Should I stay away from Banggood for purchasing 18650's?

iAmMyOwn · 2018-03-20T05:32:48.000Z

So in short, I live in New Zealand where there are not many retailers that sell 18650,s and the ones that do are usually sold out of the ones I am looking for. So my only other option is to shop internationally. I usually get my 18650’s from Illumn which is ok but the shipping is *ing expensive. So I was thinking of ordering them from Banggood as they are cheap and the shipping is cheap.

The specific batteries I am after are the Sanyo NCR18650GA 3500mAh High Discharge Flat Top

Should I stay away from Banggood and just stay with reliable retailers such as Illumn (in terms of getting fake batteries)?

Zulumoose · 2018-03-20T06:22:26.000Z

Have you tried Sunway Store on Ali?

I got 4x Samsung 30Qs there recently for $20.85 including shipping and they test perfectly. They tracked and extended the purchase protection without me even asking. I have really battled to get a reliable battery source as hardly anyone ships here affordably, including most Ali stores, but this one looks good, have two more orders on the way.

iAmMyOwn · 2018-03-20T06:58:58.000Z

What tops it off is some postal services prohibit international shipments of lithium ion batteries.

There are some on trade me but its a bit of a risk

Where do you get yours from?

iAmMyOwn · 2018-03-20T07:38:59.000Z

Ok, thanks for the advice man

LloydV · 2018-03-20T07:57:06.000Z

last time I ordered from banggood, they accepted it but refunded me after a couple of weeks. they said they can’t send li ion batteries to nz anymore. there may be other retailers who would try.

nkon has good prices, but the only guaranteed way to receive it is to ship via fedex for 30 euros.

we should consider a group buy, eh? at the moment i’m living mainly off laptop pulls.

iAmMyOwn · 2018-03-20T08:16:00.000Z

we should consider a group buy, eh?

How does a group buy work?

Vegas_LED_Fan · 2018-03-20T14:49:55.000Z

I don’t know anything about their shipping policy to your country. Over the past couple of years I spend $$$ there to convert my home to all LED. In addition I have purchased NCR li-ion batteries from them but that was before some recent changes in international shipping requirements for those batteries. Mine were first rate. I’ve also bought the ultra cheap Trustfire and Ultrafire batteries on eBay which I use for non-critical uses like DIY LED projects. The NCR batteries I received are first rate and have been in use for flashlights and camping lanterns for a couple of years. They have a good run time and seem to last a long time. One simple test is weighing the batteries. The cheap batteries weighed much less than the NCR (sometimes nearly by 1/2) even though rated higher for mAh.

With all my purchases, I have received just a very few that didn’t live up to my expectations or were outright defective. Banggood replaced any defective items with no hassle, just an explanation of what was wrong.

WalkIntoTheLight · 2018-03-20T15:07:21.000Z

Zulumoose:

Have you tried Sunway Store on Ali?

I tried that Sunway store in early January. Still waiting for my order. Tracking hasn’t updated in over 2 months. It may just be very slow, but I’m beginning to think they were confiscated.

I did buy many cells from Banggood last summer, but they have stopped shipping here. I believe they are good cells from BG. I had one Samsung 30Q go bad, but all the others are still fine and test well as high-drain and proper capacity (2800-2900mAh).

I’ve pretty-much given up on getting cells overseas. I’m going to try Illum next, even though shipping to Canada is rather expensive. Still cheaper than buying locally, though, and probably better chance they’re genuine.

stephenk · 2018-04-12T02:05:01.000Z

Have you tried purchasing Li-ions from Australia?

Zappaman · 2018-04-12T02:48:32.000Z

My four 30Qs bought from BangGood back in January (for $17 and free shipping) have been good batteries- they are keeping up as I expected in some pretty high drain lights I’m messing with. BUT I tried to repeat that order in Feb and they went to $21 plus and $5 shipping to me here in the US. Tried Gearbest AND Fast Tech also (who claimed FREE worldwide shipping)- but they added the same approx $5 to a set of four (to the US)- so “free worldwide shipping” IF you live in their world.

I also asked Qidong at Sofirn what was up, and he said the shippers started charging (more) and even bulk was not as good a deal as it was. He also mentioned he’s shopping for a shipper who will ship batteries for better pricing— but nothing yet (as of 15 or so days ago).

I’m sure NZ has different import constraints, but given the climate with China and the US right now :person_facepalming: — I’m buying off high volume/rated eBay sellers lately. Again, not sure what’s available besides China (Australia or otherwise), but it looks like regardless— I won’t buy 30Qs for $17 with free shipping any time soon.