Massive fraud on 18650s in the Littokala Aliexpress stores!

I’m sure if I shopped around I could find a little lower. Imr batteries goes down to 3.50 if you buy 50. I’m a little weary of buying cells overseas now. Also I know the cells come from overseas, but I try to support American jobs, when I can. I have one trusted eBay seller. I mostly go to first and see what he has. He doesn’t have massive amounts of cells but their all oem cells from new unused battery packs. Can’t get any higher quality then oem cells. 25r have dropped this last year in price tremdously.

I don’t understand why you think this store is Liito Kala - it’s got a different URL and is quite probably a fake store, have you tried to verify they’re even related to Liito Kala?

Look at the post above the polar bear, for your answer. And also in my other post I’ve said if this store is in anyway affiliated with the real liitokala store they should be black listed. And if the above post is true. Then it is connected. If the offical store has a picture of a 4 pronged 30q then they are in on it as well. Unless the official store is fake as well. Either way in the end I’ll avoid their products. I don’t put much of anything past overseas company it seems that PayPal doesn’t have a contract with aliexpress anymore that it’s alipay now. A lot I mean a lot of counterfeits are sold on there. I wouldn’t be surprised if PayPal was tired of the massive amount of claims. I’ve had problems with aliexpress before and my bank card. I’ve learned to use a prepaid throw away card when ordering from there. Your bank info isn’t so secure as you would think. Anything is possible it could be fake stores, the company could have sold out to another CEO with different ethics using the name to make money. Who knows what the truth might be. In the end the whole situation sucks for everyone. Best case is refund and keep the cells. Worst case is no refund since product picture was shown beforehand. If they are decent drain cells it’s a learning experience don’t spend money on a deal that’s seems to good to be true unless your willing to lose that money. I almost ordered myself but decided to wait until some orders landed since I already have new cells not being used. Even from China the price just didn’t seem right for the amount of cells. For 100 200 cells but 2.50 a cell for single cells was a red flag. I’d rather pay a extra dollar a cell and know what I’m getting and this event just reinforced that since I almost took the chance as well. China is the counterfeit king of the world with no consequences for it. No morals no sympathy just about money. You don’t see that as much with American or European sellers. And when a rare bad batch comes along they replace the order no questions asked even contacting you about the cells and replacing them. I’ve seen imr and liionwholesale do this. Plus like I said I’d rather spend my money when possible in America and keep some of it here. Even if it’s a little more expensive. I’ll get peace of mind they stand behind their products.

It looks like the “Factory store” was not the real store.

The Official store is different.

I notice that the Official Store (with a real letter O), is now showing pictures of the 30Q cell with 4 prongs.

Are these widespread fakes, or has Samsung released a 30Q with 4 prongs? I’m betting on fakes, but it’s odd that previously reliable stores would now be selling fakes. And these ones aren’t cheap, either.

This is starting to anger me.

This would have never happened if they used a different shipping method for the cells that was way less expensive, like Turkey post, so I could easily get the cells and test them.

I would advise buying from the Sunway store instead.

If you want to buy 10 cells, they probably have the best prices of 18650s.

I got 6x30Qs on promo from them at about 4$/cell. Should have told that deal instead.

Probably fake Samsung as far as I know and I have 13q, 15q,l 20q, 20r, 25r, 30q and I’ve never seen 4 prongs ever I highly doubt they would start now. The only theory that would somewhat make sense to Is If another company bought liitokalas name. And is using that for some quick money. But the weird part is why ruin your reputation. They made decent chargers.

Now that is a realistic deal for single cells.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. It was pointed out from the start it was buyer beware. It use to be a reputable company that’s not your fault

2$/cell could be possible if they had almost no margins and buying the cells in the 10000s, but only if you bought 10 cells, and not 6 and less.

It’s possible but not realistic a company runs for profit. If the cells are good there not going to just dump them for no profit. Rewrappers have good margins or they wouldnt do it. The parent cell is always cheaper Cells last for years at the factory charge state. And the cells could only be around 2015 at the latest. And the amount of cells they turn over the likelyhood of old stock is even less. There’s really no reason besides dumping fake cells to just give them away. Find me any other example of 30qs in single cells going for 2.50 a cell since their release. Just one.

I just purchased some blue 25 r that are new but 5 years old and they still test around 2600mah lithium cells last for years from the factory. There is no need to dump them because you have a bunch you’d hold and sell them. No for profit business has the customer in mind to basically give products away. I personally don’t believe a rewrapper company has it in the kindness of their heart to lose 2 to 4 dollars profit a cell for their customers. If the cells were 6 7 years old possibly. But even the oldest 30q possible are still just as good as today’s date codes

Don't sweat it bro. Everyone knows there is risk with any deal alert. I have held off on announcing finds only for the deals to disappear before I verified they were legit. I've also alerted to deals that ended up being scams. Both situations suck. I prefer someone announce a deal as early as possible so that members can make their own decision. Thank you for starting this thread regardless of how this all falls out. I have purchased 30Q's for $2.50 a couple times on special promotions before. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Also, I meant 4$CA, not 4$US. So about 3$US actually.

I’m also glad that you anounced this deal. I placed my order prior to reading about the 4 leg positive end but I figured it was a gamble. Haven’t put these cells to use yet but hopefully someone that placed an order can do some extensive testing on them so we know their limitations.

All of the cells I ordered test genuine. Specifically the Samsung batts arrived with 3-pillar button tops and weights are identical to 30q’s I bought from Illumination Supply months ago. I have purchased the following and would do so again from the Aliexpress Liitokala store:
Panasonic NCR18650B flat tops
Samsung 18650-30Qs
Liitokala Li-50A 26650
Sony VTC6
Sony VTC5

Out of these batteries, all markings and positive posts check out.

Which store? The Liitokala Factory store or Liitokala Official Store?

Liitokala Official Store in AliExpress

Oh, you bought at the real store then.

I suggest removing the link to the Factory store in my original post. Who is with me?

I would prefer it be posted too. It’s not your fault if the deal isn’t as good as advertised. But if it is real batteries, we’re all happy. If not we will get money back. No biggie

The pictures from LiitoKala Original store have now also 4 legs.

Has Samsung something changed?
On the other hand they sell them as Samsnu

LiitoKala 100% original New for Samsnu INR 18650 battery 3.7V 3000mAh INR18650 30Q li-ion Rechargeable Batteries
http://s.aliexpress.com/2yAjYF77

That’s what I’m pointing out, nobody in this thread has confirmed they’re affiliated and certainly, nobody has confirmed the “factory” store is genuine and not a fake. There’s no links to the factory store from the Liito Kala site, which suggests that it’s a fake store.

That’s a bit of a leap of logic - just because both stores are using the same images, doesn’t mean they’re connected, or that the products in the image are fake - it could be that there’s a different type of genuine Samsung battery which does look like that, even if the items most people have received turn out to be fake.

That’s not how it works - different retailers on Aliexpress use different payment methods, some use PayPal and others don’t. The fact the store you bought from doesn’t use PayPal and the official Liito Kala AliExpress store does, may be further evidence the factory store is a fake and isn’t affiliated with Liito Kala.

PayPal won’t care too much about the claims from AliExpress, it still makes it profit, it’s the retailer which loses the money from a claim.

Well yes, it looked too good to be true and it probably was.