Where to Buy a Laser Pointer - How To Guide

If you’re looking to buy a laser pointer, it’s not like you can walk down to your local laser shop and ask a well-informed sales associate which laser is the right fit for you. In fact, it can be rather hard to find a laser pointer that’s not a cheap keychain pointer. What if you need a laser pointer for star gazing or a high-powered laser?

Hopefully, this article will help shed some light on the process of shopping for a laser pointer with some tips and tricks to prevent losing your laser purchase all together.

High-Powered Laser Regulations

There are rules and regulations regarding the sale or import of handheld laser pointers, mainly because of misplaced individuals pointing them directly at aircraft. In North America, we are not allowed to buy handheld portable lasers over 5mW (milliwatt) of output power. In many countries in Europe and Australia the maximum output allowed is 1mW. Websites or stores that say they sell high-powered lasers may be selling illegal items or come from China, or other Asian country.

To investigate whether or not you’re dealing with a local company, simply check the contact page for an address. Most high-powered laser pointers purchased from these vendors are stopped at your countries customs and never seen again, and then to top it off many vendors have not honored a refund.

Local Stores (Brick and Mortar)

Finding a laser pointer within your local shopping radius can be difficult if you do not know where to look. Even when in a major city, it can be hard a simple of laser pointer. This list mentions various places where you can find a laser pointer close-by.

  • You may be able to find a cheap laser pointer from your local dollar stores, with just enough power to keep your cats/dogs entertained but not for a meeting in a conference room.
  • There are plug-in-play laser presenters that work with Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote that may be found at an office supply stores.
  • An astronomy shops at a planetariums may keep green laser pointers because they offer the brightest dot or beam than any other Colour, per milliwatt of power output.
  • Science and Nature retail stores may carry lasers for doing optical experiments or star gazing.
  • You may or may not find lasers at electrical supply stores for optical fiber fault testing. If a laser light is attached to one end on an optical fiber cable and it doesn’t reach and shine out the other end, it means the cable is broken somewhere.
  • Pet Stores usually have some sort of laser for pet whether it’s a handheld that you wave around yourself or something more advanced. There are laser units that move the laser dot around for you keeping your pet entertained while hands free.

Online Web Stores (eCommerce)

When shopping for a laser pointer online, it’s always suggested to look in your local country. Since lasers are so highly regulated you’ll be able to guarantee your order arriving, without having to clear customs and in a timely manner. To check a web stores location simply look at the contact page for an address, any reputable company displays an address.

Manufacturers of handheld laser pointers in the US have to adhere to the strict 5mW maximum. Most of the laser pointer websites out on the internet are Chinese websites, or affiliates marketers. When buying from an Asian website you need to keep in mind that it can take anywhere from 3-10 weeks to receive your items, plus quality control is not decent and you may want to order more than one laser so you’re not disappointed receiving one defective laser.

Classifieds

You can always check out your local classifieds to find someone selling their used laser pointer. This method is the least recommended for a few reasons. Buying locally is not as safe as it used to be and meeting strangers to buy something comes with risks. Police department from around that world have warned to public or offered safe trading locations because of this. A used laser does not come with warranties. Most laser defaults occur when within the first month or after overheating, you have no idea how often a used laser has been left on for. When buying a used laser pointer be sure to try it out first and use it for at least a minute straight to make to there are no heating problems.

High Powered Lasers

Looking for more power out of a laser than 1mW or 5mW? Even though high-power handheld have been banned by most Western countries you are still able to purchase tabletop lasers that get their power from a wall outlet. Application for high-powered laser modules included extreme experiments, movie/tv show sets, party event lighting or parts in an engraving machine. There are manufacturers in Canada, Germany, Israel and United States that make excellent industrial lasers.

Please note: When buy a high-powered plug-in laser please consider laser protection glasses or goggles to prevent any eye damage. Depending on the strength of a laser and how many beams a single module is split into will determine if laser eye protection is needed.

High Tech Lasers

Lasers have become an integral part of our society now and high-tech lasers have been built into so many things. Lasers can allow electronic devices to gather readings that provide useful data. Lasers are used in many facets of manufacturing and productions.

Some of the many uses for high-tech lasers included:

barcode scanners temperature sensors
distance meters gun sights
gun sights defense weapons
compact disc readers factory alignments
360° laser levels CO2 laser cutters
3D object scanners algae removal
topography space exploration
photonics physics
robotics advanced optics
fluorescence effects  

If you're looking for high-tech lasers there are manufacturers in Canada, Germany, Israel and United States that make excellent lasers for high-technology applications.

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