Headway, buying batteries.

[deronmoped]

So I have been checking battery pack prices. From what I have found, your going to get a cheaper price if you shop direct from China. But it could be hit and miss on a good buying experience. Slow shipping, dodgy batteries, poor customer service... Now it looks like if you buy from Headway in USofA, your going to avoid any problems with your purchase. That's why you pay extra for the middle man.

In my case, I'm looking at buying a 48V 10A battery kit, BMS, charger... China prices look like they are around $450.00 shipped and Headway USofA looks like it's just over $600.00 shipped. So that's $150.00 for no potential headaches.

Has anyone found that it was worth it to buy from China?

Deron.

 

[Pedrohlt]

I have bought directly from Headway (http://portuguese.alibaba.com/supplier_headway-cn_50080629) three times. First I bought 24x 38140 cells, a 24S bms and charger. No problem.
Then two cells smoked (shorted on the balance cables, my fault), so I bought 3 more cells. The last time I bought 41 cells, 1x 8S bms, 12S bms, 32S bms, 8S charger, 12S charger, 32S charger and extras connectors and bolts. This time I had some problems, but with brazilian customs, I had to pay almost 600usd of charges ( :x sucks!).
But with Headway I have nothing to complain.
I think 450usd for a 48v 10Ah pack is too much. I dont know the current price of their 10Ah cells (38120) but I think it's about 12-14usd each, directly from headway. So 16S x 14usd = 224usd + 15usd bms + 20usd charger =~ 260usd + shipping for a 16s 10Ah pack. And shipping from CN to US is sooo cheap compared to Brazil.

at the time i think I payed 13,50usd for 38140 12Ah cell