Frontrailer-quot

FYI - I'm up to 24 interested on the list. I'll probably be placing the order at the end of this month.
 

Nd4SpdSe

Adventurer, eh?
Looks like this guy's got the model with a square profile on the left, but seems to have had good experiences with it. Looks like one of the knuckles broke off during a storm, but I'd imagine the amount of force on those things would have broken any brand of similar tent.

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...ed-Off-Road-Trailer-The-quot-Frontrailer-quot

They had actually broke while deploying the awning. The girlfriend wasn't doing her job and didn't hold down the awning I was unfolding it, it got caught up in the wind like an umbrella, and pull it up and snapped the knuckles. I was pretty upset with her since we had a week left in our trip, and no longer had an awning, and it was a bad day since we had just gotten unstuck from on the beach.

I'm looking at ordering a set of these to replace the broken ones and see if it's an upgrade:
https://darche.com.au/product/awningsuper-flex-hinge/
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But it's a really damn good awning. I ordered a single "sample" unit, which is a bit more expensive then in the batch order, and I got nailed on shipping as a single item, but still was worth the purchase for the price, and I can only find that style (WA02) out of Australia as the Supa-Peg or Supa-Wing. It was worth it for the amount of space you have underneath, it's kind of impressive when you have the sides on. If you guys do a group order, you'll save significantly. As a single item, I got it in almost exactly a month, and I wasn't expecting it since I was reading online to expect 2, but I couldn't find many people who had dealt with that company before, so it was a worrisome experience, especially to send a money transfer directly to China and have no insurance on the purchase. It was a gamble, and I'm glad I did it, I really enjoy using it. Not to distract from the thread, but just to give you guys an idea on what it's like before embarking on the purchase.

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If you wish you share the pictures on your Toyota 4Runner forum and it'll help answer their questions feel free. I'm not going to register on the forum for that, but I don't have any issues to answer questions they may have, the best that I can. The setup is still in the works. The awning is too much inside the trailer where the walls have problems fitting right, so I need to make a way to extend it out a bit to resolve that. I'm also working on a shower setup. You can see some of what we've done for that, but it came to be a good idea, and there's plenty of space underneath to actually implement a shower; we just need it more efficient to setup and use, but like any project it's a work in progress.
 

svana

Observer
If you wish you share the pictures on your Toyota 4Runner forum and it'll help answer their questions feel free. I'm not going to register on the forum for that, but I don't have any issues to answer questions they may have, the best that I can. The setup is still in the works. The awning is too much inside the trailer where the walls have problems fitting right, so I need to make a way to extend it out a bit to resolve that. I'm also working on a shower setup. You can see some of what we've done for that, but it came to be a good idea, and there's plenty of space underneath to actually implement a shower; we just need it more efficient to setup and use, but like any project it's a work in progress.

Thanks ND,
I'll just copy a link to this thread so they can take a better look, but I appreciate the first hand insight. The cost of the unit itself is cheaper by ordering in bulk, but it's a bear trying to work through all of the customs/shipping stuff.
 

Sno Dawg

Sno Dawg
I have an awning like that called a CVT Batwing and I have all the side walls. I bought it a couple of years ago and have only used it a couple of times. The awning is amazing.

Sno Dawg
 

Cummins_expo

Adventurer
From the looks of the pictures is this a driver side awing- The main coverage is on the driver side? Very interested if its possible to get it passenger side
 

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