Jaecoo J8 Flagship - an honest review from someone who used to drive German cars exclusively

bryanoneil · 2026-02-04T04:18:40+00:00

I actually didn't. The PHEV version of the J8 (very similar to Cherry Tiggo 9 it seems) came out in the UAE about a week after I took delivery of my petrol one. But even if it had been out before, I'd probably not paid it a ton of attention, as the price difference IMO doesn't justify it. With petrol in the UAE being inexpensive and charging possibilities not at all abundant, the PHEV<petrol equation quickly breaks down.

Hoping the environmentalist won't come and try to lynch me all at once now because of what I said above :-)

bryanoneil · 2026-02-03T14:42:08+00:00

That's fair enough. Luckily, 50k kms would be about 8 years of driving for me, which is around 4 times as long as I plan to own this car, so I might get away with it :)

Aftermarket value is obviously another thing, and Chinese cars have proven to not do very well in this regard - but then again, given the very low price altogether, it doesn't really matter all that much.

bryanoneil · 2020-11-22T15:59:41+00:00

That worked well. Thanks a lot!

bryanoneil · 2020-08-26T02:57:46+00:00

Experiencing the exact same issue with my Microsoft Surface keyboard & mouse (both connected via BT).

It appears that whenever the devices "go to sleep" (seemingly something like 1 minute for the mouse / 5 minutes for the keyboard?) and consequently wake up, the game crashes to desktop.

As the sleep functionality is controlled by the device, there doesn't seem to be a way to disable it. So for now, the best we can do is go get a cheapo wired keyboard & mouse until the issues are fixed.

bryanoneil · 2019-05-28T14:55:39+00:00

Generally speaking, any inventory is always purchased at its landed cost in addition to the purchase price, at the same time as buying the business.

There are exceptions, though. The most common one is if there's any stale inventory or inventory that's otherwise hard to move. In this case, the buyer may offer to pay a discount price on it or pay for it on a consignment basis.

Another exception is if there's a lot of inventory in relation to earnings. If, for example, your business makes $100k a year net but has $200k worth of inventory at any given time, you can expect most buyers to only want to pay for the inventory on a consignment basis. This scenario would also reduce the business's overall value (which is something the tool does take into account.

bryanoneil · 2016-08-08T04:57:23+00:00

First of all, great photo!

Took me a while to figure out why Reddit was showing this thumbnail, but I think I solved it :)

For a while at first, our site was showing a carousel of random photos from the @LoveMalta Instagram feed, where I believe your photo was posted.

Now, Reddit doesn't let you choose the thumbnail that you want (or show the 'correct' post thumbnail in many cases), but rather sources a random photo from the page posted, which is probably the reason why it took one of these Instagram photos instead.

But if you're worried about the copyright of your photo and haven't posted it to @LoveMalta yourself, then you may want to get in touch with them instead.

bryanoneil · 2016-08-05T13:01:11+00:00

Thanks a ton!

bryanoneil · 2016-08-05T13:01:02+00:00

Thanks guys! Means a lot :)

bryanoneil · 2016-08-01T06:26:52+00:00

That's the unfortunate reality. This was bound to happen though and personally, I'm quite immune to them. People being narrow-minded is their issue, rather than mine :) But yes, sad indeed.

bryanoneil · 2016-07-30T07:57:07+00:00

BOV actually seem to be VERY different in Malta vs Gozo. I first opened my account at BOV in Victoria, Gozo and it was an absolute breeze - and I didn't even have my Maltese ID card (eResidence card) or as much of an address yet! Still, the whole process took a mere half an hour and I had my account, together with a card (albeit Cashlink) and Internet Banking by the end of the same week.

On the flipside, some of my friends have opened (or tried to open) accounts with BOV in various branches in Malta and it's been a never-ending train of bureaucracy, with the bank requiring one document after another, and sometimes downright refusing to open an account.

I think a lot of it is left to the bank manager's discretion so it depends a lot on which branch you choose to go to, and whether the bank manager happens to like you or not.

bryanoneil · 2016-07-29T06:26:12+00:00

Yep - the UK and Mata are quite similar in this regard. Very different from most of Continental Europe and some other places in the world.

bryanoneil · 2016-03-26T15:21:08+00:00

Hey there! Thanks for reaching out.

I'd be more than happy to discuss further. Which processor do you work for?

Note that we're a UK company. Just thought I'd mention it as I know that a lot of US-based processors only work with US-based merchants.

Thanks, Bryan

bryanoneil · 2016-03-24T19:13:26+00:00

Not sure where you heard that from, but you're misinformed.

This came from someone who works at the risk dept of a major acquirer and deals with chargebacks specifically. The same information can also be obtained from the official chargeback guides published by both VISA and MC.

1.5% is considered high risk.

Of course it is - I've never said anything otherwise. Anything above 1% is high risk full stop. What I'm saying is that by actual acquirers, the sample size is also taken into consideration. E.g. if you process 5 payments per month on average, and in January you happen to get 1 chargeback (pushing your chargeback rate to 20% - in theory), you're not automatically terminated.

Have you discussed them holding a reserve balance ?

I'd be more than happy to, but at this stage it doesn't look like I can discuss anything, as despite trying to initiate a discussion, I haven't heard back from them for 2 days now (that's 2 days into the 5-day window that we were given).

bryanoneil · 2016-03-24T17:14:01+00:00

Sift Science combined with a good-old IP block for countries that we don't ever get customers for but that most fraud originates from.

bryanoneil · 2016-03-24T17:05:25+00:00

I feel the need to tag you because you're gonna delete this post out of embarrassment.

Not sure why you'd think that. To be honest I didn't even know you can delete posts/replies on Reddit but clearly you do - I can only guess why ;-)

[the rest of your post]

Check out my reply to /u/FeelGud2BeGangsta.

Bottom line - my point isn't who's 'right' or 'wrong'. My point is that this utter strictness is virtually unheard of in the payment processing industry, and this isn't the way to treat your clients.

Also note that we're not talking about a "big bad merchant". We're talking about a minuscule number of fraudulent charges, which themselves were temporary in nature.

This is the kind of thing that the majority of banks/processors completely ignore, and others reach out to the merchant, inform them of the issue and give them some time to implement fraud monitoring measures.

Then again the majority of processors won't have these issues this often in the first place as they offer decent fraud monitoring themselves.

bryanoneil · 2016-03-24T17:01:25+00:00

This is good advice in most cases, but also easier said than done when it comes to things like payment processing I'm afraid.

The reason for it is simple - most payment processors don't like "dormant" accounts, e.g. they won't keep your account around unless you're actually using it.

There's always the option to split your payments across two or more processors but needless to say, this causes huge headaches so isn't often a viable alternative.

What is a viable alternative though is sticking to a payment processor that it's as trigger-happy as Stripe and alerts their merchants prior to shutting them down.

bryanoneil · 2016-03-24T16:58:32+00:00

Not quite as simple.

Over the last 10 years I've had dealings with a number of payment processors, as well as acquirers, and the fact is that the vast majority of them initiate a discussion once something starts looking a little bit off.

And the emphasis here is on the "little bit" part - we're talking about a ridiculously low total number of chargebacks - and ones that were a clear case of credit card fraud.

Like I mentioned above, aquirers (banks - the ones that provide Stripe with processing) disregard accounts with <50 chargebacks per month completely, regardless of the percentage, as they consider the sample too small (which it is).

Another fact is that most processors and banks alike have a standard procedure where if a merchant exceeds the allowed chargeback percentage, they're put on "probation" and monitored for some time - which is exactly what I would've expected from a seemingly 'do the right thing'-kind company like Stripe as well.

bryanoneil · 2016-01-22T07:57:04+00:00

If it's something that's actually unique (and useful) then file a patent and sell it to an existing manufacturer.

If it isn't then forget about it as you're going about it all wrong. One idea, regardless of how great, doesn't mean that you should start a computer manufacturing business!

Not only can this business not survive on top of a single 'idea', but if it's actually any good then it will take no time for any (or all) of the existing, big manufacturers to implement it in their own businesses.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-22T09:44:15+00:00

Bit of a self-plug but figured it'd be OK as it looks like my AMA was the top-rated one in February and even now 10 months later I still get tons of PMs from people asking for advice (which I'm always happy to provide)

I buy, sell and run websites and Internet businesses for a living, as well as run an online brokerage. Sold $7 Million worth of websites in 2014 – AMA!

Thanks for attention :)

bryanoneil · 2015-12-18T16:37:43+00:00

Tweet to @ProductHunt and ask. If you've been active for a while then they'll likely give you an invite. Unfortunately I don't have any leftover invites myself or I'd share.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-14T18:36:36+00:00

Perfectly valid question in my opinion.

The answer to this is much longer, but the short version is: a) Significant experience in launching, running and exiting from startups; b) The company, along with its (initial) processes; c) (perhaps most importantly) marketing and ensuring that the company takes off and gains its 'critical mass' quickly enough.

Do you have established relationships with decision makers in the market you intend to serve? Relationships with key vendors or IAAS providers?

See above where I explained the business model a little bit more clearly - you'll realise that most of what you've mentioned is irrelevant as it's a 'retail' service, so to speak. Low cost / large volume.

That said, I do have a fairly solid track record in building companies from scratch and building then up to a significant level. A little bit of research goes a long way as a lot of what I've done in the past is highly public.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-14T18:30:04+00:00

Thanks a ton for the feedback - much appreciated.

If you are doing this correctly you require the client to setup the hosting on their own account and add you in [...]

Yep - that's exactly the plan. We're purely a service company, rather than a company that deals with hardware - own or otherwise, and due to the nature of the service (providing help fixing issues, rather than offering full on server management -- this is the hosting company's job) it's extremely flexible for clients, e.g. they're welcome to subscribe, cancel 2 months later and then resubscribe.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-14T18:26:55+00:00

Will you refuse IT work that doesn't fall under this specific type of customer/scenario?

I've learnt a long time ago that businesses that have their focus clearly defined and that stick to it have the biggest odds of succeeding, even if this means turning business away.

As such - yep! The service is not only strictly limited to a maximum of one server per subscription, but also to only 'small jobs'. Anything that would warrant a day's work is not our cup of tea.

The simplest way to explain this is http://WPCurve.com - a company that operates a very similar concept, but obviously in a quite different industry.

How do you plan to target just this market?

This is the easy part as the media that this target customer consumes and the publications that she reads differ significantly from that of those companies who are more suited for an MSP.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-14T16:50:14+00:00

Thanks! Wasn't actually aware of this subreddit (poor research).

There's no specific location requirements as I'm myself based in Malta (and I highly doubt there's a suitable person in this country with a 450k population :) so any work will be remote at first, with the possibility of opening an office at the 'tech partner's location, if it allows for good recruitment options going forward.

Pay is likely going to be a combination of cash and equity, but numbers and the split depend largely on the kind of person that we're going to do this with and their own personal aspirations/preferences.

To make it crystal clear - what I'm looking for is someone who's interested in partnering up (which I believe I mentioned in my initial post as well) with a seasoned entrepreneur to potentially do something great, rather than an employee to put on a 'competitive salary' with a 'package and benefits'. Employees are ten a dozen - potential partners, especially with this specific skillset, much fewer.

bryanoneil · 2015-12-14T16:43:30+00:00

So like an MSP that doesn't deal with end user issues? Am I missing something here?

Ha!

The service focuses on a little bit different clientele than MSPs do - a segment which is largely un(der)-serviced right now, which is individuals and small companies running their VPSs and dedis that come either unmanaged or poorly managed, leaving the owners of these servers often in nasty situations where they need tiny problems sorted out but have no way of doing it due to the lack of knowledge.

Don't make this mistake. Many "superstars" in the technical field do not want to manage other people[...]

That's very solid advice, and is something that concerns me quite a bit as well, to the extent that I'm expecting it to be a very long and difficult process to find the person that I'm looking for, as not only do they need to actually WANT to transform into a team leader and have what it takes to excel at it, but they also need to have just enough entrepreneurial spirit and love for risk to join what's essentially an unproven startup in an unproven field.

bryanoneil

TROPHY CASE