Reliable Balloon Sources

[LoonerPlanet]

Shipping from Jennyloons to the US is very expensive. Is it because they ship via DHL?

When I do order from them, I preferably buy the balloons that I can't get anywhere else. My last order was mostly their new, printed Belbal 250's (Happy Birthday, Happy New Year, Boom up the Party), a GL500 with Happy New Year 2022, and some of their Jennyloon balloons. They do have a great selection of high quality balloons that is worth the occasional splurge.

[TheBiggertheBetter]

I recently ordered from Balloonsfast.com here in the US. They carry Tuftex and Qualatex as well as some others. My order included a 72 count bag of “Mega Tex” 17 inch balloons for $10. I figured I would check out their cheaper balloons. To my surprise and delight, they substituted a full 72 count bag of TT 17s. YAY!

[gardenofwank]

Has anyone ever successfully ordered from Balloons World store (https://www.bwstore.eu/shop2/)? If so, were you able to order without a VAT number?

[Nopops4me]

Gardenofwank - the link is not coming up. Says Not Found.

[Londonj2014]

https://www.bwstore.eu/shop2/

[jiffy]

Has anyone ever successfully ordered from Balloons World store (https://www.bwstore.eu/shop2/)? If so, were you able to order without a VAT number?

Yep, just email them. I was able to order and have shipped to the US. Shipping was very expensive but also quick.

[loonfan93]

Reseller:
Estilo e Festas: https://www.acessoriosparafestas.com.br/index.php
Brazilian-shop, only ships to Brazil.

I have bought from here in the past, several times. They don't have much of a variety, but they do have Qualatexes. Have bought 11', 16' and even 24' (there were only stamped ones for sale, so they were very expensive, though).
There doesn't seem to be any 24' qualatexes for sale anymore.

They even have a page for looners, believe it or not (misspelled "lonners"): https://www.acessoriosparafestas.com.br/lonners/
There's not much on it, sadly.

Qualatex listings: https://www.acessoriosparafestas.com...brand=Qualatex

I think I bought from them about 3-4 times. I don't remember how the packages came in, though. If anything, ask them first before purchasing anything.

It seems they have 36inch balloons made by themselves (Estilo e Festas), which they call it's for decoration and for looners. If it's good or not, I have no idea. This wasn't in the website the last time I bought from them.

Hello, do you know any other good brazillian seller or international with not so expensive shipping rate?

I have made dozens of purchases from Aliexpress dealers over the past three or four years with varying degrees of satisfaction.

Aliexpress is bascially the eBay of China. Aliexpress is simply a collection of individual dealers (or "shops") -- anyone who wants to can create a "shop" on Aliexpress, and tens of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs have done so. The parent company, Alibaba, makes an enormous catalog of products from Chinese manufacturers available to the individual dealers. Each dealer decides what kinds of merchandise he wants to sell in his "shop" and then creates listings from manufacturer-provided photos and descriptions. Prices are set by the dealer, so you will see the same products being sold at different prices by dozens of dealers.

When it comes to balloons, there are not that many manufacturers for the dealers to choose from. I don't know precisely the current number of balloon manufacturers that wholesale to the dealers, but it seems to be in the vicinty of perhaps 8 to 10 manufacturers. Quality is extremely variable from manufacturer to manufacturer.

It is difficult (impossible) to tell from the listings which balloons are going to be outstanding and which will be sub-standard. Some manufacturers use latex or coagulant which has a foul petrol-like chemical smell. Some others add too much plasticizer or stabilizer. But some are excellent, and quite similar to reliable Western brands like Tuftex, Qualatex and Cattex.

I have a short list of dealers that I like for my favorite balloons because I know that those dealers carry better quality products. I built my short list through trial and error by ordering the balloon styles and sizes that I like from a bunch of different dealers over the years.

For what it's worth, in the past 2 years the overall quality of the balloons sold by Aliexpress dealers has improved dramatically. However, don't forget that poor quality products are still sold and that you may be disappointed with your purchase. Fortunately if you are careful and order only a few balloons from each dealer you will have spent very little money to identify the dealers that you like best.

The examples you posted in your note are for modeling balloons, which I've never ordered and which aren't sold by my preferred dealers, so I can't suggest a dealer for you.

My advice would be to go ahead and place a small order, or even several small orders from different dealers and zero in on the dealer that provides the best quality and service for you.

By the way, don't forget to do your homework regarding the dealer's reputation -- the Aliexpress site provides some useful metrics to judge each dealer. The number of sales the dealer has made of any given product is a strong indicator of quality, as is the feedback received from buyers.

Good luck!

Is it possible for you to share your list with us?

[Clement]

Shipping from Jennyloons to the US is very expensive. Is it because they ship via DHL?

When I do order from them, I preferably buy the balloons that I can't get anywhere else. My last order was mostly their new, printed Belbal 250's (Happy Birthday, Happy New Year, Boom up the Party), a GL500 with Happy New Year 2022, and some of their Jennyloon balloons. They do have a great selection of high quality balloons that is worth the occasional splurge.

Hello, you know that most of the balloons that you site it is possible to ask us through our contact form

https://balloune-qc.com/pages/contactez-nous


Certainly some models may require a few weeks to get them but it will be cheaper than having them brought from Europe for a few balloons. Because when we order from cattex or belbal the transport is amortized with the number of balloons we order

See you soon on https://balloune-qc.com

[justanotherlooner]

Has anyone ordered from dekoballon.de? i would love to know if the boxes they ship in has anything related to balloons on the outside.

[akr]

I'm testing a couple suppliers who *claim* (on their websites at least) to still have good stocks of Q16s... which are quickly becoming hard to find. I will let y'all know if they deliver! Or, those of you in the Hudson River Valley area in NY can just listen for the bangs

Did you find any reliable suppliers still with Q16s? Almost all webshops I found said that Q16s are out of stock now