I don’t think anyone would argue with me when I say China is the #1 maker of tech gadgets in the world. Note that I didn’t say good tech gadgets, but they have mountains of the stuff.

Those who manufacture tech gadgets will make anything and everything – and moreover when you order direct from China, it’s cheap because you can knock off 30 to 80% of the middleman price that way.

If you thought ThinkGeek had a ton of gear, ha! Have I got one for you – Chinavasion. Thought you saw everything gadget? You were wrong, as you can easily spend hours combing through all the products on Chinavasion.

A few notes up front:

• No, they do not sell netbooks, laptops or PCs – but they do sell everything else.
• Remember that anything from China be it from the mainland or Hong Kong can take days to several weeks to arrive in the mail.
• "You do get what you pay for" applies here. As such, read the return policies carefully. Anything bought that’s defective on arrival can usually only be returned if you pay international shipping to send it back – but I have a workaround for that which I’ll mention in a moment.

Some of the convenient and crazier items you’ll find

• GPS receiver in a USB stick – $22
• GPS receiver on a keychain – $40
• Android 2.2 Media Player box with Full HD 1080p – $90
• Touchscreen Cell Phone Wristwatch – $93
• Same as above in dual-sim quad-band form – $155
• Multi-function USB SIM card reader – $2
• Mobile phone blocking bag (put phone in bag and it blocks all signals) – $3
• Mini digital microscope for iPhone 4 with 60x magnification – $11
• Pink USB heating slippers (yes they are what you think they are) – $6

For you holiday shoppers out there, check out this category. You may be able to do all your holiday shopping just from this site alone. I’m not kidding.

Worried about return shipping cost for defective items? Here’s the workaround

Obviously, sending anything back to China where you have to pay international shipping fees would just suck. What you can do alternatively is the following:

1. Spot the item(s) you want on Chinavasion.

2. Open up a new tab and search for the item on eBay.

3. When the search results appear, scroll down and click your country so only distributors from where you live are listed:

4. Purchase from one of the your-country-only distributors listed.

Important note: Yes, you will spend a little more by going this route, however should you have to return a defective item, the shipping cost will be way less than sending back to China.

Also note that you’ll get your item a lot faster this way on purchase. It will take days instead of weeks to get to you, and many offer 1-day shipping for a few bucks extra.

Like what you read?

If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below: