House2twist

Except when your LHS buys batteries from HK then marks them up to triple the price and sells them. I even called him out on it and he looked at me like "what are you talking about?' Yet another reason I don't buy things from that guy

HugYourRC

And you know that for certain, theyare all ripping people off? We all know that MaxAmps is uh, *cough*, high priced, but for most packs sold through LHS at suggested retail, no I do not believe those salesare ripping us off.

One of these daysa business with very low cost, forgiven labor will begin competing with you and when it does people will cry out, "Finally, we are getting a break on prices (insert your job), finally someone has stopped ripping us off." Getready it is coming and then you will be on the other side of the fence.

HugYourRC

Are you saying you are not in the military yet are taking advantage of miltary discounts?

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Buddy's in the Air Force and he ordered it

HugYourRC

Yeah, right. 

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

No, seriously. ThunderbirdJunkie's bank ATM ate his debit card last week, called dude and said YO THIS IS WHAT'S UP
And yesterday two MM's show up at his house [&:] $20 cheaper than expected

HYRC needs to stop being such a girl.

HugYourRC

What does that have to do with you beingdishonest? You got caught with your fingers in the cookie jar and so you come out swinging and calling names. Great ethics!

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Come out swinging? Every post you make is angry and has overtones of disgust and self-importance, without exception. Get over yourself :P

HugYourRC

Poor ethics! Irest my case.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

This is my whole philosophy on cheap lipos right here-

There has been a dramatic price offset between packs offered here in the US online and in hobby stores and packs offered through firms like HobbyKing relative to product performance. It is an insurmountable cost offset, with a usual 2x cost advantage for offshore packs with only a negligible impact to the performance between brand name and offshore packs.

These are different business models. Hobbyking and its suppliers focus on achieving lower cost on volume while using acceptable if not average quality materials. Additionally, they implement minimal quality programs that are sufficient but certainly not optimal for the highest quality possible. They keep material costs down, and keep overhead down. Voila, lower cost packs.

US pack manufacturers 'spec' higher grade materials, wires, cases, etc. and as a result have a higher quality product with lower volume throughput because these spec parts are custom made in lower volumes. Additionally, US companies run a stricter quality program, which decreases production throughput and adds cost and overhead to each pack, not to mention marketing and sales.

I like quality and I like supporting US based firms but I personally cannot mentally get over the cost offset between the packs.

Recommendation: US companies need to OEM the same cells that Hobbyking sells, and MINIMIZE the overhead to bring the cells to the customer. They can still offer a 'premium' product if desired, but also offer economy packs that are rebranded OEM packs. US companies need to pull the cost offset to a reasonable offset that US customers are willing to absorb.

For example, I would be willing to pay up to a 20-25% premium to buy a US branded lipo pack. I am UNWILLING TO PAY A 100% PREMIUM.

TO US companies: I know you can OEM these offshore cells and offer them to your customers without the 100% markup. Figure it out, because we want to buy from you. Find a way to get these cost offsets in line ASAP.

SyCo_VeNoM

sheesh I'm getting déjÃ* vu reading this thread swore the same exact argument happened 6 months to a year ago with extremely similar posts about hobby shops over charging and going under [:@]

Side note 2 of the employees at my LHS even use HK lipos, they just are extremely cautious talking about them when other people are around

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

So, with your complaining about buying stuff from HK (rather than Venom...who have their packs made in China, as well), where do you buy your tires for your real car?

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

PMs sent, thread going off topic and personal back and forth needs to stop. Cleaning up and let's get back on topic.

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

12 lipos (mostly 5S, two 2S, two 3S) no problems. Other stuff, no problems. Had issue with one thing, a power supply that had bad reviews. Figured I'd take a chance, it was bad. They replaced it, next one was bad too. My gamble, I lost. HK is OK.

FoamyVictim

Nope, I'm already the "Cheap" guy; which is why I'm still in business and several of my competitors are no longer around(the slow economy sped up the inevitable). I, knowing what the materials cost, decide what I want for my labor, then come up with a quote. If the customer doesn't like it, they can try elsewhere. 9 times out of 10, they take my quote, get a few more, then back and come buy stuff from me. Obviously, I'm competing. Now if I decided to mark my product up, oh say... 200-300%... I wouldn't last very long. However, since the hobby market is "Different" and people have a tendency to equate quality to price; its no wonder those other battery companies can continue "ripping people off" I consider it a rip-off, if you can buy something that does the same thing for allot less.

Look, if you want to spend $150 on a single battery... BY ALL MEANS, go for it. I chose to spend no more than about $30 on mine, and can even get decent ones for $20. Even with the seemingly exorbitant shipping, I'm STILL getting 3-5 packs for the price of one. Why would anyone spend hundreds on a battery? [:-]

HugYourRC

Other than maxamps I don't know of anyone that sells RC packs for "hundreds". However some of the higher priced packs are simplybetter.

VF84sluggo

My Feedback: (55)

Thanks for the heads-up about Hobbypartz. I'll give 'em a try next time.

As far as HK, my experience with them has been very favorable. Their lipos - Zippy, FlightMax, Rhino - have all worked well for me.

SyCo_VeNoM

Was that the black 14v 15A power supply?
I remember that having some bad reviews due to overheating due to the fan never kicking in, and voltage dropping drastically due to it.
If it was you could pop it open and wire the fan to the + and - terminals that give power to make it always on and it work fine

FoamyVictim

Most people don't race, they bash and play. So they won't notice a big difference. I do race, and after having "Better" packs, I realized they weren't "Better" enough to warrant the higher price. Its a battery, not a shock or clutch, not a tire or chassis... its a battery. It stores and provides energy. Sure, "Better" batteries might let the juice loose a little better, but not enough to pay 2-5 times as much. Especially since a 4S powered E 8th scale is already making close to 4 HP. At that point, a 15% "Better" battery won't help, and it certainly won't win a race for you. Even most 10th scales are overpowered. The only time I can think of, where a "Better" battery might help you, is in a spec class where EVERYTHING else is identical, including your driving skills. That simply doesn't happen.

Back to the OP's Q. HK is a great place to get good batteries at a great price. I, and several of my fellow racers have all had good experiences with HK. One of them fried a couple packs, HIS FAULT. He sent them back and got replacements. So if you hear somebody say "Don't buy from HK if you want a warranty" that's bullcrap.

DanMN

I must have 25 HK lipo packs. And the oldest is 1.5 yrs. None of them have failed and I don't treat them well. I have Venom, Maxamps also and have more problems with them than the HK. The worst batteries I have are the ones I got from eflite for my Blade SR. I have 5 of these 1000 MAH batteries with their label, and none of them will balance or charge past 3.9 volts per cell. I also have a very nice balancing charger and usually plug in a blinky while I'm using the battery. I will continue to buy batteries from HK especially now that they have a US warehouse.

PS. One of our LHS buys HK batteries and marks them up a percentage. They are still less than the other brands, and if I need a battery that I don't want to wait to have shipped to me, I will buy it from them. They need to make a buck too! It's unreasonable to expect a LHS to buy these batteries and not put a substantial mark up on them. If you disagree, start a business yourself and give it a try.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

Oh, I agree with you. However, the LHS should be able to buy higher quantities through WHOLESALE and still be competitive with online retail, if not within 10%-20%.

If the LHS is paying what we are paying, then they need to find a better supplier or wholesaler.

Damon--

OH MY GOSH! Am I reading this right? 65 posts?! That's to much! haha



Also, are these JUST the plugs or is it the battery too? :O

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=VNR1581

Damon--

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...009#quickSpecs

This too lol. It's very misleading... 

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

I am sure that is the battery and connectors.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

Ya, it's with the battery. Just go to Venom's home page.

[link=http://www.venom-group.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=1581]http://www.venom-group.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=1581[/link]