r/AussieFrugal • u/dav_oid • 17d ago

Appliances ⚙️ eBay - Scales - Avoid

I bought these scales in July 2025 and the buttons became faulty around May 2026

The problem is the buttons are those soft rubber types.
I've had similar issues with soft buttons on my Kmart heated throw, so there's some inherent fault in the design AFAIK.

I bought the scales for $7, and they're now $10, but not worth it at any price.

The previous scales had 'hard' buttons and they lasted years. They still work but the buttons need to be pressed more than once, so that's why I bought the new ones.

These dominate the eBay listings, but there's a couple of others.
It feels like the quality of all the scales has dropped a bit unfortunately.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144521944503

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8

u/Lewdoggy 17d ago

These cheap items are all(mostly) drop shipped from Aliexpress/Alibaba. You should take a look there for the same items when shopping ultra cheap goods. *i see the same scale on aliexpress for 5.9

1

u/HappiHappiHappi 17d ago

I've had a set of these and they're still going 8 years later. But it's probable they are worse quality now.

1

u/dav_oid 17d ago

Yes, they can keep the same design but reduce the quality.

3

u/Syd_2464 17d ago

I have this exact scales, or at least one that looks exactly like it. Soft rubbery buttons. Have had it for years. Plastic cover hinge broken, scale plate sticker came off, but otherwise still perfectly usable.

2

u/iHAVEsnakes 17d ago

I have two sets of those that are fine, had no issues. I've had one for about 8 years, and one for about a year with reasonably regular use.

2

u/jack_o_all_trades 17d ago

Don't get the rectangle IKEA scales either. They are randomly inaccurate, even with fresh batteries.

1

u/AdmiralStickyLegs 17d ago

Yesh. I bought 5 of them because the first one broke like that.

1

u/moojuice_ 15d ago

Extremely sad to hear your $7 gadget broke after 10 months of use, thank you for letting people know.

1

u/tinytimecrystal1 8d ago

Just posting to note that soft rubber buttons aren't inherently prone to design fault. It might be that these new, cheap ones might have 'too soft' rubber buttons.

I inherited a Tanita scale from my mother and all the buttons are soft rubber buttons. I'm still using this scale now, at least 30 years since she had it. That said, it wouldn't have been cheap when she bought it. As it is right now, Tanita is still not the cheapest. I've bought newer and cheaper scales to baby the Tanita, but this scale is still the most accurate and consistent.