Beaware of "genuine" from Amazon: In the last few weeks we kicked around the topic of CLONE BATTERIES vs GENUINE. I shared that I had purchased a "genuine" battery from Amazon only to...

jcarlosjr Loc: Orange County

In the last few weeks we kicked around the topic of CLONE BATTERIES vs GENUINE. I shared that I had purchased a "genuine" battery from Amazon only to have it fail very early. I thought it was an isolated instance.

My local newspaper, The Los Angeles Times posted this story Sunday 10/28/18: http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-amazon-counterfeits-20180928-story.html

My interest was peeked, so a little more searching and I found a Forbes magazine story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2018/01/14/fuse-chicken-vs-amazon-is-the-david-vs-goliath-lawsuit-to-watch-in-2018/#597f27575115

It is shocking to learn that Amazon may be comingling stock from different sources into the same warehouse bins. So from what I read, even order "direct from Amazon" may not be enough to guarantee a genuine product.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Geeze!

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

Wow! read the articles. I guess the moral of this story is if you value what you buy - don't buy from Amazon. Another good reason to support your local camera stores.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Thanks for the heads up. One would have thought that if you ordered a Nikon battery, when it arrived it would have the Nikon name stamped on it. I guess not from Amazon.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Here we go again with the evils of 3rd party batteries and ink. I have never had a problem, only purist do. One battery failure does not indite the aftermarket industry.

If you are saying that the printing duplicates the OEM, then that is a problem of a different nature.

Largobob

Strodav wrote:

Thanks for the heads up. One would have thought that if you ordered a Nikon battery, when it arrived it would have the Nikon name stamped on it. I guess not from Amazon.

In the past, I ordered the advertised "Genuine Nikon batteries" from a non-recognized source, for a cheaper price. They look 100% real, except for a couple of misspelled words in the fine print. They work OK...they just don't hold a charge as long as the original Nikon batteries.

Be careful of advertising. If it seems too cheap to be real...they are likely Chinese knock-offs. You get what you pay for.

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

The old saying, you get what you pay for, is ever so true In the case of amazon, Buso is in for the money and every trick is good as long as he’s making a profit

Dan Mc Loc: NM

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Largobob wrote:

In the past, I ordered the advertised "Genuine Nikon batteries" from a non-recognized source, for a cheaper price. They look 100% real, except for a couple of misspelled words in the fine print. They work OK...they just don't hold a charge as long as the original Nikon batteries.

Be careful of advertising. If it seems too cheap to be real...they are likely Chinese knock-offs. You get what you pay for.

Looked it up, Nikon warned of imitation batteries going back to 2003. https://www.dpreview.com/articles/9401412582/imitationnikonbatteries Evidently they may not include the safety features built into genuine Nikon batteries.

mleuck

Welcome to the corporate world of America! You don't matter, just your dollars!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

I believe little if any thing coming from Amazon, especially batteries. Only buy manufacture replacement parts, you may pay a little more but you'll be better off in the long run.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I saw that article and it made me very wary about buying through Amazon. I have been a buyer many times and can't recall not getting what I paid for but I certainly am going to be more careful. You don't save anything if you think you are buying OEM and get after-market products. Amazon does have a good refund policy and we needn't be bashful to send back the after-market product if we thought we were buying OEM. If enough do it, possibly they can change but ?. The article pointed out that one reason they do it is to live up to their Prime 2-day delivery commitment. I'd rather wait and get what I want.

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

Don't think that was the point of the post. He was saying he was sold a "Genuine" battery that turned out it was not. That is deceptive. The issue is counterfeit items sold with brand names on them - i.e. Canon, Nikon, Sony...

dpullum wrote:

Here we go again with the evils of 3rd party batteries and ink. I have never had a problem, only purist do. One battery failure does not indite the aftermarket industry.

If you are saying that the printing duplicates the OEM, then that is a problem of a different nature.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

jcarlosjr wrote:

In the last few weeks we kicked around the topic o... (show quote)

Yawn. Walmart is evil. Amazon is evil. Big business is evil. Yada Yada Yadie frickin’ da.

I’ve bought from the giants for years, and never had an issue, save for an order lost in shipping and an order that arrived broken into pieces. Amazon fixed both problems pronto.

If it doesn’t work, call ‘em!

RichardSM Loc: Back in Texas

You know what’s wrong here is that people miss read in buying non oem products. I stopped buying Canon OEM batteries for my Canon 7D camera they don’t last as long and they are underpowered at 2000mAh Ihave since found a product under the name Wasabi that I can buy two batteries for one forth the cost of Canon that sell for, which includes a charger plus has a better power rating of 2600mAh and hold a charger longer in the field. So you see you need to do your homework on the net!

Been using now for 4 or 5 years.