At the store level there isn't that much profit. A ten quid cartridge used to be about a fiver store cost. The manufacturers make a pretty large profit on making them for a few pence and selling them to the retailers.
"nightjar
Where in hell would you find anyone who is stupid enough to remanufacture lithium cells? They are cheap, made on automated machines and likely untouched by human hands until installed into your toys. Short life is caused by one of two things. They have been in stock for too long, or they were crap when they were made in some Chinese or third world factory.
Sure.
Bodyshop.
Less than a cent of rotted vegetable matter in a quid of packaging sold for £20.
I doubt he's rolling in cash with the units he's shifting.
The message from "Dr Zoidberg" contains these words:
Which subsidises the £30 printers. It's the razor blade model of marketing except that the more expensive printers don't have commensurably cheaper cartridges.
Rip off! They cost less than 15p.
There still is a market for "hifi" accessories which are sold for a small fortune but cost peanuts to manufacture. Coloured pens and foil, mains filters, etc.,... Whilst there are fools prepared to buy such stuff (who deserve to have their money taken off them), I say good luck to the enterpising sellers.
MBQ
If they were renamed "conductor restraining assemblies, NHS Spec" they'd be a lot more than a quid each ...
Owain
I've come across these quite recently. The ones I saw were on a card about 10" square and held about 50 cells of about 6 or so different sizes, all for GBP 1.
The provenance of these cells bothers me. I don't know about opening them and remanufacturing them (I am talking the tiny ones), one wonders whether they ever had any active ingredients in there at all.
I did once buy some AA cells dirt cheap from a barrow boy outside Farringdon tube station in London, only to find that every single one was dead as a dodo. That was enough for me.
The shear waste involved in producing this unuseable crap and shipping it from China is a crime against our childrens future, they will curse us for it.
DG
Thousands of percent is a bit over-reactive; it's a few quid. You can't=20 really expect someone to make a living charging just a few pence extra.
The only real bad thing about it is that the batteries on these kinds of=20 packs are normally all rubbish anyway...
--=20 Lordy.UK
China.
Colin Bignell
"nightjar
You really believe that they are "remanufactured"? What a moron. :(
The crimped metal case is one of the most expensive parts of the cell and it can't be uncrimped without obvious damage. It would cost a lot more to open the case, chemically clean it and restuff it than to manufacture another cell.
Was standing outside the pub the other week at closing time when the guy in front was debating to his mate whether or not to drive home in his van (if he hadn't been drinking alcohol then I highly doubt he'd be discussing this). From what I could make out, he decided to take the van.
I would have shopped him but I've seen him before in the same pub and it would have been obvious who it was, as me and my mate were the only people in earshot.
Not an easy decision to make, although if I'd seen a policeman in the street while I was walking home I might have changed my mind. Feel a bit bad about it now, though.
Anyone got a circuit diagram for a mains filter? I want one but don't want to buy one.
Totally. The absolute least that could be done is for battery recycling banks to be installed around the country, like they do in other European countries. I do not know of any place to recycle convenional (AA, AAA etc.) batteries, but my local "waste management centre" or whatever it's called has a facility for recycling car batteries. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Yeahbut, I was commenting on the fact that the *same* branded leads cost under 50p trade!
Wow, you guys sit around debating the price of orange juice and who is the designated driver? You carefully watch other patrons to see if they are inebriated enough not to drive and report them if they attempt to get into a vehicle?
I WANNA PARTY WITH YOU GUYS! ROCK ON!
You can recycle batteries at Ikea - don't drive there though to specifically just to recycle the batteries as I suspect that will outweigh any advantages. Given that there are very limited places to recycle batteries it does make a mockery of warnings on batteries not to depose of them in a bin and on local council literature saying the same thing (where they do not provide any readily accessible facilities).
Our has one for domestic batteries (all types of primary & secondary cells), right next to the car batteries.
MBQ
I deal with a major recycling company, although not in batteries, and I am assured that they are.
Colin Bignell
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.