We drool up here at all your online shopping deals. It's a downer to often pay almost twice the price for just about everything 
Grab some stuff in Aliya's Battery Store (AliExpress) for a small shipping fee. They stock some rare batteries. KeepPower UH1835P/P1835C2 cells available too or so they say. ;-)
Pay with PayPal if not willing to take the usual risk.
Give thanks to God and his emissary. :-D
Cheers ^:)
Thu, 11/08/2018 - 10:56
I’ve bought from Illum. My last couple of orders (this year) were $15 shipping. Took about a week to get here, and extremely well packaged.
$15 is pretty expensive if you’re only buying a couple of cells, but if you buy at least 8, the shipping is still the same. That’s only a couple of bucks per cell, which isn’t too bad. The cell prices are very good, so overall the price per cell is still good as long as you buy several.
There are Canadian vape shops you can order from (The Vaporist is the cheapest I’ve found). But, you’re looking at $10+ per cell, plus tax and shipping (around $10). It’s not cheaper.
Liionwholesale gets good mentions here, but I think it’s only good if you’re from the U.S. They have a ridiculous waiver you have to sign (for International orders) that says you’re responsible if they lose your package. It might not happen often, but that’s not how everyone else does it. Plus, I think their shipping is just as expensive IIRC.
Or, keep checking Banggood every week or so. Occasionally they allow shipping to Canada for a small charge. It comes and goes. Mostly goes.
Another option I’ve had good luck from is The Sunway Store on Aliexpress. Genuine cells, free shipping, but painfully slow. However, Ali stores sometimes switch to fakes, so YMMV.
Be grateful you don’t live in South Africa.
Even if you can find cels that will ship here, they will probably take 3-4 months to arrive, that is, if they arrive….( Which currently, they often don’t…)
And you have to pay in Rands…. 
I’m also in Canada and I feel your struggle. If you’re in Ontario, send me a PM. I could send you my ODF30C for a reasonable price, and I’d be happy to put in an order together and split the shipping cost from Illumn.
As I’m looking for 3400 mAh cells. Samsung 30Q can get at $15; KeepPower P1830R is not cheaper (thanks for the link Barkuti). But my preferred cell is a Sanyo 18650GA or Sam 35E (and any LG / Sony equivalent).
Ilum’s shipping cost of $16.25 (USD) is cheaper than LiIon’s at $26.65 (USD). So I may have to resolve myself to pay as much for the cells as the flashlight.
Thanks BM for the offer. I’m not in Ontario but a joint purchase to Ilumn may be an option.
I always use mtn.
I can help you out, fellow Canuck 
I’m not kidding, but here is my source of high drain cells:
https://www.amazon.ca/TenMore-DCB206-Battery-DeWalt-Lithium/dp/B07FVJGS1C/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1541716273&sr=8-5&keywords=20v+6ah
I actually got myself a while back a 20V 5Ah pack from the same reseller/manufacturer.
Ripped the cells out, actually got Samsung 25Rs from the pack, and then sold them to some friends who were vapers.
IMO, this was the cheapest way by far to get legit 18650s.
So there’s 10 cells per pack -> $6.50 / cell? Not bad for Sam’s 25R; who would have thought a cheap generic tool pack holds Samsungs? I like the idea.
However, I’ll place the flashlight order with Kaidomain with the 3400 mAh GAs, hoping BanL can get them here by x-mas. I’m leaning on 3400s as I’ll be driving the light long and hard.
No, the pack I linked actually has VTC6s.
I ordered the 25Rs a looong time ago. I think 2 years ago.
Well, those are better…
Perhaps I should buy this pack and see if they also contain legit cells, like the last pack.
Some interesting high discharge offers for you Canuckians in Aliya's hut:
- Samsung section, only 30Qs right now
- LG section, some nice offers like HE2s, MJ1s and rare high voltage E1 cells
I’ve been lucky enough to have cells brought up from the States by relatives, but if I were buying a whole new set now, I’d just get them from illumn. For 10 cells it’s something like $16 shipping, which doesn’t add that much to the cost per cell. You can also be completely confident they’re legit.
@Barkuti, why did you have to spill the beans about that store?
I was actually keeping it secret for myself 
I like to help people, and Aliya's shop is what seems one of those AliExpress merchants who like to spell truth. Everything is clearly stated in their ads: brand name, model and everything, and prices seem as good as it can reasonably be for 1st OEM cells.
I had it bookmarked because of the KeepPower UH1835P 18350 cells.
^:)
Don’t buy on account of my needs. Much that I like the idea, want something workable by x-mas. I don’t have a large collection of lights and my needs are modest – about a dozen cells.
However, if you do explore the venue and they are sony VTC6, and you do wish to depart with some, I’ll gladly fork over some PayPal dough covering the post & fees.
@ Barkuti: I’ve earmarked that link. Much to explore in the battery underworld! What are their shipping times? HK to Canada typically 5 weeks (w/ previous AE).
P.S. I don’t seem to have Paypal option on Aliya’s Battery Store…
MTN Electronics is ok with 4 cell cap, combined with other items lowers the per piece shipping fee. Same with Ilumn. But as of right now just want some 3 to 4 cells.
But scavenging about I came on these TESLA 3550mAh NCA18650GA cells . Now that would fit the ‘jet set’ crowd!
Very interesting… Thanks.