Like anything of quality, buying LED Lighting products requires an investment. And with any investment, it’s vital that you know that your money is spent well and your purchase is safe and insured so it can provide you with the maximum possible return rate and satisfaction possible.

LED Lights are not cheaply made for a number of reasons – mainly because they are complex electronic components (with built in transformers and LED electronic chips) made from quality materials like aluminium. There are also other processes applied to quality control and testing to ensure that each light will last well over 50,000 hours of use (and with really good quality LED lights often closer to 100,000 hours) for a multitude of lighting requirements and applications.

The main point here is that quality LED Lights are only an investment if they operate effectively for long periods of time. This is what guarantees a return on investment in the form of electricity, maintenance and replacement savings over time.

Shopping for LED Lights based on price is not a good strategy when trying to find the “best deal” because you are never comparing apples with apples. A deal is not a good one if bought cheaply only not to deliver or perform – or not work at all. For your purchase to truly become the cost saving, long life investment that LED lighting can provide, be sure to run through this checklist before making a decision of who to buy from:

Can you find the +24 month warranty on the LED Lights you’re interested in?

This is probably the most important factor and one of the first things you should check as a point of departure when deciding who to buy your LED lights from. Warranties should be published and accessible online or on request immediately from a supplier.

Your warranty is your insurance that should your LED lights not operate in accordance to their use or be faulty in any way that you can return these products to be tested by the supplier who will either apply a fix, replace or refund. Warranties are a supplier’s bond to their customers – a written promise that their mistakes will never be the customer’s problem.

Check what information they have readily available about their warranties and what the process is behind returning defective products. If a supplier does not publish or provide you with a warranty, then don’t bother, move on and find someone else no matter how attractive the price.

Are the Supplier’s LED Lighting products manufactured locally?

Second only to a valid and actionable warranty is where the products are manufactured – and for a number of practical reasons. Firstly, if the products are manufactured locally, then it is a company that you can contact or see. Secondly, returns are made easier, fast and cost effectively. Thirdly, if you need to contact someone, they’ll speak your language, be available when you call and not cost a lot to contact. Finally, and as a last resort, if you ever need to press for legal action of any kind, the supplier is within your country’s borders and much easier to pursue than if the company is oversees.

Do the LED Lighting products carry CE and RoHS Certifications?

CE and RoHS Certificates are fundamental for any LED Lighting product as they are standards set by the likes of the European Union’s health and safety parameters. Here in South Africa… things can be a little slower in terms of catching up with quality or compliance standards and that’s why there are a lot of products flooding our market from overseas (especially China) that have not passed these stringent tests.

To say the least, it’s VERY important that the LED lighting products you buy have these certifications. Besides assuring quality, they also tell you that the products are safe to use and don’t contain hazardous chemicals or materials. Check that the certificates are published first with reference numbers to boot or request certificate information from the supplier if you can’t find it online.

Are the LED Lights tested before being sent to customers?

There is no such thing as zero-defect in the manufacturing process – at least not yet. But as a customer the fact that there are manufacturing errors should never be your problem. One way professional companies reduce the risk of sending out defective products to their customers is by properly hand testing them before packaging and dispatching.

This is the smart thing to do on their part as it reduces the possibilities of returns (and all the admin and costs that come with it) and creates a more satisfied customers base. Unfortunately though, there are a lot of companies that simply pump out LED lights and send them out into the market place without testing them first. Check to see if the LED lighting supplier tests their lights before dispatching them.

Is there a wide assortment of LED Lights with different options?

This gives you an idea of the breadth of possibility with a particular supplier. The more options that are made available to you, the more likely that the supplier has had enough time to solve problems and provide workable solutions. For example, a supplier selling LED downlights should provide you with at least the most popular colour options, fitting types and dimmable variants.

Are LED Lighting Accessories available for purchase?

Does the supplier provide accessories like power supplies and RGB controllers when you are buying Strip Lights, or Bell Push Dimmer switches if you require dimmable LED Downlights or Bulbs?

Providing accessories to customers in this way shows that a supplier understands the use of their products and the possible needs of customers applying LED lighting across a variety of contexts and applications. LED Lighting accessories may be required for the purchase to be successful or may provide for more of the complete solution you are looking for so you don’t have to shop around further.

Can you contact your supplier and what kind of after sales support is there?

If you have a question, concern, problem or require some kind of after sales support, can you contact your supplier? What are their turnaround times with questions and have you tried to contact them previously?

Generally speaking, if you can’t contact your supplier or they don’t get back to you quickly, then they are probably not worth buying from – imagine then trying to return LED lights you’ve purchased that are faulty?

These are the basic guidelines when looking at buying LED Lighting products. Again, and to stress, it is not advisable to shop on price alone. If LED Lights were the cost of normal light bulbs then fine, you’ve got very little to lose. But quality LED lights should be looked at as an investment for your home or business, so it is really worth finding a supplier that will adhere to all of the above to ensure that you buy LED lights that will optimally operate for their given life spans.

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