I'm sure that most here are wise enough to avoid this route, but I needed a new battery for the Dell Latitude I recently repaired.
So a few pertinent points:
1. The OEM battery runs about $100+ from Dell for the 34WHr model. There is also a 47WHr model that costs probably $150+.
2. Dell claims that only they sell OEM batteries. (maybe also their authorized resellers who service enterprise clients with equipment leases)
Well unsurprisingly, eBay is absolutely flooded with Chinese sellers who are basically selling counterfeit/generic versions of every Dell battery in existence. The WHr claims are all over the place, with generic versions of the 34WHr, 47WHr, and some even claim to make a ~58WHr version. You can't even know which model they are selling because they spam the titles and descriptions with every battery model (34GKR, PFXCR, F38HT)
Prices range from $18 shipped to $120+ shipped (for the exact same battery).
So I noticed a few things about the counterfeit battery listings that made me realize the direness of it all:
1. Most ads used the exact same stock photo.
2. Most ads used the sort of "jagged" font-face indicative of someone on a computer that is not configured to input English.
3. Most ads claimed a location of "US, US". The ones that were specific to a city often claimed to be in NY or CA.
4. Most ads had a surprisingly good seller rating, usually around 98% or higher, but with a LOT of sales in the last 12 months (tens of thousands of sales). If you looked at only the negative feedback, you could see that SOME sellers were accused of selling counterfeit batteries, but some were sparking clean.
Well I decided to be risky and found a listing that claimed to sell a "New Genuine PFXCR E7440 Battery For Dell Latitude...". Price around $35 shipped so right in the middle of it all.
It ships out from Flushing NY, a few days pass, and on arrival the darn thing was WARPED. If you put it on a flat surface, it would wobble back and forth. It was also suspiciously light weight... almost as if the cells inside it were not genuine.
I contact the seller for a return, and then I notice yet another warning sign: they only seem to respond between the hours of 8PM to 8AM central time. Sure they could be a night owl, but then again I can think of a region in this world where those equivalent hours would be day time.
And yup - the communication I had with the seller made it obvious that I was dealing with a Chinese merchant who had a friend or family member in the US do all their shipments.
Anyway to wrap it up, I'm currently on my 2nd return with this seller since the replacement they sent out was also warped.
But to provide a decent ending to it all, I found a small company in GA that does used tech wholesale and they were able to get me a lightly used but in great shape battery for $30.
So a few pertinent points:
1. The OEM battery runs about $100+ from Dell for the 34WHr model. There is also a 47WHr model that costs probably $150+.
2. Dell claims that only they sell OEM batteries. (maybe also their authorized resellers who service enterprise clients with equipment leases)
Well unsurprisingly, eBay is absolutely flooded with Chinese sellers who are basically selling counterfeit/generic versions of every Dell battery in existence. The WHr claims are all over the place, with generic versions of the 34WHr, 47WHr, and some even claim to make a ~58WHr version. You can't even know which model they are selling because they spam the titles and descriptions with every battery model (34GKR, PFXCR, F38HT)
Prices range from $18 shipped to $120+ shipped (for the exact same battery).
So I noticed a few things about the counterfeit battery listings that made me realize the direness of it all:
1. Most ads used the exact same stock photo.
2. Most ads used the sort of "jagged" font-face indicative of someone on a computer that is not configured to input English.
3. Most ads claimed a location of "US, US". The ones that were specific to a city often claimed to be in NY or CA.
4. Most ads had a surprisingly good seller rating, usually around 98% or higher, but with a LOT of sales in the last 12 months (tens of thousands of sales). If you looked at only the negative feedback, you could see that SOME sellers were accused of selling counterfeit batteries, but some were sparking clean.
Well I decided to be risky and found a listing that claimed to sell a "New Genuine PFXCR E7440 Battery For Dell Latitude...". Price around $35 shipped so right in the middle of it all.
It ships out from Flushing NY, a few days pass, and on arrival the darn thing was WARPED. If you put it on a flat surface, it would wobble back and forth. It was also suspiciously light weight... almost as if the cells inside it were not genuine.
I contact the seller for a return, and then I notice yet another warning sign: they only seem to respond between the hours of 8PM to 8AM central time. Sure they could be a night owl, but then again I can think of a region in this world where those equivalent hours would be day time.
And yup - the communication I had with the seller made it obvious that I was dealing with a Chinese merchant who had a friend or family member in the US do all their shipments.
Anyway to wrap it up, I'm currently on my 2nd return with this seller since the replacement they sent out was also warped.
But to provide a decent ending to it all, I found a small company in GA that does used tech wholesale and they were able to get me a lightly used but in great shape battery for $30.