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Batteries sorted by price per kWh, not sure if it would be appropriate to share.

caseyx

caseyx

New Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2024
Messages
10
Location
Midwest, USA
Hello everyone! I'm getting started on my DIY solar journey, and I was curious about the prices of LiFePO4 batteries that I saw in Will's videos on YouTube.

I'm a software developer, so I made a tool that sorts lots of batteries on Amazon by their price per kWh. You can filter by voltage, and capacity and a few other things. I built this for myself, and I thought it might be useful for other people.

Here's a cropped screenshot:
Screenshot 2024-01-05 at 12.28.24 PM.png

As a condition of getting the data from Amazon, I am not allowed to modify the links to the products, and the links are affiliate links. I wanted to disclose that, and ask if it would be appropriate to share this tool on the forum. I've read the rules, but if sharing this tool would break them, I won't.

Thanks!
 
I just did this manually for various prismatic cells on batteryhookup and 18650store... kinda tedious as I also factored in shipping costs to my location. Most of the $/kWh in the screencap are very comparable and even lower than what I found.

If @caseyx does not benefit from any of these affiliate links, I hope an exception can be made!!!!
 
sunshine_eggo said:
I just did this manually for various prismatic cells on batteryhookup and 18650store... kinda tedious as I also factored in shipping costs to my location. Most of the $/kWh in the screencap are very comparable and even lower than what I found.
Click to expand...
This was one of the reasons I made the tool, because some batteries look cheap but have $40 shipping on a $150 battery, so one of the metrics it can filter on is shipping cost. :)
 
Frankly I don't care if you do make a buck or two out of each link, that's what Will does for a living after all.
 
How about leaving off the link, share name or posting title?
 
caseyx said:
This was one of the reasons I made the tool, because some batteries look cheap but have $40 shipping on a $150 battery, so one of the metrics it can filter on is shipping cost. :)
Click to expand...
At the least, you could sort it for 12v and 24v batteries with shipping, and just take a screenshot of cheapest ones to post, that way we get the info, just not the instant click utility. Then we could just find it ourselves in Amazon or company, or click on Wills link if he has one... Would be decent info for a few weeks of current pricing.

But I wouldn't allow it if I was Will, he put in a massive amount of work for years to post info and provide this forum, so that folks will click on HIS links-- it's his complete business and years if work that competing affiliate links undermine. Not a matter of being helpful really, it attacks his business and livlihood. His website is basically a statement of "These are the best deals to buy for batteries, quality and cost and reliability all considered". It is a summation of his experience and market knowledge. By posting a list of price-only battery links, sortable, you slip a competing market-knowledge source into dude's own website that degrades the value of his opinion, and has the potential if popular to take most of his battery clicks. Now that I think about it, HECK NO I WOULDN'T ALLOW IT! Never mess with the $$.
 
Last edited:
caseyx said:
Hello everyone! I'm getting started on my DIY solar journey, and I was curious about the prices of LiFePO4 batteries that I saw in Will's videos on YouTube.

I'm a software developer, so I made a tool that sorts lots of batteries on Amazon by their price per kWh. You can filter by voltage, and capacity and a few other things. I built this for myself, and I thought it might be useful for other people.

Here's a cropped screenshot:
View attachment 187094

As a condition of getting the data from Amazon, I am not allowed to modify the links to the products, and the links are affiliate links. I wanted to disclose that, and ask if it would be appropriate to share this tool on the forum. I've read the rules, but if sharing this tool would break them, I won't.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
When you say they are affiliate links, are they YOUR affiliate links?where are the links affiliated?
 
Dave in AZ said:
a massive amount of work for years to post info and provide this forum
Click to expand...
I think there are quite a few of us here who also put in a good amount of time and energy to answer questions so I personally do not feel that it should be a problem.
I have refrained from rtfm and actually now look at manuals and try and actually answer people's questions to be a good forum citizen haha.
 
Supervstech said:
When you say they are affiliate links, are they YOUR affiliate links?where are the links affiliated?
Click to expand...
Yes, I made an account with Amazon to get access to their API. There are lots of rules about how the data can be used, disclaimers that need to be on the page, etc, etc. Amazon provides the links to the product pages along with all the other data. One of the rules is that I can't edit any of the URL parameters in the links they give me, and they give me URLs associated with the Amazon account I made. The only want to get access to Amazon's data is by playing by their rules, if I break them, they can take away access to the data at any time.

I made this for myself to find batteries at a good price for a little DIY solar system I'm putting together, and the only way to get the data is to follow the rules and use affiliate links. I've spent a little bit of money on servers and a domain, but it's just a fun side project that loses money. I thought I might share to other like-minded people, but again, I'm trying to be honest and not break any rules.
 
Welcome to the forum @caseyx .
I'm confused why you are looking at pre-made batteries if you are going to DIY a system... ?

That does look like it could be a very useful tool, nice work.

Do post a build thread when you start. Many people really like helping others.
 
Hmmm this is a tough one.

He doesn't seem to be biased or affiliated with any single company.

And if the software does help people, it will spread organically over time. Would be nice to be the first to host it in the forum.

I think we should allow it. But it cannot be blasted all over the forum. And this would be a rare exception. I say a single post is ok (its own thread, not this one). Nothing more.

I also think that sorting these cheap LiFePO4 batteries by price will be a nightmare for some because the lowest quality packs will have close out sales. Most of the lower priced batteries I review are just awful. But if someone only cares about price, this may prove to be a useful tool.

Affiliate link wise, I want people to see why I recommend specific batteries by testing and opening them up on camera. That is where I provide value. If someone is looking for battery equipment by price alone without regard for quality, I cannot help them. I don't see a conflict of interest. It's a different market and I would feel awful recommending products that I haven't opened.

what do you guys think?

actually let's do a poll! See options below:
 
caseyx said:
Yes, I made an account with Amazon to get access to their API. There are lots of rules about how the data can be used, disclaimers that need to be on the page, etc, etc. Amazon provides the links to the product pages along with all the other data. One of the rules is that I can't edit any of the URL parameters in the links they give me, and they give me URLs associated with the Amazon account I made. The only want to get access to Amazon's data is by playing by their rules, if I break them, they can take away access to the data at any time.

I made this for myself to find batteries at a good price for a little DIY solar system I'm putting together, and the only way to get the data is to follow the rules and use affiliate links. I've spent a little bit of money on servers and a domain, but it's just a fun side project that loses money. I thought I might share to other like-minded people, but again, I'm trying to be honest and not break any rules.
Click to expand...

Can you state that you in no way benefit from the use of this tool or any of the affiliate links?
 
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