Counterfeit and Aftermarket Batteries from eBay/Amazon Damaging Radios

WARNING: Counterfeit and Aftermarket Lithium Batteries are Damaging Radios.

• Batteries originate from China and are sold under different brand names on both Amazon and eBay.
• The vast majority of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) batteries sold on eBay are Chinese counterfeits.
• The best place to purchase batteries is from your authorized radio dealer.

SUMMARY: Our repairs team received several requests to fix Motorola R7 radios with catastrophic circuit damage after being paired with low-cost batteries purchased from sites like eBay and Amazon. The batteries were sold under “no-name” aftermarket brands as well as advertised as Motorola original.

This latest chapter in the battery saga echoes what we've seen with other radio products bought from eBay and Amazon. If you weren’t aware, the vast majority of new condition OEM radio batteries sold on eBay are counterfeits. They are simply aftermarket batteries, imported from China, and relabeled in the U.S. with fake manufacturer labels.

Amazon has less counterfeits but sells no-name aftermarket batteries with similar issues. When Amazon suspends one seller, we found another 5 pop up to replace the removed seller. In fact, China-based sellers work in concert to create multiple storefronts on eBay and Amazon, with the purpose of serving as a backup when one is suspended, but also to saturate the search results with the same cheap products at seemingly competitive prices.

To be clear, not all China-manufacturered batteries are unsafe or poor quality. In fact, many OEM batteries are manufactured in China; and even we sell batteries from China. However, the issue with eBay and Amazon is that radio owners are often buying low-cost or counterfeit products and have no idea of the battery’s origin.

When buying radio batteries, we suggest you buy directly from the manufacturer or your local authorized radio dealer. We also sell private-labeled batteries named Haloid Blue.