Shopsmith Forums

Has anyone purchased any new batteries for cordless power tools recently? I had need to pick up a new 18V, 5.0A-h battery recently for the Milwaukee platform. Over several years I have tracked prices and these are typically less than $100 for this platform. Often times you can get a 2 pack for a little over $100 around the holiday time or whenever there is a sale. I was shocked to see that this battery is $160 from Home Depot and other online retailers now. Some even wanted $200+ for a single battery of this size and type. I finally found an online source for it at $60 and so far it seems legit. I know there are some counterfeit batteries on the market so I have been checking it to try to verify it isn't a knock-off. I would have to open the battery pack to be sure though, which I haven't done yet. I know the price of lithium as a raw material skyrocketed this year, but didn't expect it to effect the supply chain so quickly. Has anyone else looked into cordless battery tool pricing lately? Are you seeing a 2x increase in price like Milwaukee batteries are showing? I am just surprised to see a 2-3x increase on Milwaukee batteries after they stayed pretty much the same price for several years before this. IF this continues, due to EV vehicle growth, etc., then I don't know how we can continue to use cordless power tools in our shops. I know I am not ready to pay $1k for a battery pack and that could be a possibility given the volatility of lithium on the commodities market recently due to every automaker now diving into EV production.

P.S. I checked and a similar 5.0A-h battery from DeWalt is $189 for a single battery at Home Depot, so it looks like it is NOT just a Milwaukee brand problem.

A few minutes ago I saw that Home Depot has started their Ryobi Black Friday sales. I peeked at a pair of 6 Ah batteries for $139. That seems in line with what I've seen a pair of 4 Ah batteries going for on sale, around $100, sometime in 2021 as I recall.

Roy,

Thanks. I appreciate it. Good to know that at least Ryobi batteries are holding on price. I don't get it on this Milwaukee battery listing for a 5.0A-h size battery on the M18 platform. It shows it as a "Special Buy" on Home Depot's webpage and usually these are significant discounts typically at Home Depot when they have this marking, but NOT in this case. In addition, there is a "Black Friday" label above the Special Buy label, but it is almost like they intend this to be a Black Friday sale but it isn't on sale yet. I haven't noticed Home Depot intentionally inflating prices right before Black Friday before...only to lower them on the sale day, but perhaps that is what is going on. I was just surprised to see so many other online retailers having the price of this particular size Milwaukee battery be marked up so high. Even DeWalt's similar battery size seems to be marked up as well when I checked, though it does have reasonable pricing in the Home Depot Black Friday ad, at least for the 4.0A-h. Also, Ridgid tool battery pricing looked reasonable in the Black Friday ad as well for them.

Den of Tools did a review of the sales and as I remember they were not impressed. This guy should know as he is constantly seeking out tool deals.
https://youtu.be/AI1rXnHhTwo

Ed in Tampa wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:39 am Den of Tools did a review of the sales and as I remember they were not impressed. This guy should know as he is constantly seeking out tool deals.
https://youtu.be/AI1rXnHhTwo

Ed,

Thanks. I wasn't specifically referring to Black Friday deals though. I started looking into getting a 2nd battery at this size for a new tool at least a few weeks ago. I finally ordered it online and it took a week or two to get it here. So it came a few days ago. I know retailers can and some do raise regular prices shortly before a big sale like Black Friday, but in my experience I haven't really seen Home Depot do this before. I have been watching this particular size battery from Milwaukee for weeks online and the prices have been in the $160-230 range for a single 18V, 5.0A-h battery. To me this is highway robbery when I have found them on sale before with 2 of them for $100, but I never expected I would have to pay more than $100 for a single battery of this size. DeWalt's prices seem to be elevated as well, though I don't have a lot of experience with their batteries and pricing over time. Unfortunately, it is all jumbled up now in Black Friday specials so I can't really tell what the rest of the batteries are selling for in a "normal" market. Guess I will have to wait for the dust to settle after the holidays to see where prices level out after all of this. I was just wondering if this was a fluke that I found with Milwaukee pricing on this particular battery or if others were seeing price gouging on their cordless tool batteries lately.

I'm in the same position. I've also been looking at Milwaukee batteries.

I bought into the Milwaukee line a few years ago, and now I figure I bought a higher-end product than I actually needed. Regardless of whether Milwaukee tools are really better than the others, they've succeeded in marketing them as such. So, I think it's just a matter of supply and demand. They can charge more because people are buying 'em.

I have seen the battery prices but have not paid too much attention to them as I still have a few new batteries that I have not used yet. I have seen aftermarket batteries for the different systems. Much cheaper but do not last as long on a charge. I have used a few on my older 18v DeWalt system but not on my 20V DeWalt's. Something else I have seen is adapters for different brand tools to other brand batteries. I also have few older 18v PC tools that I still use with an adapter to the 20v DeWalt batteries that I normally use.

Years ago I bought a DeWalt drill with two batteries, a charger and a carrying case for $89.00. To replace the batteries two years later the batteries were priced at $99.00. My opinion is that the battery prices are a scam. Once you are hooked into the tool the manufacturers have you (us) over a barrel and can charge what ever they want for the batteries.
Bill V

BillVan wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 3:48 pm Years ago I bought a DeWalt drill with two batteries, a charger and a carrying case for $89.00. To replace the batteries two years later the batteries were priced at $99.00. My opinion is that the battery prices are a scam. Once you are hooked into the tool the manufacturers have you (us) over a barrel and can charge what ever they want for the batteries.
Bill V

Ahh yes the Gillette Plan.

Except no free thingie.

Just like computer printers. I can buy a new printer for the cost of a few printer cartridges.

Having said that, printers are VERY reliable. I have never bought a new printer because the one I had died. That is going all the way back to the beginning with dot matrix printers.

The only printers I have owned are HP. One thing I can say about them, other than reliability, is that cartridges are available for them no matter how old. I have two Office Jet 5600's, two Laser Jet 1018's and a Desk Jet 5600 that are all 15+ years old and still work perfectaly.