Purism offers anti-interdiction services when sending your device back to you, so I suggest taking advantage of it if it is applicable against your threat model. As for sending in the device in the first place, you can make arrangements via email with PGP about any tamper protection measures you will be applying to your shipment if needed. Lastly, packages can be insured from loss depending on the shipping rate chosen, so if it fails to arrive at its intended destination, you can make a claim with the courier.
2 Likes
Yes, one thing I am working on is getting Purism staff IATA DGR certified for hazmat air shipments, and any other regulatory compliance with our shipping carriers. I’ll then do test shipments and, if successful, will enable replacement battery shipments to all approved countries.
11 Likes
It’s not a policy as such. It is imposed by air freight companies. Until you jump through the hoops to meet their terms and conditions, they simply won’t allow it.
3 Likes
That is fantastic news! Do you have a ballpark estimate of when you expect this will happen? 6 months, a year?
2 Likes
Would be interested for an ETA for this as well, as I have a battery problem with a Librem14.
See also Librem14 battery bloated, laptop unusable. Alternatives battery sources outside the US? - #4 by EuropeanCustomer1
Depending on how much time it takes, I could volunteer for a test shipment.
3 Likes
Me too. I’m stuck in the USA so I’ll volunteer. I have a $1,700 un-used Librem15 laptop that Purism can’t get a battery for… So I don’t mind shipping it to Purism for a new battery when they are available.
I worked in multi-modal logistics for GE and got hazmat training. Shipping issues are very fixable when they are regulatory. Purism has to fix the easier routes first and get the supply chain moving. That frees up possibilities for the harder routes. Don’t wait to fix all of the global routes at the same time.
2 Likes
I’ve been trying to get a replacement battery for my $1,700 Librem 15 laptop since 06/05/24. All I wanted to do was send the laptop in for battery service that I paid for… Then, after Purism tech support changed the battery, I could get started learning Linux.
I have been in shock since then. Purism has literally had replacement battery issues since some time in 2021. I’ve found lots of info on the forum about customers struggling with this issue since then.
Here’s a post I found that has tech details:
My Librem 15v4 arrived on 2019-02-27 and by 2020-08-01 the battery was only lasting about 3.5 hrs, and by 2021-05-21 the battery was almost dead. It’s possible that I left it on the charger too long. I don’t know if the Librem 15v4 cuts the power from the charger to the battery. Does anyone know?
I wanted to buy a replacement battery from the Purism shop, 45 but both new and used batteries were out of stock (I see at this moment that a used battery with 90-day warranty is in stock).
By the way, @mladen confirmed that the Librem 15v4 can run with a dead battery AND with the battery completely removed. I verified both.
Thanks to @MrChromebox for giving the part number (U753-TS44-111) at Librem 15 rev 3 battery replacement 14 , which allowed me to search online. I found nothing on eBay and many other battery sites. Everyone was also out of stock. Finally on 2021-06-05 I found https://www.replacement-laptop-battery.com 26 in Hong Kong, which had it in stock (and just now is saying out of stock). A new one was $109.16 with 1-year warranty and shipping included (the same price as a used one just now seen on Purism’s shop with 90-day warranty). So I decided to buy it and hope I had not thrown away my money. This was the first time I had bought anything directly from China. I used PayPal, they shipped it very quickly, and they emailed me a tracking link. I watched it depart from Shenzhen, arrive in LA on 2021-06-23, then at my Post Office on 2021-07-08. So, 1 month, 3 days from China. Not too bad!
It works fine and I reliably get 5.5 hrs out of it, with about half screen brightness, Internet active, and an external monitor attached. I now use GNOME Clocks to set a timer to remind me to either unplug or re-plug the charger, although I did run it down to 10% to see if GNOME gave me a low-battery warning, and it did. That did not happen with the old almost-dead battery: the system would just power off with no warning. A couple of times I have charged to 100% and the max time I saw was 5hr 38min.
One warning: the white plastic connector from the battery to the Librem 15v4 is very flimsy, basically a part with a duty cycle of 2 or 3. When I removed the original battery connector, it disintegrated in my hands. So I was a bit worried that when I plugged in the new battery, it would break. I was lucky and it did not.
Hope this helps someone!
p.s. The only thing that could be better about this is if I didn’t have to remove 15 [corrected: 14] screws from the back of the Librem 15v4. At least Purism made them all Phillips head screws of the same size, though a few are longer than the rest, so you have to keep track. A battery door with a more durable battery connector would be great. Does the Librem 14v1 improve on this?
2 Likes
Original quote:
You can use the > character to start a quote, or use this instead:
[quote]Insert quote here.[/quote]
Update: this is coming along smoothly and we expect full capability for standalone battery shipments Q1 2025.
10 Likes
That’s awesome news; thanks. I hope you guys are also working on adjusting (correcting?) the shipping cost anomalies in the Store, e.g. over US$20 to ship the tiniest of items, even domestically.
Thanks again for the update, and especially for spearheading the certification process.
4 Likes
Thank you! It would be great to make an announcement when available - a lot of people will be happy that Purism finally solved this issue about consumable that inevitably go dead in time
4 Likes
The end of February is nearing. Is there any update? 
1 Like
Our DHL rep stopped by HQ ~1.5 weeks ago and, IIRC, there isn’t much else to do on our part. I just pinged the ops team for an update (they return to the office tomorrow).
Update from ops:
We have been approved. However, our online account needs the setting enabled. When I spoke to [DHL] tech support, they said our account rep needs to call them to do it. He is, however, on a two week vacation. I have tried emailing others, but no luck yet.
4 Likes
We have been approved.
Amazing news, thanks for the update!
2 Likes
Has the account rep returned from vacation and got the setting enabled? 
On the shop, I still see the warning that battery-only orders will be cancelled, so I assume still a WIP?
3 Likes
Thanks for asking that question. IMO, The problem isn’t the battery, I think it’s DHL. They are very expensive compared to other shippers. No one is locked in to only DHL. Purism could use Fedex, for outside US boundaries as we always found them more reliable, cheaper and just as fast.
I wonder, why is Purism waiting for somebody to get back from vacation is a shining example of DHL’s care and concern for it’s customers - not!
It may be cheaper for Purism to ship stuff DHL, but it’s the added costs by DHL. They hold the item until the extra fees, duties r are paid. That increases the wait time, and one needs to monitor shipping because for me, they wanted the money before releasing my L5 and gave me 48 hours on a long weekend.
Canadians, since Trump declared war on Canada, should check ahead to see what the real costs are for Canadians or eat any sticker shock.
~s
1 Like
Good observation. I requested an update from the shipping manager.
Update: Our shipping manager is pushing hard on this. We’ve already obtained approval but there are apparently some communication issues between the DHL representative and DHL tech support. We still await action from DHL tech support.
4 Likes
Good news
We are fully approved for international shipping of standalone batteries!
Bad news
The carrier is charging a significant fee for shipment of dangerous goods - much more than anticipated. We are now working to update the shop to account for these additional charges if a standalone battery is purchased, necessitating the “dangerous goods” label.
Additional data point: A standalone Librem 14 battery shipped to Zurich, Switzerland, would cost $264.39 USD. Ouch.
What we’re doing about it
- We continue to investigate alternative cost-effective shipping carriers.
- We are beginning to investigating options for a replacement EU-based distribution center.
- This does not imply that RMAs would be handled at this location at this time; an EU-based service center is projected to resume further into the future as finances allow.
- We are gradually improving our documentation to include more part numbers for third-party purchasing and user-serviceability.
10 Likes
That looks like a DHL get-lost fee. They want to say they offer it, but don’t want to do it. There are professional carries phone numbers, and if they don’t use L5, the numbers are in the book as they say.
Two things I see Purism being responsible for:
-
Adding a caveat in the ad about additional batteries.
done. 
Yea! -
With great haste, contact professional carries like:
FedEx
United States Postal Services
With the sudden and shocking events I think it is going to, if it hasn’t already, make it much more difficult and expensive to find a backup battery.
~s
3 Likes
The “dangerous goods”, “fuel surcharge”, “transportation charges” fees are insane. I recently bought a 1382 Wh LiFePO4 40lb “Electric Solar Generator” (battery+inverter+charge controller+USB-pd-out + AC in/out that can output 1800W) for $400 delivered (international shipment).
3 Likes