Gotta love profit margins..

[draggar]

I went to Home Depot this morning to pick up a few things, included a 6V battery for my flashlight that died.

First, I know batteries are consumables (like ink cartridges, toners, oil filters, etc..) and the markup on these things are ridiculous usually being far more profit than cost (ink is usually 80% profit for the retailer minimum). I understand this.

I see these flashlights that they've always sold that include a 6V battery, for $4. I see these (again) and think that the batteries are probabaly only a little under that.

I find the batteries.. $9!!! :eek::eek::eek:

I check the specs on the batteries, same exact batteries. Same make, same maH, same everything.

Wow, so Home Deport is paying people $5 to buy the flashlight? You can guess what I did, I got two of the flashlights with batteries instead of one battery (which cost me less anyway).

So, now I have these two cheap flashlights that I will end up throwing away because I like the light I have (it's waterproof, floats with the light up, etc..).

Talk about a waste!!

I wonder if Home Depot's return policy is like Staples? If so, I should buy a bunch of these flashlights and return the batteries (with no receipt) for a store credit. :devil:

(I'm joking, BTW)

[Rapscallion]

I suspect they're working on the basis of printers. Most computer printer manufacturers are hoping you keep buying the ink from them, ergo making them major money (it was shown over here a while back that printer ink - millilitre for millilitre - is more expensive than champagne). You buy a cheap torch (flashlight for those to the west), you're going to need more batteries at some point.

I doubt that the retailer is making an 80% markup on the ink - much more than that will be going to the manufacturer.

Rapscallion

[draggar]

When I worked at Staples, the cost of our ink cartridges (company) was between $3-$5. Our costs were from $25-$40.

I've seen printers cheaper than the ink cartridges. :(

Gotta love consumables, but this is a significant reason why scanners (and multi-function devices) are so cheap now, too. They figure the more people scan, the more ink they'll need to print the pictures.

[Boozy]

Always buy batteries at a dollar store. The same company makes 99% of batteries distributed in North America. Duracell is the same as Energizer is the same as Cheap Generic Brand.

Sometimes dollar store batteries have been improperly stored and don't last as long...but if that's the case, you're only out a buck and you can just buy another package.

[draggar]

Always buy batteries at a dollar store. The same company makes 99% of batteries distributed in North America. Duracell is the same as Energizer is the same as Cheap Generic Brand.

Sometimes dollar store batteries have been improperly stored and don't last as long...but if that's the case, you're only out a buck and you can just buy another package.

I would but I've never seen 6V batteries there. :(

[Broomjockey]

Always buy batteries at a dollar store. The same company makes 99% of batteries distributed in North America. Duracell is the same as Energizer is the same as Cheap Generic Brand.

Not entirely true. It may depend on the use you put it to, but the Energizers lasted a heck of a lot longer in my cheap camera than the dynamex ones did. I'd literally get 4 or 5 pictures out of the cheap batteries, and a dozen or so from the Energizers.

[powerboy]

Ahhhh Batteries, my mortal enemy. Being a Paranormal Investigator, hurts the wallet, when it comes to batteries. But I just buy from the Dollar Store, unless I find one hell of a good deal from another store. I could be out any where from $6-$9, with a bunch of packs of batteries instead of $10 for 1 type of batteries.

[draggar]

Living in south Florida (hurricane country) your favorite letters of the alphabet quickly become AA, AAA, C, and D. :)

I'm sur ethe markup here is much higher on batteries than other places in the country.

[wolfie]

I went to Home Depot this morning to pick up a few things, included a 6V battery for my flashlight that died.

I see these flashlights that they've always sold that include a 6V battery, for $4. I see these (again) and think that the batteries are probabaly only a little under that.

I find the batteries.. $9!!! :eek::eek::eek:

I check the specs on the batteries, same exact batteries. Same make, same maH, same everything.


First of all, I've never seen a 6V (square, spring terminals - I assume that's what you're talking about) rechargeable battery - and I've never seen mAH printed on non-rechargeables. Am I safe in assuming these are non-rechargeable "spring terminal" batteries?

Many times, the flashlights that include a battery come with a "heavy duty" battery (don't know about the copper top people, but the bunny people make a "heavy duty" line in addition to their alkalines). Are the "bundled" batteries "heavy duty", or are they alkaline? "Heavy duty" is relative to the old carbon-zinc cells - and the best of them are lower-capacity than the cheapest alkalines.

Have you tried opening up one of the dead ones? I had a dead 6V (rectangular, screw terminals) battery, and when I opened it up it contained 8 "C" size batteries (2 parallel sets of 4 in series) and a bunch of spacers. The square spring-terminal batteries are big enough to hold 8 "D" size batteries (my dead one had been big enough for 16 "D" cells), and they did back in the carbon-zinc days - the battery makers may be doing the "C and spacers" trick there too now that alkalines have higher capacity.

Don't know about Home Depot, but sometimes Canadian Tire (bit far for you) and WalMart carry adapters that hold 4 "D" cells and fit a device that takes a 6V spring terminal battery - sometimes as part of a flashlight "bundle", and sometimes on its own (the ones on their own frequently have a "stash box" on the bottom where you can store a spare bulb wrapped in foam for protection) - this is a one-time purchase, and 4 "D" cells are generally a lot cheaper than $9 (and they're more readily available) - an even better bargain if the square battery has 4 "C" cells inside.

A quick web search turned up this lantern (http://www.shoplet.com/office/db/RAYKFL.html) and this combo pack of lantern and flashlight (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00069PJB0?smid=AHXN72Y9VINW&tag=dealtime-tools-20&linkCode=asn), both of which include a 4D-6V spring terminal adapter - a little shopping around at various bricks-and-mortar stores should be able to find something similar.