Watch batteries

[Bert]

Why are watch batteries so ludicrously expensive? I know they use silver oxide, but still, the price charged in shops is crazy. Does anyone on the Answerbank know what they actually cost to make? I could ask the same about replacement batteries for mobile phones - I was just quoted �25 for one for a Nokia in O2 and The Link.

[gazzawazza]

Bert, I bought a new battery for a Nokia a while back from an indoor market stallholder. It was a genuine Nokia battery and cost about �16 so shop around.

[geofbob]

I usually find watch batteries at Boots or Dixons for well under �5. The main problem is making sure you've got the right battery, as different makers use different numbering systems.

[bobbobley]

I can't say I've ever seen an expensive watch battery, they're all around �4 or �5. Is it a top-notch watch with a really rare type battery that you have??

[smorodina]

...and you don't think 4 or 5 pounds is expensive?? Gazzawazza is right - you need to shop around. Check out Poundland - they sell a card of about 30 assorted batteries, many of which are watch batteries and could be the right one. This page shows a lot of equivalent types and most are relatively cheap: http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepages/watchbatter
ies.asp

[beenee]

It's probably because you simply can't do without a battery! You're not going to go and get a brand new watch/mobile phone which will obviously be more costly, so you will submit and buy the batteries - however overpriced they are. They get away with it because they can.

[bobbobley]

no, of course I don't think �4 or �5 is expensive, especially considering that most decent watches probably cost at least 10 times that amount, and a battery is only something you need to replace every few years!! surely its more cost effective to spend a few quid on a battery isn't it?

what do you think they should cost then, if �5 is breaking the bank?!

[Bert]

Thanks for your responses. I got two batteries for my wife's watch off the internet for �2.40. There was a minimum charge of �2.20, so I thought I might as well have two. The price relative to the cost of the watch and how long they last is irrelevant. Something so small and produced in vast quantities should not cost so much, that's why I wanted to know the cost of production.