Shipping batteries

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sonyxperiageek

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#110812 16-Oct-2012 21:06

I am about to buy 3 Li-Ion battery packs and a charger (all in a package) for my Samsung Galaxy Note from eBay. Can they be shipped here? Will I be charged NZ Custom fees?

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freitasm

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#702245 16-Oct-2012 21:14

You won't have to pay GST if the amount is less than NZ$60 - which means the declared value + shipping has to be more than NZ$ 400.

As if the courier will accept batteries, that's another story.

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dontpanic42

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#702247 16-Oct-2012 21:28

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=88278
Not sure if this thread will help or hinder, as I can't really recall whether or not a clear conclusion was reached.
It might have some info that is useful to you, though.

DrStrangelove

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#702268 17-Oct-2012 02:59

I too wondered how an ion-battery would get here at the time due to restrictions on batteries being air freighted.
I got a battery air freighted to NZ from HK via HK/NZ postal system. Think is was described as a mobile phone accessory or something. ;-) It arrived approx. three days after leaving HK and after that I stopped thinking about it. :-)

You'll need to confirm, but it's something like 160Wh batteries(capacity) when the regulations come into play.

So a 2000mAh battery would be ~approx 2000mAh / 1000 * 3.7 = 7.4Wh so it should be OK.

BUT don't accept my word on it and do some checking. Assume I'm probably wrong.

Otaku

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#702587 17-Oct-2012 16:19

I ordered Eneloop rechargeable batteries (8x, AA) from Amazon US about 3 weeks back, including a La Crosse charger. It arrived in a week, with no Custom hassles. Noticed that package was labelled as 'battery powered radio. :D

dickytim

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#702745 18-Oct-2012 07:22

it is not actually a customs issue as such with the batteries, it is the airlines, certain batteries can catch fire, others can catch fire and the aircrafts halon fire fighting systems can't put the fires out.

It will really depend and how many batteries, the size and especially how they are declared, bearing in mind that if your batteries cause a plane to crash and you have misdeclared them then you are liable for the damage!

DHL has a calculator they sent me when the regulations started to be enforced about a year ago which helps but I can't find a link to it!

timmmay

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#702756 18-Oct-2012 08:22

There are regulations about how much lithium is allowed in one battery on a plane. I have a massive lithium polymer cell that powers my studio flashes for 300-500 full power flashes that was just over the limit, so anything to do with phones should be well under. Have a read of the NZPost/Fedex regulations on lithium.

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TinyTim

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#702766 18-Oct-2012 09:30

NZ Post regulations: http://www.nzpost.co.nz/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/adv550-lithium-battery-document.pdf. Expect other carriers would be similar.

(As a comparison, my laptop battery capacity is 56W-hr)

kiwiharry

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#702778 18-Oct-2012 09:51

dickytim: it is not actually a customs issue as such with the batteries, it is the airlines, certain batteries can catch fire, others can catch fire and the aircrafts halon fire fighting systems can't put the fires out.

It will really depend and how many batteries, the size and especially how they are declared, bearing in mind that if your batteries cause a plane to crash and you have misdeclared them then you are liable for the damage!

DHL has a calculator they sent me when the regulations started to be enforced about a year ago which helps but I can't find a link to it!

Here's a photo of one of my Lithium Ion batteries which had caught fire. Admittedly it did get a little wet. I had it sitting on my desk and about 3 hours later it started smoking and within about 20 seconds erupted into flames.

If you can't laugh at yourself then you probably shouldn't laugh at others.