Inexpensive batteries?
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eBay has sellers that charge less {per battery} if you buy big quantities. Lot 48pc x AW IMR 18650 Li MN Battery High Drain 3 7V 2000mAh with Buttom Top | eBay 
Man I would never buy batteries from ebay.............. Watch the video below. Just too many fakes, and rip offs. Honestly dude, just buy a battery or two as you can afford them. Buy from reputable sellers, stores..... some B&M stores may have fakes without even knowing it, same for web sites.... there was a thread where this guy ordered some AW IMR and they turned out to be fakes, he told the web store, they immediately removed them from the site and made it right for the guy... I've heard the same thing about MNKE, Sony, etc.... its not the stores fault I'd say 99.99% of this stuff comes out of china or asia anyway, and all it takes is 1 jerk early on in the ordering chain to cause a rip off ripple effect that ends with you......
Thanks man! I just went into a b&m and got another battery today, actually. I melted the negative end of one of my batteries because of stupid error. Thanks again for the advice!
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Not if the sellers are also unaware. I was in a local B&M a couple weeks ago, nice shop, reasonable prices, nice mix of products. They carry a variety of batteries. They were very proud to be carrying top shelf, AW IMR flat top batteries.....except AW does not sell ANY flat top IMR batteries...oops. They were pure fakes, seller didn't know.
So how can you tell if you bought fakes that aren't obvious. Structurally, I mean.
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For the AW brand, they went to a holographic "AW" logo on the battery to help with the problem. Other than that, you would need to look for a poorley printed covering on the battery. Or evidence of a protection circuit on a battery that is supposed to be an IMR or Hybrid, Or look for anything out of place, something you wouldn't expect from a well manufactured Sony, Panasonic, EFest, etc.. battery.
If you suspect your battery might be fake, post a thread in Batteries and Chargers with close up pictures from different angles. If yours turn out to be wholly different from everyone else they're likely fake.
The "fakers" don't make it easy to tell, it's why most vapers are willing to pay a bit extra to buy from a reputable vendor who's known to the community. Your battery should last a year or much longer if used in a rotation. An extra couple bucks is less than the cost of one PT-2 replacement coil that may last a week or two...
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My 2 cents is we spend a lot of money on a mod, the topper and even juice at times so why try to save a dollar or two on what does the most work and is the most important part of your setup. A Porsche is just a lawn ornament without gas. There are two things in life I can think of worth getting the best money can buy: Batteries for vape gear and toilet paper. The cheaper options will leave you dissatisfied!
The best way to know if you are buying genuine batteries is to buy from a reputable dealer, like RTD or ProVape... I'd rather start smoking again, than use mystery batteries; it would be safer...
Even chemists/ pharmacies have been found to sell fake Pharmaceuticals without knowing, just about everything can, and is faked nowadays if there is money to be made.
Even beefburgers/ hamburgers may in fact be Horseburgers.
Just buy from reputable sellers and you have a better chance of getting genuine products but there is never a guarantee unless you buy direct from the factory.
Personally, I pay a little extra through reputable sellers rather than saving for an extra risk.
As Louis Armstrong sang... What a wonderful world
Even beefburgers/ hamburgers may in fact be Horseburgers.
Just buy from reputable sellers and you have a better chance of getting genuine products but there is never a guarantee unless you buy direct from the factory.
Personally, I pay a little extra through reputable sellers rather than saving for an extra risk.
As Louis Armstrong sang... What a wonderful world
Batteries is One thing I Don't like to Skimp On.
When I look at How Much Money I'm Going to Save (couple bucks?) verses what I ask a Battery to do (Please don't Burn Down my house or Blow Up in my Mod) it just seems Silly.
I spent More on Cigarettes every 2 Days for over 25 Years than the Cost of 1 Battery. So I don't have a Problem buying from Someone who Knows something about Batteries. And is Less Likely going to Unintentional, or Intentionally, sell me some Re-Wrapped Cheap Cells.
When I look at How Much Money I'm Going to Save (couple bucks?) verses what I ask a Battery to do (Please don't Burn Down my house or Blow Up in my Mod) it just seems Silly.
I spent More on Cigarettes every 2 Days for over 25 Years than the Cost of 1 Battery. So I don't have a Problem buying from Someone who Knows something about Batteries. And is Less Likely going to Unintentional, or Intentionally, sell me some Re-Wrapped Cheap Cells.
It helps to know which batteries are actually faked, to date the only known ones are AW and various *fire types. A lot of people claim others but no proof has surfaced.
Performance is actually the end-all way to tell, other than directly purchasing from the manufacturer or authorized distributor, which few vape shops do other than for AWs.
It's worth noting that for many batteries, ebay is one of if not the most reliable sources of actual items.
As long as the seller has 99.5 and higher selling scores, I doubt the eBay seller is peddling fakes. I have bought AW IMR batts on numerous occasions and always got the genuine article. Those are a great power source. 
As long as the seller has 99.5 and higher selling scores, I doubt the eBay seller is peddling fakes. I have bought AW IMR batts on numerous occasions and always got the genuine article. Those are a great power source.
The Problem Many sellers have, both On and Off e-Bay, is they Don't know a Fake from the Real Deal.
And that Most people who are selling a Fakes don't know they are Fakes. And Wouldn't sell them if they Knew.
And that most people buying / receiving fakes don't know they are fakes.
You guys make such good points. I guess I'm just seeing all these dudes going out with like 20 batteries and wondering where they get them for so cheap. But I suppose they just acquired them over time/spent the actual money for them.
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I actually think this is BS perpetrated by people on their high horses about their retailers of choice, which probably cost more than the retailers in question. It's a little bit of self-delusion people use to feel better about paying more than they had to.
This has as far as I have seen been claimed a lot but rarely ever proven. AWs are really the only visually provable case; the rest have to be proven via performace testing, which no claimant does objectively.
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