This is odd.
I got a new handset last night. (Audiovox 8300, FYI) Checking my provider’s (Telus Mobility - Ontario) website, they are charging $90 CDN for a single replacement battery.
However, Ebay seems loaded with hundreds of replacement parts for a fraction of that price. (ie: I can get a new battery, case, belt clip and car charger for around $15 US).
How the heck is that possible?
I understand markup, but that’s a huge difference! Most of the parts I read on Ebay claim to be non-refurbished, original, authentic, factory parts -not even third party creations.
Anybody here know this industry better, and can explain the price gap?
Made in Asia, and yes, that is a lot of markup.
I don’t know if I would believe the authentic part, but that is possible.
There is a Deal$ (nothing over a dollar) store that I visit on occasion to find stuff like this, and I was able to find a new cover for my phone for $1, the charger for $1, and the covers/chargers for a number of other phones for $1 as well.
Can’t say that it’s because they were made in China, but also, the Asian world is quite a bit ahead of us when it comes to gadgets. So, the phone you have here, is already obsolete in Japan and other Asian countries, so they have to get rid of their extra left over parts somehow. I assume that they sell their overstock to places like Deal$ because all the stock is doing is taking up space.
Everything that I bought had both English and Chinese or Japanese (can’t tell the difference, I know that’s bad) instructions, and in the case of the cover, the buttons for the phone had both abc and the coresponding foreign characters as well.
Theres one theory for ya.
Being in the industry I can say the generic stuff is bought for pennies on the dollar. A faceplate bought in bulk may cost from a major distributor somthing around .50 to .75. The batteries are more than likely generics, personally I don’t mess with those, I would pay the premium price for an OEM replacement from the manufacturer of my phone. But headsets, cases, and all the gimmicks in between are fine IMHO. The reason for my concern on the batteries is the quality of components, there have been instances where non-OEM batteries warm up more than the OEM would. I have no cites but just things I have come across. Also personally trying the non-OEM batteries their life span is not as great as an OEM.