DealExtreme doesn't ship US?

[Shooey]

"United States Customers Only: due to new regulations enforced by the US FDA and PayPal, orders of >5mW lasers units shipped to the United States are no longer accepted. Orders that were previously accepted and unshipped will be cancelled and refunded to customers. This affects United States orders only."

Why is this? It's only for that one site, right?

 

[ndrew2505]

its been that way on dx. contact a member by the name of sawt al hurryah(i think thats right). he does a shipping service from dx to the us by way of canada.

 

[Shooey]

But on other sites, do they ship to the US? Like O-like?

 

[SuicideKing]

But on other sites, do they ship to the US? Like O-like?

O-Like will ship to the US and they say they've never had any of their shipments confiscated by US customs.

-Paypal (more of a "Big Brother" than a pal) is the real force behind DX's decision not to attempt shipping lasers to the US.
Paypal doesn't want the hassle of dealing with paypal paid items that get confiscated and then become complaints and chargebacks and DX is, mostly, keeping Paypal happy.

 

[pullbangdead]

It's because of FDA regulations, and it's the same law that has been in place since (I think) 1976. If a laser is not FDA-approved for sale or import, then it's illegal to import it, and buying a laser from DX or o-like is importing it, because they ship from China.

If the laser is not FDA approved for import, it's a felony to import it. No one on here has reported that they have gotten in trouble for getting a laser or 2 from the websites that will ship them to the US or from sawt, the most I've read is someone getting a shipment confiscated. But don't say no one warned you, and just keep in mind exactly what it is you are doing.

 

[Putrio]

Does the sale of diodes also fall under prohibited laser items, or since they aren't fully assembled and ready are they safe?

 

[Lol]

No importing diodes and modules are ok
But lasers that aren't FDA approved cannot be imported according to the US law.

 

[styropyro]

Does the sale of diodes also fall under prohibited laser items, or since they aren't fully assembled and ready are they safe?

Those are perfectly legal to buy/sell.

Also, this thread might be a help to you: http://www.laserpointerforums.com/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1235962504

 

[LaserLove1012]

The laser >5mw cannot be shipped to US. American law.

If you really want and don't care about costing some more money, you may ask them to ship the components separately. Only a suggestion.

 

[pullbangdead]

The laser >5mw cannot be shipped to US. American law.

If you really want and don't care about costing some more money, you may ask them to ship the components separately. Only a suggestion.

No, that is incorrect. Lasers >5mW that aren't FDA approved can't be shipped to the US. But if the laser manufacturer follows the law and gets an FDA accession number that shows the laser is FDA approved, you can import any power of laser that you want.

In order for a laser to get that accession number, it will have to have the 5 safety features, or the FDA will have to approve the reason for why those features can't be incorporated into the laser. If the laser is just a pointer >5mW with no other uses and doesn't have the safety features, it's a sure bet it isn't FDA approved. Any FDA-approved manufacturer/importer will also be able to provide you the accession number on request.

 

[SuicideKing]

Instead of calling them Illegal Lasers, can we just agree to call them undocumented lasers?

 

[LaserLove1012]

[quote author=LaserLove1012 link=1239158299/0#8 date=1239332163]The laser >5mw cannot be shipped to US. American law.

If you really want and don't care about costing some more money, you may ask them to ship the components separately. Only a suggestion.

No, that is incorrect.  Lasers >5mW that aren't FDA approved can't be shipped to the US.  But if the laser manufacturer follows the law and gets an FDA accession number that shows the laser is FDA approved, you can import any power of laser that you want.  

In order for a laser to get that accession number, it will have to have the 5 safety features, or the FDA will have to approve the reason for why those features can't be incorporated into the laser.  If the laser is just a pointer >5mW with no other uses and doesn't have the safety features, it's a sure bet it isn't FDA approved.  Any FDA-approved manufacturer/importer will also be able to provide you the accession number on request.[/quote]

Great explaination. Thank you. I learn more now.

 

[pullbangdead]

Instead of calling them Illegal Lasers, can we just agree to call them undocumented lasers?

They're not illegal in the least; I never call lasers illegal (if I ever did, I didn't mean to, and I apologize). They are completely legal to own and use in the US (as long as there are no local prohibitions against them, a la city/county/state laws). But by the letter of the law, they are illegal to import into or sell in the US. Simple as that.

And I'm not encouraging or discouraging anyone from doing as they wish, just making sure anyone asking these questions knows exactly what it is they're doing if they want to circumvent the rules, however easy it may be.

 

[SuicideKing]

[quote author=SuicideKing link=1239158299/0#10 date=1239340119]Instead of calling them Illegal Lasers, can we just agree to call them undocumented lasers?

They're not illegal in the least; I never call lasers illegal (if I ever did, I didn't mean to, and I apologize).  They are completely legal to own and use in the US (as long as there are no local prohibitions against them, a la city/county/state laws).  But by the letter of the law, they are illegal to import into or sell in the US.  Simple as that.

And I'm not encouraging or discouraging anyone from doing as they wish, just making sure anyone asking these questions knows exactly what it is they're doing if they want to circumvent the rules, however easy it may be.  [/quote]

No problemo man. My post was really just a joke on the way people here in California make a big deal about calling illegal immigrants, "undocumented immigrants". They think that by just changing what they're called, it will make what they do ok.

I guess you have to live in a border State to get the joke. Sorry.

 

[1jztts]

bought my a while back when they still did

 

[igottapee]

Imma noob and I was looking to buy the DX "true" 5mW green laser, will it get confiscated by customs? Is it FDA approved?