Hello all. I'm am wondering if there is a nice person in the US on here who would be willing to forward a battery to me in the UK if I order it to your home.

It's a small 18650 lithium ion battery but Orbtronic want $50 to ship. I can't believe it will anywhere near that amount.

Anyone able to help? assuming there's no federal laws on shipping of lithium batteries that is!

There are actually weird rules about shipping lithium batteries, but I'm not clear on what they are. I know that when I've ordered battery-related gadgets from Amazon (including a cheap Sony alarm clock with a tiny lithium battery cell in it to hold the time when the power dies), the boxes have come with big warning stickers on the side.

I think that's the issue. Amazon have recently been fined for shipping lithiuum batteries on passenger planes.

RS Components (for example) have them for about £7 in the UK; is there something special about the one you want shipped?

Not all 18650 cells are equal. I'm after this one which I can't see on RS.

I could get it on Amazon or eBay but there are so many fakes out there and I won't risk it. Orbtronic get a very good reputation for quality genuine cells.

Might be worth asking This lot where they get theirs

Just for the record, that $50 shipping rate is about what a consumer would pay for UPS or FedEx. US Postal service looks a bit cheaper at $34, so you're not likely to save much for the trouble.

It seems incredibly expensive considering I can order some items on Amazon US and choose their International Saver option and pay $4-$8 for a small item and get it in like 4 days, yet if a family member wants to ship something just like it, $50.