Travel Technology - Why are the USB/cellphone cables so cheap on Ebay?

I'm looking to buy a USB cable for my LG 9800 cellphone to back up my phone book to my PC. Verizon wants $69.00 for their VCast music kit, which contains USB cable and a bluetooth earpiece.

I also looked at DataPilot, which has software and a universal USB cable for $79.00.

Looking around Ebay, they have USB cables for around $6.00 including shipping. I would probably just download BitPim for software.

Has anyone had any experience or recommendations on an Ebay vendor for cables? My main concern is damaging my phone with a shoddy cable.

I bought one once off eBay (for a penny, I think). The cable didn't secure all the way into my phone and kept disconnecting. BitPim doesn't support my phone (Sanyo VI-2300) so I never really tried to use another setting.

Most outfits charge a penny for the cable, then charge much more for the software.

I've been buying the $7 cables for at least 3 years for my Treo 300 and 600. After a while some of the contacts wear from being pulled side to side, accidentally yanked out every once in a while, etc. So I keep a stash of 2 or 3 always on hand.

I don't doubt that any OEM or other cable would do the same.

I've bought lots of cables from eBay. Generally, these are made in China and sold by the eBay vendor at a very low margin. I've gotten cables that were cheaply made, but they always worked. I've also gotten cables that were clearly OEM -- probably from the same factory in China that makes them for Verizon.

Essentially buying from eBay gets you the product without all the "middlemen" and their markups. I have scores of cables from eBay and they've all worked as advertised.

Check out Zip-Linq

http://www.ziplinq.com/

They have cables at a reasonable price, I like the retractable designs, and have been happy with the quality. They have most phone charging USB cables, and maybe some that sync as well.

Also; cables for $0.99 (and lower) are the vendors way of avoiding Ebay fee's; they make their money on shipping. $6 shipping on a cable sent through USPS will net them around $4 profit. Sell 200 of these a day and you're already making a pretty penny off the site.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I ended up buying a couple on Ebay last night.

Interesting comment Scott, I never thought of the low price and high shipping fee in that light.

If you've ever been to any "dollar store" you'll see similar cables for only a buck.... makes you wonder how much $$ all the high-priced stores are making on them.

If you've ever been to any "dollar store" you'll see similar cables for only a buck.... makes you wonder how much $$ all the high-priced stores are making on them.

Especially with "special" cables like DVI and HDMI cables it is clear someone is making a fortune. I order my special cables from monoprice.com; HDMI cable for $6.99 which costs $139 at Bestbuy :rolleyes:

If you've ever been to any "dollar store" you'll see similar cables for only a buck.... makes you wonder how much $$ all the high-priced stores are making on them.
Some of their highest profit items! That's why Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. ALWAYS try to get you to buy the cables & cases when you buy a phone from them.

I agree with the previous comments. Some of the generic cables I've found on eBay wear out pretty fast. I usually search for OEM cables, save quite a bit of money, and get the same cable I would have paid a lot more for at the retail store.

I have bought many of these 'cheap' cables. The only problem I've had is that some sellers actually send directly from Hong Kong so shipping takes a little longer.

I get them all the time, usually from the street vendors in Mahnattan for power cables, e-bay for others. Never had a problem.

Especially with "special" cables like DVI and HDMI cables it is clear someone is making a fortune. I order my special cables from monoprice.com; HDMI cable for $6.99 which costs $139 at Bestbuy :rolleyes:
Don't forget the extended warranty!

Printer cables were my favorite back when you needed a printer cable.

$4 or so from places online for a 15 foot cable. As much as $40 for a "certified" one at staples. Never had a problem with the cheap ones.

I've picked up some cables, headsets and batteries from the following two vendors


www.eforcity.com
www.cyberguys.com

I've also bought cables and batteries from www.newegg.com
but not always available for all phone models.

between these three, I pretty much get everything for the phones.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7290/4.0.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)

If you've ever been to any "dollar store" you'll see similar cables for only a buck.... makes you wonder how much $$ all the high-priced stores are making on them.

Especially with "special" cables like DVI and HDMI cables it is clear someone is making a fortune. I order my special cables from monoprice.com; HDMI cable for $6.99 which costs $139 at Bestbuy :rolleyes:

Monoprice is great. I know someone who is a contractor for a cable company and buys in bulk from them. Never a problem with quality.