Is ebay a good place to buy a laptop battery?

[kornphlake]

Are the cheap laptop batteries on Ebay or Amazon any good? My gut feeling is they are just as good or better than a 3 year old battery that only holds a charge for about 60 minutes, but that's a pretty low expectation. I'd really like a battery like the OEM battery that lasted 3hrs when new, I'm not really excited about paying $80 from the OEM and I'm a little concerned that they claim it ships "within more than 4 weeks." In the world of aftermarket laptop batteries is there much difference between a $20 battery on eBay or a $50 battery from some random website?

[cl-scott]

eBay and Amazon's marketplace can be... Unpredictable... In what you get. Sometimes you might get something every bit as good as the OEM battery, other times you'll get something where to call it a steaming pile would be an insult to everything that actually measures up to steaming pile standards.

If you're going to buy third party, be sure to take your time and do your homework. OEM parts may seem overpriced, but you're basically paying for a guarantee of a part that meets certain quality standards. Third parties range anywhere from outstanding to count yourself lucky it didn't burn the house down. However, quite often, the quality third party batteries won't be much cheaper than OEM.

[dave_the_nerd]

I've purchased a few batteries from Amazon. As long as you're getting something listed as new from a fairly reputable (10s of thousands of feedbacks) dealer, you're good.

[wirednuts]

i agree. buy from a seller who sells a ton of them and you should be fine. i have noticed nothing really beats OEM batteries, but most generic ones are at least 75% as good and for the money you save its well worth it.

[AlexAL]

Unless you know that the vendor is good, I'd avoid Ebay re:batteries.

[max347]

I'm not sure what other peoples' experiences are, but i've bought dozens of replacements off ebay (~$25) and they all worked fine. Most sellers have great return policies too.

[wirednuts]

Originally Posted by max347

I'm not sure what other peoples' experiences are, but i've bought dozens of replacements off ebay (~$25) and they all worked fine. Most sellers have great return policies too.

mee too

[buggers]

Originally Posted by kornphlake

Are the cheap laptop batteries on Ebay or Amazon any good? My gut feeling is they are just as good or better than a 3 year old battery that only holds a charge for about 60 minutes, but that's a pretty low expectation. I'd really like a battery like the OEM battery that lasted 3hrs when new, I'm not really excited about paying $80 from the OEM and I'm a little concerned that they claim it ships "within more than 4 weeks." In the world of aftermarket laptop batteries is there much difference between a $20 battery on eBay or a $50 battery from some random website?

I bought a laptop battery from Ebay,but it doesn't work,so i returned it.Then i searched on google and bought a battery from a website named shopbatteries,it works great and really cheap, i also introduce it to some of my friends,maybe you can have a try

[podspi]

Depending on the age of the laptop, you could get almost all lemons. Most places will call a battery 'new' if it hasn't been removed from its original packaging, which unfortunately won't help you because batteries begin to degrade at manufacture.

I have purchased a few 'new' batteries for a very old (2007-era) laptop and even though they are OEM and in original unopened packaging, are all dead. So make sure you get the date of manufacture from the seller before buying. And if they say they don't know... well...

[buggers]

Originally Posted by podspi

Depending on the age of the laptop, you could get almost all lemons. Most places will call a battery 'new' if it hasn't been removed from its original packaging, which unfortunately won't help you because batteries begin to degrade at manufacture.

I have purchased a few 'new' batteries for a very old (2007-era) laptop and even though they are OEM and in original unopened packaging, are all dead. So make sure you get the date of manufacture from the seller before buying. And if they say they don't know... well...

Thanks for the information

[pauldun170]

I've had good luck with Amazon

[dolbark]

I'm a bit of a battery aficionado In general I don't think 90 percent of the eBay or Amazon are any good. Different problems lie at different price points and which country the seller is located in. But basically it boils down to this, laptop batteries are sealed and the seller can say anything they want how would you know? Also, from a safety perspective %90 of the ebay batteries DO NOT use Samsung/Panasonic/ Sony or Sanyo cells. What this means is the batteries are not using UL1642 rated cells. When a cell catches fire inside of a pack they burn at 700- 900F. It was common enough for the industry to name condition “Thermal Runaway”. Select your ebay battery supplier wisely! If the seller doesn’t state the cell’s being used, then the cells are probably not a selling point!

[kleinkinstein]

A good place to buy? No. Sell? Yes.

[donfm]

I think the problem with Ebay is the consistency of the product quality. You may get an old battery that has been sitting on a shelf gathering dust for years if you have an old unit or it may be used even though they claim it's new. I've noticed the batteries from China are cheaper but who knows what you're getting. You have to read closely sometimes they bait and switch. They use a picture of an OEM battery and then in the fine print they tell you that it's SIMILAR to the picture. I've fallen for that before. Bottom line on Ebay you take a chance that is why the prices are so low IMHO.

[Bill Brasky]

I usually go to dr. Battery. They seem to be consistent and reasonable.

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

It can be hit or miss with both eBay or Amazon.
Was working in a repair shop for 8mo & boss insisted mostly on using eBay above all else.
I'd do Amazon sometimes, but mostly eBay.