Maybe I can set up a group buy to negotiate a good price. Have to have patient buyers as I can not absorb the huge price. and expect a 60 day wait for the delivery, due to customs and the slow boat ride. ?more later,
I think I would on second thought
never do a group buy thing; as the middleman taking the money in between a very unpredictable shipping time, port unloading backed up delays, UPS delays, FedEx delays, custom clearance delays, etc. with the buyers being able to renigg after placing an order through a very unpredictable shipping logistics system.
I bought through Alibaba.com directly and there is a certain amount of guarantee through this system, but one is buying from a long way away with an awful long shipping time.
I think it is good to have people share their experiences of buying direct as some sellers may sell scammy 2nd hand used cells for a new price or a jacked-up price.
I have bought LiFePO4 cells through 2 different vendors in the past year, the 1st one seemed to disappear so I had to notify the credit card company, later the cells did arrive and I released the payment to them through the credit card company, but I would not recommend them. so say no more about the 1st vendor.
but due to the lack of attentiveness of the 1st vendor, I ended up ordering from a second different vendor, who was very attentive and provided ship tracking of my 32 cell Lishen order.
a long story short >>> I ended up with 64 cells Lishen 272Ah each. a bigger investment than I originally bargained for at year's end in 2020!
the second vendor I ordered from was Ryan Zeng. who was very attentive and the cells arrived in perfect condition, new cells, intact QR codes etc. he also provided ship's tracking information when I asked, so they pretty well know where their product is ---- they can't afford huge losses either.
this year 2021 I received an email from Ryan Zeng who now had an improved web page design ( so he has made efforts to improve his marketing)
At any rate
now the Lishen cells cost more than the EVE cells and the newer version EVE LF280K cells are slightly heavier and had a 6000 cycle rating.... this is great for solar PV electric storage. so I ordered 32 cells of the EVE brand LF280K on September 8th, 2021.
the last 4 cells are scheduled to arrive today December 2nd, 2021 (maybe -- cross my fingers) but the other 28 cells have all arrived in perfect condition (7 boxes of 4 each).
More later, ?
there has been a 46 percent price increase in the past 11 months for LiFePO4 cells. inflation big time!