Digital Camera Batteries - eBay? Amazon?

[WordMan]

Any Dopers with experience with buying digital camera batteries online?

I need to replace my current Canon NB-4L battery and backup with new ones. On Amazon, I can get real Canon's for about $42. They also have private label replacements for about $25 - okay, saving money, sounds good. They are listed here (http://www.amazon.com/Sunpak-TAI-S1228-50-3-7-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Replaces/dp/B000BDLV5Y/sr=1-2/qid=1171211518/ref=sr_1_2/104-1672109-9489563?ie=UTF8&s=photo).

Then I check eBay and here (http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Pack-Battery-for-Canon-NB-4L-PowerShot-Brand-New_W0QQitemZ230090915758QQihZ013QQcategoryZ48516QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) they have a pair of compatible batteries for a Buy-It-Now price of $4!!

I am assuming there are one of three conclusions to be reached:

1) The eBay batteries are so crappy that they are not worth getting - go for the Canons or the other ones on Amazon.

2) Sure, the eBay batteries are not as good, but at a mere fraction of the price, but a few and use them up as needed.

3) The eBay batteries are fine - buy them, save a bunch of money (relatively) and go take some pictures...

Any help / experience you can provide would be great! Thanks in advance!

[Dervorin]

People at the forums on DPReview (www.dpreview.com) have often said good things about SterlingTek's batteries. Here's a link to the NB-4L equivalent (http://www.sterlingtek.com/canbeqba.html).

[danceswithcats]

I've bought odd batteries from zbattery.com and also from the local Batteries Plus store-don't know if that chain is in your area, but they have a decent stock and fairly good turnover, so you're not getting stale goods.

[Telemark]

I have bought two replacement NB-4L batteries from NewEgg.com and they work great for less then half the price of the official Canon batteries. I'd stay away from eBay. Too many scams and shoddy merchandise to save what amounts to about $2.

[Darryl Lict]

I have bought two replacement NB-4L batteries from NewEgg.com and they work great for less then half the price of the official Canon batteries. I'd stay away from eBay. Too many scams and shoddy merchandise to save what amounts to about $2.

I second the newegg.com recommendation. Their service is miraculously fast, and their prices are hard to beat. I got a generic Canon battery there and it works fine.

[WordMan]

Thanks everybody!!

[gotpasswords]

The battery you linked at Amazon is over their free shipping threshold, so if you can wait a week, you can save a few bucks right there.

But really, it's hard to go seriously wrong buying from Amazon or NewEgg. One caveat with Amazon is to watch that you're buying from Amazon, and not through their "Marketplace" which adds a couple of layers to the buying, shipping and tracking process. You want to see "Sold and shipped by Amazon" or a notation that it's eligible for their "Prime" service in the blue header.

Forgot to say - you're dealing with a lithium ion battery here - these are the things that have been exploding in laptops and phones. The ultra cheap and knock-off brands have been more likely to have this problem, so you really want to stick with reputable name brands that are either less likely to make bad stuff, or like Sony recently did, admits that they made a bad run, and have recalled them with much publicity.

[Andy]

You're wise to be careful, I had my fingers burnt. I bought a generic battery as a back up for my Canon 350d. Looked good, charged it up and it worked fine. Tried to recharge it and.....nothing. I thought back and wondered if the description had specifically said rechargeable and I'm not sure it did. Most expensive disposable battery pack I ever bought...