My company asked me to purchase flashlights and 18650 batteries for our department (about 50pc each). Unfortunately I can only buy from a vendor that is on an approved list (industrial vendors like McMaster, Grainger, etc, typically). Said list does not include reputable sellers like IMRbatteries, LiionWholesale, or MTNelectronics - but Amazon is on the list (any Amazon seller). Unfortunately Amazon is also chock full of counterfeit 18650s. I’d obviously like to order from an Amazon seller that I know will ship authentic cells.
Can you recommend any sellers on Amazon that reliably ship authentic 18650 cells?
Oh yeah, I’m looking for 18650’s with over 2500mAH and 10A or higher discharge rating. 25R/30Q, HE4/HG2, VTC5/VTC6, SanyoGA - you know, the type of cells you’ll commonly find used around BLF.
I’m wondering if I’m going to have to wind up buying something like Nitecore batteries despite the higher price just to make sure I don’t get fakes.
I gave up on amazon sadly for batteries. I don’t understand why they can’t sell decent 18650 cells, half the ones end up being fake. My best luck has been going to vape shops and buying from them, they are always legit and quality cells. Those vape guys are picky about good batteries.
Totally appropriate comment, but that risk is mitigated in our situation by the following:
1) We are a department of engineers (I’ve known some dumb engineers, but can vouch for all in our department being capable and meticulous).
2) There will be a required training on Li-Ion safety that must be completed before lights are issued to an individual.
3) The lights have both LVP and on-board USB recharging circuits. So the light will not over-drain the battery, and the battery will rarely come out of the light.
Amazon uses binning storage system, so its impossible to guarantee you will be getting real cells.
Because even if you pick a reputable dealer on amazon, say that only stocks real Samsung 30Q cells, amazon warehouse will throw ALL samsung 30Q’s from ALL resellers into the same bin in their warehouse and ALL orders for 30q’s will be picked from this same bin.
Basically stay away from amazon for batteries or anything that is highly faked/copied.
I’ve ordered Orbtronic (admitted to be re-wrap) batteries through Amazon. The ones I received came straight from Orbtronic (but “fulfilled by Amazon”). They are not cheap, though.
That is mostly true. The deal is, Amazon is expert at efficiency. They make money from being efficient, and make money for being inefficient. By being efficient they make money by less waste (space) or wasted time. (time is money) They charge sellers for inefficiency, or more boutique services.
So in a nutshell, as a seller, you get a better deal from Amazon for co-mingling your product a number of ways. Seller’s don’t have to co-mingle, but they are charged higher seller’s fees for shelf space if they don’t. Shelf space is sq footage. Square footage is warehouse space. Larger warehouse space means bigger building, more realestate, more utilities, etc… And when you are dealing with millions of products, shelf space is premium, and is the rental space of the building, which is Amazon’s original business model.
There are many unique products that can’t be co-mingled, such as the Orbtronic batteries spinynorman mentioned above. But expensive partially because of high fees. (and that orbtronic batteries are expensive anyway)
The biggest problem for a legit seller of Samsung 30Q’s who co-mingles to save money, is returns. And returns are costly to a seller. Like you mentioned, there is no way a seller knows if it was his product that was actually defective or a fake. The return goes to whomever the customer purchased from. This is how and why sellers of fakes prefer to co-mingle their product, and sellers that won’t co-mingle have a tougher time making a profit because of fees. There is also no way for the consumer to know which sellers don’t co-mingle their product, other than sellers who don’t use FBA (fulfillment by amazon). Another tactic Amazon uses to encourage sellers to co-mingle is outrageous shelf space rental fees if your product sits on the shelf too long. And they just substantially raised those rates last month.
Basically, Amazon’s business model encourages or attracts counterfeits. There isn’t a single person working at any of those huge warehouses that could tell a fake from an authentic 30Q, nor would they take the time to find out, since the seller pays for the return. In other words, Amazon doesn’t care. It’s a numbers game with the sellers.
I have had good and bad dealings with Amazon cells. The site is flooded with “fire” brands and it’s a crapshoot. Even more scary is “authentic” cells are mixed with counterfeit ones and you may get a mix of both. If Amazon was my only option, I would buy from Orbtronic on Amazon ONLY if it says “Fulfilled by Orbtronic”.
Amazon Canada is a complete joke for 18650 cells. Such an incredible rip-off! It’s usually about $50 per cell! That’s about $40 USD for a single name-brand 18650 like a Samsung 30Q. Almost 10x the price elsewhere! I have no idea who buys at those prices, but I suppose they don’t need many sales to make a nice profit.
You really have to be careful when buying stuff on Amazon, especially their Canadian site. There are good prices on some stuff, but there are far more rip-offs.
Try Liionwholesale.com. He ships to Canada. Don’t know what his shipping charges are but it’s certainly not $40. You may want to buy like 4 instead of 1, probably the same shipping cost.
Yeah, I think I’ve given up on getting cells from China anymore. I guess I’ll try liionwholesale or illum. More expensive (shipping is $15 and orders are limited to 4 cells), but probably more reliable.
There are vape shops in Canada where I can buy cells, but they’re even more expensive than ordering from the US.
I went to Illum in San jose in person last week and met the owner. Nice guy. Small little showroom but some cool stuff. I ended up walking out with a wowtac headlamp and 4 VTC6 cells. The sonys were $6.00 each.
