Is It Safe to Buy Hard Drives from eBay That Look Too Good to Be True?

nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:29
Last edited 22/08/2022 - 09:51 by 1 other user

How safe is it buying something from eBay that looks too good to be true?

I've seen some HDDs that are a fair bit cheaper than their usual value, so I'm sceptical. But they have loads of good reviews, and no bad ones about them being counterfeit. Are fake reviews common? It should be easy to prove they are counterfeit if they do happen to be so. Is it worth trying anyway, and then getting refunded if they are counterfeit? If I pay with PayPal am I guaranteed a full refund if I prove them to be counterfeit?

Computing Computer Component Hard Drive

Comments

  • El cheepo on 22/08/2022 - 09:34
    +12

    I feel like there is a saying along the lines of
    “If its to be good to be true…. Must be right, buy it immediately.”

    I could be mistaken though…

    • saltypete on 23/08/2022 - 08:28

      Username not checking out at all….

  • ThithLord on 22/08/2022 - 09:36

    yes IANAL

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:45
      +1

      What does I Anal mean?

      • jv on 22/08/2022 - 09:46
        -1

        Spell it backwards…

      • bobbified on 22/08/2022 - 11:23
        +1

        He's just telling you what he's into….

      • Screamingeagle on 22/08/2022 - 12:42
        +1

        I am not a lawyer.

        • [Deactivated] on 22/08/2022 - 15:16

          lol.

  • PensionerXXL on 22/08/2022 - 09:36
    +1

    links would help

  • 87percent on 22/08/2022 - 09:37

    are the sellers actually power sellers, or just random people?

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:40

      They're chinese. One with 3.7K positive reviews, another with 211. How many would be considered a power seller?

      • jv on 22/08/2022 - 09:45
        -1

        They're chinese.

        How can you tell?

        • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:49
          +1

          Ebay says they are, and their broken english in messages implies that probably isnt far off. so close enough. Aren't 90% of ebay sellers chinese anyway? The odds are good in any case.

          • jv on 22/08/2022 - 09:51
            -1

            @nuttapillar:

            Ebay says they are

            They might be Taiwanese?

            • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:54

              @jv: Maybe. But eBay says they're in china, so I'll roll with that.

      • pharkurnell on 22/08/2022 - 10:39
        +4

        3.7k reviews?? that would just be immediate family

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:41

      Founded in 2016 and 2020 respectively

    • Krogers on 23/08/2022 - 10:07

      Power seller program got killed off last year

  • jv on 22/08/2022 - 09:45
    +3

    Is It Safe to Buy Hard Drives from eBay That Look Too Good to Be True?

    nope.

  • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:46

    To clarify, I indeed would not be surprised if they are counterfeit, but im mostly wondering about the protections that are in place. I could just try it anyway for shits and gigsif there's a good chance of protection if/when it does go wrong.

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 09:48
      +1

      Like, this is similar to another plan i had recently, of buying heaps of those $10 "2TB" usb drives that are actually 16gb, proving they are fake, getting refunded, and then ending up with a bunch of free USB drives.

      • cuteseal on 22/08/2022 - 09:57
        +1

        If it's Amazon then you risk getting your account banned for excessive returns. Also usually they only refund on the condition that you send the items back…

        • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 10:18

          Not amazon. It's Ebay.

  • SF3 on 22/08/2022 - 10:09
    +2

    How safe is it buying something from eBay that looks too good to be true?

    What's time, money and hassle worth to you? I think you've answered your own question.

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 10:17

      Well no, because I wasn't sure how safe it is with ebay/paypal. I wasn't questioning whether its worth the time, I was questioning if my money is safe. Like, will I get it back if it isnt exactly as described. Or maybe if there's some crafty ways they could scam me that im not aware of.

  • Ocker on 22/08/2022 - 10:13

    Why try to save a few bucks on what is arguably the most critical part of your system?

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 10:18

      a few bucks? no. But a few hundred.

      • pharkurnell on 22/08/2022 - 10:40
        +4

        few hunge and your asking if its legit ???

  • coffeeinmyveins on 22/08/2022 - 10:15
    +5

    Probably fake and if you open it up will just be a 32GB USB stick :laugh:

    There's a difference between being frugal and being cheap. Being cheap can end in disaster.

    For a comparison, would you get tyres for your car that are 50% cheaper than anywhere else ? It's the most critical part of the car, so why cheap out on it?

  • freefall101 on 22/08/2022 - 10:19
    +4

    I bought a harddrive that was too good to be true years ago, because they actually mailed me something (a coin, lol) I had to return what they sent me.

    That became a nightmare because the address they supplied wasn't complete and I couldn't send something to that address (it was like 123 Street, China according to the return address) Paypal refused to refund me until I could show I sent it, then closed my ticket because I took too long. In the end I just gave up.

    It's not worth the hassle. They're banking on people like me who can't be arsed sorting it out.

  • Caped Baldy on 22/08/2022 - 13:32
    +1

    How many TB?

    There was a group buy going around that was significantly cheaper than retail.

    • nuttapillar on 22/08/2022 - 13:33

      I'm after around 14tb

      • Caped Baldy on 22/08/2022 - 13:40
        +2

        The user, Neology, has arranged a few group buys. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/search/node/hdd%20group%20buy

        If you can't wait, a lot of people buy desktop hard drives and shuck them ie open them up and use the raw drives. I've done this multiple times without too many dramas. The sweet price point for the past few years has been $25/TB. Amazon is pretty good for this so stock up on discounted gift cards. It is recommended to do an error check before shucking as the packaging can be barebones and the returns policy is good. Seagate drives come with the required power adapters but you need to contact WD for the plug if buying from Amazon US/UK.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/search/node/desktop%20hard%20dr…

  • Joey2scoops on 23/08/2022 - 09:22
    +1

    Friend of mine recently bought a big SSD at a good price on eBay. When he got it and plugged it in it would not report the correct size. Opened up the cover and found a 64gb memory card inside. This guy is an engineering technician. So, buyer beware.

  • Liamhos08 on 23/08/2022 - 11:32
    +1

    Doesn't matter how you pay, you're covered by the ebay money back guarantee if it's not as described. Do you have some links? I've been watching some Ironwolf drives cheap from a Chinese seller, plenty of positive reviews for the seller & drives. Planning on testing it out myself soon. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/294994997479?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mk…

    • nuttapillar on 23/08/2022 - 19:52

      That's what I've been curious about. I ended up buying one, instead of the 4 I need, just to test it out. if it ends up good, then I'll get the other 3.

      • dauser on 12/01/2023 - 00:08

        Any feedback?

        • nuttapillar on 12/01/2023 - 16:47

          After testing the 1 I got, all seemed fine, so i bought 3 more, and they have been running fine in my NAS. Only problem is my NAS has now died due to presumably dead motherboard. (I tried replacing PSU with no success)

        • nuttapillar on 12/01/2023 - 16:47

          I did basic daignostics like SMART test, and then I used a program to fully load it with data, and read it back, took a few days, and it had no issues.

    • dauser on 12/01/2023 - 00:09

      Were you able to test a drive from the seller?

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