Identifying Fake / Counterfeit Makita 18v Batteries Sold online 

Yep, it's easy to do and I agree that Ebay is an accomplice. So is Amazon nowadays. They just don't care. With price it is sometimes pretty obvious but when I got mine it was only 10-15% of retail here in Australia, which is pretty common with online purchases.

No problem, hope it helps.

That's a good find. They are getting better at at so we really need all the help we can get spotting the fakes.

Hopefully Makita can pressure Ebay to do something.

I hope you get your money back. Since it happened to me, I've reported several sellers to Ebay and nothing seems to happen.

@@MickC2167 I'll be taking it to fair trading and possibly the accc. I'll be doing a more indepth video about this on my other channel

There's no way to tell what kind of electronics are onboard to thermally regulate the cells. Without knowing this, there can be a thermal runaway problem with lithiums which end up causing fires and to a much lesser extent, explosions. I'd recommend you only charge these in an open area without any combustible material nearby and monitor the charge then pull the battery off the charger. If using with high drain devices such as a blower or saw, have a fire extinguisher nearby at all times. This is no joke - do you really think a counterfeit selling you something with intent to deceive will honor your safety the same way the OEM electronics do? Not a chance.

@oldtwinsna8347 do you really think I give a fck, I know fake one lasted some people for over 10 years still going strong.

As long as you're happy with price vs performance no drama. I've purchased some that I knew were fake for certain uses. Just be careful, one of mine nearly caught fire when under heavy load because the safety stuff isn't in the battery. It actually had smoke coming out of it, which was a bit scary.

Not sure where you live, but $200 isn't really that cheap for the two of those Makita batteries. It is about a 10-15% discount from what you can get at the local shops, which is a common difference for online purchases.

The scammers are a pain in the arse. Thankfully I got a refund. The scammer had the hide to reach out and ask me to remove my negative feedback. He's dreaming, people need to be warned. Hope you get your money back.

It's really annoying that places like Ebay and Amazon do nothing to stop this. After my expereince I reported several sellers to Ebay and nothing was done, with their listing continuin to this day. Another really annoying aspect is that my negative feedback (and someone else's) has been removed and now has 100% positive. So, anyone looking would think the seller is great. No idea how they get feedback removed.

Funny thing is, the scammer has mostly great feedback. Either the feedback is bogus or lots of people don't know they have been scammed. I find it hard to believe I would be the only one he tried to sell fakes to. Anyway, I am glad you checked before buying.

Thank you. I'll never buy another battery from Ebay as long as I live. I've bought phone batteries twice and both ended up being fake. With the fake Makita seller I was sucked in because they really weren't that cheap, just 15-20% less than retail. I'm pretty annoyed with Ebay because the negative feedback from me and another person has somehow been removed from the sellers Ebay store.

I will buy batteries on eBay, but only from trusted sellers with at least 99 percent approval from at least 10k sales. So far, so good...

Yes, they go to so much trouble you'd think they would just fix up the tell-tale signs of being fake. Lucky for us they don't, otherwise the only option we'd have is to buy a Makita battery tester. What annoys the crap out of me is that Ebay do nothing about it. Sure you may get a refund but they allow the seller to keep on doing it.

@@MickC2167 Fleebay has sent me an email saying my money is being refunded to my credit card. The seller told me they are sorry and I can keep the battery. This is how he maintains a 100% customer approval rating and avoids trouble with Ebay. You would think Makita would go after them at least.

@@DSCircleJockey I suppose all Fleebay care about is getting their fees. I actually left negative feedback, as had two others, for the seller. I had a look last week and all negative feedback has been removed and the seller is back at 100% positive. It's a joke.

The seller is called Furnishstore (www.ebay.com.au/usr/furnishstore). He seems to have nothing more for sale. What really irritates me is that he has 100% +ve feedback yet I gave negative as well as two other people. Ebay knew he was selling counterfeit stuff due to refunds, yet they have obviously removed the -ve feedback. I'd love to know how the scammers get the -ve feedback removed.

Hi, at the 1.20 mark you see where it says 3-2 on the battery. Just below that as the serial number. Min starts with 2122. It's more visible on the fake unfortunately.

Thank you

Utter load of shit... I've being in touch with makita, and they said they are 2 different types of battery on the market people should not be fooled by crap that people put on RU-vid...

I suppose that is possible. I'm in Australia and have purchased from USA and Europe and the only difference I've seen between the three different areas is the compliance sticker at the bottom. Other than that, everything was the same internally. This doesn't mean there couldn't be differences elsewhere.

Yea I just ordered 2 packed in clear plastic that are being shipped from Canada and will open 1 up and see if they have the Samsung cells probably the only way to really know

Mine has everything genuine except the orange sticker behind the white securing latch. May be different in Europe.

My fake has kerning errors on the label, slight variations in molded case, and more

a. I did not assume I was comparing against a genuine Makita battery; I was 100% sure. I have multiple genuine batteries which came from Makita tool kits purchased from a large hardware chain in Australia and serial numbers were verified with Makita Australia. The genuine Makita batteries also passed testing on a Makita Battery tester. The two non-genuine batteries failed the test. b. My video was not designed to rate the performance of the counterfeit batteries, and never professed to do so. It was simply to help people identify them. In fact, I did test them afterward to check performance using a battery discharger. The two non-genuine 5Ah batteries tested at less than 50% of rated capacity. The genuine batteries all tested around 80-90% of rated capacity, which is pretty normal for genuine batteries. c. The non-genuine batteries did not contain protection circuitry that works in tandem with circuitry in the tool to avoid overloading, over discharging and heating issues. One of them over discharged to a point where a Makita battery charger would no longer recognised it, thus leaving it unchangeable. The battery then needed to be specially charged with a different battery charger to get it up to a couple of volts so the Makita charger would then recognise and charge it. d. The non-genuine batteries were actually dangerous. At one stage while being discharged, one of them became very hot and started smoking. I only have one left now. e. I am well aware that some 3rd party batteries are perfectly fine to use and have used them in the past. I have no issues with 3rd party batteries sold as such at a price that properly correlates with quality. The batteries shown in the video were not cheap, were sold as genuine Makita batteries, were well under rated Ah, and were actually dangerous.

Dear Michael, thank you for your kind & detailed clarification. By the way, do you have any relation to Clint Eastwood whose photo is being adopted by your profile.@@MickC2167

Hi @@matitune, No relation to Clint, just a fan.