Buying large lots of 123 primaries on Ebay

[etc]

FYI, Ebay seems like a great place for Lithiums. I got about 100 L91 a year ago for around $1 each, and I am now looking for emergency primaries for Surefire 9P. CR123s that is. It seems you have to get a larger quantity to realize a discount and bring it to about $1 each.

Looking at a few completed auctions, some 123s go for as low as $0.75 each. And that's from a major maker like Kodak, Sanyo, Panasonic.

Any other ideas?

 

[pfccypret]

I am always wary of buying things like batteries on Ebay. Unless the buyer has an extremely high rating, I'd avoid, out of fear of getting half drained batteries.

I tend to just buy my cells in lots of 20, I've been loving the Titanium cells lately.

 

[DM51]

Buying large lots of 123 primaries on Ebay = very bad idea indeed.

Edit - Actually, I'll expand on that: buying any quantity of any type of battery on eBay = very bad idea.

 

[etc]

DM51,

With all due respect, but why do you say this blanket statement, on what basis? I've done business on Ebay for 5 years (95% buy, 5% sell type of thing) I've had *one* bad experience and that was with a car transmission that was functional but for the wrong year. I bought batteries dozens of times with no bad results. Alks in all sizes and CR2 and L91s and whatnot. Plus, I don't have make a trip to that Walmart sheet-hole with traffic and expending gas and whanot.

I will admit some of them have lesser expiration dates. i.e. I got a big batch of AA Alks that expire in 2011.

If you deal with sellers that have high ratings and consistently sell the same type of thing, you can bid. You can even contact past winners and ask them how the device is.

Now if you want to buy high-end binoculars or a GPS or a laptop and find a guy with a high rating but looking at his FB realize he sold 1,000 AAA cells or pins or match boxes, you should run, as it's a hijacked account.

I really wish you would reconsider such blanket statements. I know Ebay has "issues" but bad sellers isn't one of the key ones.

 

[bltkmt]

+1 on the above post...I use EBay frequently and have had only one bad experience (and that was a seller that said he shipped something but I never received).

 

[EngrPaul]

I buy watch batteries on eBay in quantities of 5 or 10 from sellers with 98%-100% seller rating. I watch for Energizer, Maxell, etc. brand names. I also choose silver oxide over alkaline. I also tend to go with the offers that include the expiration date.

I couldn't be more pleased with what I get. They are always genuine product and work perfectly.

 

[phenwick]

I see ebay as a potential outlet for factory seconds and rejects being passed off as new. If one particular seller is selling something in bulk at a very good price that no one else offers, it just raises a flag with me. I mean, how is that person able to sell so much bulk of a particular item and no one else is able to touch the price.