Hi, if this question is appropriate, may I ask if there is any advice/recommendation with purchasing Li-Ion battery and flashlight for Aussie buyers? Options being overseas sellers and domestic sellers.
Assuming item is available both overseas and domestic online sellers. Pros for buying from overseas include typically lower cost, though the weakening AUD is starting to negate the cost factor. While the cons would be longer (and somewhat undeterministic when factor in the postal services) wait time for orders to arrive. And not sure if there is any custom regulations against the Li-Ion based products(?)
Curious to see if there is any deciding factors applied by members here when deciding where to purchase item from, for example, if price difference by X%, then go with option Y. Or if total purchase value is more than $A, then get it from domestic to have (hopefully) better warranty service?
Thank you very much!
I don’t think you are going to get any good ones in Australia for a good price.
Its fine to import them, it just takes longer to get them from overseas.
Stick with protected Sanyo, Panasonic or Sony cells and you can’t go wrong.
I can’t recommend any individual batteries but lots of people here I am sure that can.
Are you looking for 18650s or something else?
I get just about everything torch related internationally online. I don’t know which domestic brick and mortar stores sell good batteries or torches for low prices.
Just go to Bunnings or Ray’s Outdoors, they sell outdated torches for like $30+.
Thank you ezarc. How nice it would be, if options/choices/price here are similar to overseas option, then it would be win-win for both buyers and local business!
Looking at venturing into Li-Ion world. If does make the switch, then first up will be needing some 14500’s for existing flashlights (SC52, XENO E03, Archer 1A, SK68 clone). Then since the investment would have to include a charger for Li-Ion, it would be tempting to start going down the single 18650 path too! 
On the marketing side and ‘shop-front display’ (of outdoor, camping stores), LED Lenser seems to be among the commonly seen brands. Others like Fenix, Nitecore have some local distributors selling online. But, price is higher (with the GST in picture too).
LED lenser is direct drive (unregulated output) and is way too expensive.
I’d love to stand corrected, but I don’t believe you are going to find anything local for a comparable price, if at all.
I’ve bought from all of the more reputable vendors known here; FT, FF, IOS, LCK, without any dramas.
Just accept that you are going to wait 2-3 weeks for that surprise package to turn up 
I’m not sure I understand the question. If your after batteries locally this supplier has a good reputation.
Thank you for the store info, that is very useful. My original question was somewhat generic, and was meant to get some idea of how common it is for local buyers to order from overseas (for flashlight related items)
I have only bought my flashlight products from overseas. The price is wayyy too high to even consider buying them here. That and there is a much smaller range available.
For batteries I go to fasttech as they seem to be one of the cheapest and have a great range. I personally stick to protected Panasonic cells. Have never had an issue with customs.
For torches I have bought from Fasttech, Intl-Outdoor, HKequipment, Wallbuys, Kaidomain and eBay. Wallbuys shipping was the quickest by far! It took just over a week for my orders to get here. FT was more than double that. Would happily use all of them again though.
Thank you LSX for the info!
Damn shill ... back into your cave
Why is dinoboy wearing a pretty pink bow anyway
dinoboy isn't right in the head. Is he male or female? Is he from Gemany or the USA? Is he a shill or a troll? I bet even he doesn't know.
I was having a conversation with dinoboy in one of taobaobuying's threads earlier today. I knew the thread would get deleted because it wasn't in the Commercial Sellers' Spot. I think I inadvertently encouraged dinoboy because right after that thread became unpublished, he bumped every thread started by hhaappii. What a troll move on an innocent newbie!
But that's dinoboy for you.
Sorry for the ridiculousness, hhaappii. Don't worry, it's not you, it's the dino. ;)
+1 for Yass.
Very reliable and helpful guy with prompt service and good products. I have a number of his Blazar Pansonic-based cells and so far they have been solid.
Yes, you can get your cells cheaper o/seas and you'll probably have no issues with places like Fasttech or IO. However, if you are just getting into Li-Ion, it's nice to have someone on the other end of the phone who you can chat with directly. While price is certainly important, it's worth considering that in the ulikely event that a cell is damaged, faulty or simply doesn't fit your lights, local postage is much cheaper than trying to return something to Hong Kong.
If you do go OS, just be sure to stay away from C**pfire brands.
From our experience, packages sent via the USA usually arrive in a week plus minus a few days when sent by USPS First Class International. Technically li-ion batteries aren't really allowed to be sent by themselves unless accompanied by a flashlight or charger but the rules seem a little lax. Of course the best thing to do is to purchase locally as the rise in USPS International shipping costs usually kill the deal.
One has to be careful when charging Li-ions. Also need to check whether your AA lights can handle more than 3.0v when switching to 14500 Li-ions cos the latter have a higher nominal charge of 3.7V and even reach 4.2v fresh off the charger.
you mean check whether AA lights can handle more than 4.2v because 14500s when charged to 100% capacity are 4.2v.
Yeah. Cos I’ve been thinking of getting 14500 batteries too as a greener option to alkalines and zinc carbon batteries. But this voltage limit has been worrying me esp when some generic AA lights don’t even have any name, markings or direct indication of their voltage compatibility other than their ability to take 1.5v only. Guess I’ll either get them modded or consider Nimh batteries at 1.2v.
Well I read through this thread getting progressively more confused & ending with more questions than answers.
What exactly is wrong with Chinese brand batteries, given that we know their capacity will be over rated. The prices are very low & it would seem to me that this minimum investment is sound for beginners in this area. Mine certainly have proved reliable although I have had the odd one go dead very quickly which BTW Dino replaced.
I just checked at Fasttech (recommended here) & found that Panasonic list batteries as NCR1865 A & B - god alone knows what that is?
Also a number of posters are suggesting suppliers but I have to Google search to even discover who they mean.
Guys may I suggest you keep in mind that many people may be new to this technology & speaking in code is not helpful.
@peterlonz
I don't think anyone is deliberately trying to confuse you with code or terminology mate. 
We are a community of sorts here and if you visit frequently enough, you will get to know the regulars. The OP is new to the forum, but based on his questions and contributions to other threads, it seems to me that he is reasonably well-versed in some of these "terms" already. We probably post our replies accordingly and if you aren't sure of anything you have three options.
1. Ask (We are mostly a friendly and helpful bunch)
2. Thread search (really useful tool)
3. Google or other web search engine
I don't imagine any other specialty forum would be any different. Photography forums are full camera jargon, cycliing forums full of specialty terms - you get the picture.
I notice you have been a member since 2010 but only have 8 posts. Perhaps you haven't spent much time here. Sometimes people may get impatient with newcomers who seem to ask questions without searching for the existing information first. Try not to become one of these newcomers by keeping this in mind when you post questions. This may be especially true with your questions regarding cells (batteries).
As to Chinese cells. It's probably not fair to label all Chinese cells (or other products) as crap since most of the stuff we buy is made there, but there is such widely varying QC that you really need to do your homework first. This takes time and takes a lot of reading. There are many threads where battery comparisons have been posted and some members (such as HJK for instance) do extensive and detailed testing.
In short, if you are new to Li-Ion cells you should familarise yourself with the risks. Unlike traditional Carbon-Zinc, Alkaline, NiCad or NiMH rechargeables, Li-Ion have the potential to be extremely dangerous if misused.
"Vent with flame" is the correct expression for what can happen to a Li-Ion cell that has been mistreated. Many people simply say "explosion." 18650 Li-Ion cells are the main building blocks of Laptop battery packs which sometimes leads newcomers into thinking that they are relatively safe or not much different to any other type of power source. However, in laptop battery packs, the manufacturers employ protection circuits and specialty charging equipment to ensure end-users are not hurt. Same goes for other equipment using Li-Ion technology.
The "cheap chinese cells" often referred to as "cr*pfire" (many of them have names ending in fire, which may ironically be appropriate) are to be avoided. It is not an area where you want to save a few pennies. To give you an idea of things that Li-Ion cells don't respond well to
- Overcharging (>4.2V)
- Overdischarging (<2.5V)
- High temperatures
- Short circuiting
- Reversal (where one cell in a multicell serial pack drops in voltage before the others and is reverse charged)
- Physical damage such as impacts or fire
- Cheap and poorly regulated chargers
Any or all of these factors can cause a "vent with flame" incident. If that "incident" happens inside a sealed metal tube (such as your typical flashlight) will you want to be the one holding this pipe bomb?
If it happens because you left your cheap cells in your cheap charger overnight on the living room carpet, do you want to be the one responsible for burning down your house and killing your family?
OK, so I'm sure some people will think I'm just being dramatic, but things like this have happened enough times for it to be a real risk.
Li-Ion cells should employ a protection circuit to cutoff the cell in the event of overcharge, overdischarge or over-current situations. These are generally known as "protected" cells. Some users like to use "unprotected" cells as they may offer a slight performance advantage in some applications. The risks are reduced if your light has an over-discharge protection circiut and you use a quality charger. Otherwise forget it.
Panasonic NCR cells are well-respected and are the base of many other "protected" brands. The latest capacities are 3100 and 3400 mAH. Sanyo cells are generally well-regarded also. For the really fussy, Sanyo's may hold a higher discharge voltage longer than the Panasonics even though their overall capacity is lower. On some lights this means they will burn brighter longer before starting to dim.
The *fire and other no-name brands sold cheaply on ebay, DX, Dino, etc may be Ok but it is a total lottery. Often they are laptop pulls (ie, second-hand cells scavenged from recycled or dead laptop packs) re-wrapped and sold as new. The capacity claims are mostly totally bogus with cells sometimes testing with less than 50% of the stated claims. The internal resistance of these cells may be very high, which means they can't sustain voltage under load and your flashlight will not perform anywhere near it's potential. Protection circuits used may be of very poor quality or just plain fake, offering no protection at all. Some cells have have even been pulled apart to discover a much smaller cell inside, re-wrapped in multiple layers of someting else and then with a label slapped over the lot. Because of the random nature of any QC process that may or may not even exist, using them in anything other than single cell lights is just asking for trouble.
So to sum up, stay with us, do your homework and give yourself time to learn. It all seems quite confusing at first but it will get easier with time.