topic Re: Are there.... in Buying

Are there....

papermoon.lady — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 23:14:17 GMT

...honest eBay sellers for USB drives? After my last experience, I just don't feel like buying USB sticks on eBay any more... Has anyone ever had a good experience with flash drives?

Feedback doesn't say much because in most cases people plug it in and believe what their computer says and notice that their flash drive is faulty/fake much later, and most people don't know they can leave a follow-up (and apart from that, follow-ups don't change the percentage of positive feedback).

You find all sorts of descriptions garanteeing genuity, claiming the flash drive is sealed etc., but in many cases the descriptions are fake too...

Anyway, has anybody found an honest seller who sells genuine USB drives at good prices or is this impossible?

Thanks!

Re: Are there....

janeababe — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:15:38 GMT

buy it from you local store... dick smith or whatever.

Re: Are there....

xxstuckonstickersxx — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:55:28 GMT

I'm very cautious of any electronics, and I definitely wouldn't buy from overseas. (If a listing states item location as Australia, but the descriptions full of "Engrish", its probably not really in Australia - that's my experience anyway)

I recently bought a 1TB HDD from an Aussie seller with great FB and its working perfectly. And a 4 port USB hub from another Aussie, 100% FB , also works.

Re: Are there....

thesoulyearns — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:12:03 GMT

USB drives don't cost much. a 4 gig drive can be about $10-15, maybe even less. Your local electronics store will probably have various ones with different sizes, ranging from cheap to expensive. The cheap ones might not last as long, though, which is probably the same for eBay, unless it's a high-quality second hand.

Re: Are there....

crypsynight — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:21:00 GMT

I just get mine from Australia Post.

They currently have 16gb Toshiba for $14 - I've had no trouble with them at all.

Re: Are there....

papermoon.lady — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:21:01 GMT

Actually the very first thing I bought on eBay was an external CD-ROM. It worked perfectly, and still does (I now use it for my netbook, which doesn't have a CD-ROM) ,but for some reason I heard bad things about eBay back then and stayed away from it for a few years. During the last couple of months I bought quite a few things, and all went well apart from the USB drive. As I said in another thread, I filed a claim with PayPal a few days ago and the seller hasn't reacted yet, which is not really a problem because if he doesn't I win automatically.... Probably the reason why I fell for it (and its price) was that I had also found real bargains and was starting to think that eBay is shoppers' paradise... ]:)

Re: Are there....

patchoo78 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:00:46 GMT

Don't buy them online.. You can usually get them much cheaper in a shop anyway.. Last I checked Big W had 4 gig flash drives for $5.. They're getting so cheap now that its not worth the hassle of buying one online and finding out you've been ripped

Just a warning, you're not likely to find a 64gig (or more) usb drive for less than $100.. So if you see a listing for one that says $20-$40 I can almost 100% guarantee that it will be fake and the actual capacity will be far less

Re: Are there....

phorum_junkie* — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:21:54 GMT

I filed a claim with PayPal a few days ago and the seller hasn't reacted yet, which is not really a problem because if he doesn't I win automatically.

Not so, you will need to escalate to a claim and then the likely outcome is Paypal will tell you to return the item and provide valid tracking information before you will get a refund. the cost of valid tracking will probably mean you will be out of pocket to get a refund.

Most of the seller's who are offering these cheapo items have a lot of negs, neutrals and withdrawn feedback and the DSRs are usually low especially for delivery times.