Red light devices in Australia run from about $60 to well past $3,000, and the gap is not explained by the light. Here is what the money actually goes on.
The cheap end
Under roughly $150 you are usually buying a small imported unit sold by a dropshipper — a business that has never physically handled the product, ships from a warehouse it has never visited, and has no ability to help you when something fails.
Two things tend to be true at that price. The first is that the output is not published, or is quoted as a wattage figure that tells you nothing about what reaches your skin. The second is that the warranty is 90 days, administered offshore, and effectively unclaimable.
Neither of those is illegal. But it does mean that the number on the box is the only number you have.
The top end
Above about $2,000 you are generally buying a full-size panel — a wall or door-mounted array with a hundred or more LEDs, mains powered, designed to cover a large area of the body at once. Smaller panels start lower, and studios charge by the session instead.
Panels are genuinely different products, not just expensive versions of a handheld. They cover far more area, and if you want whole-body coverage there is no handheld substitute. What you give up is portability, and the fact that a device requiring setup is a device that tends to get used less. We compared the two honestly here, including where handhelds lose.
What sits in the middle, and why
Between those two, price differences usually come down to five things:
- Measured output, and whether it is published. Testing costs money. So does being willing to print a number someone can hold you to.
- LED count and quality. Six red and six near-infrared emitters cost more than twelve of one wavelength with the other implied.
- Battery and build. A rechargeable lithium cell with proper certification and documentation is a meaningful cost. So is a housing that survives a handbag.
- Compliance paperwork. Test reports, declarations of conformity, battery transport documentation, electromagnetic compliance. Invisible on a product page. Not optional if you are importing properly.
- Support that exists. A local warranty you can claim on and a phone number in the same country as you.
The questions worth asking before you pay
- What is the irradiance, and at what distance was it measured? If they answer with watts, they have not answered.
- How many LEDs of each wavelength, specifically?
- How long is the warranty, and who administers it — here or overseas?
- Is there a phone number, and does a person answer it?
- Can you trace a unit back to its production run if something goes wrong?
Most brands will not answer the first one. That is the single most useful filter you have.
Your rights, regardless of price
Whatever you pay, goods sold in Australia come with consumer guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a repair, replacement or refund if a product is faulty, is not of acceptable quality, or does not match its description — and those rights last as long as is reasonable for the product and price, which can be considerably longer than any stated warranty.
A business that publishes specifications is a business that can be held to them. That is not a marketing point; it is the mechanism by which the description guarantee actually works.
Read our full checklist for buying in Australia →
The Heal For You Light is a general wellness device. It is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.