When it comes to buying computer parts and other types of technology, shopping at a local store is still your best bet. Although most of these devices are manufactured in China, buying from Chinese retailers or third-party sites may not always be the best course of action. If you’re not lucky, you may receive a package that looks like a genuine item, but contains nothing on the inside. As can be seen in the video below, buying a hard disk in China is not always a good idea.
Beware of Buying Electronics in China
Thanks to the Internet, it has become a lot easier and simpler to buy goods from overseas. A lot of people rely on Amazon or even the websites of domestic stores as a way to buy whatever it is they need. So-called China shopping has also become increasingly popular as of late, even though it is not without risk. In fact, it may be something well worth avoiding, as the chances of having a bad experience are very real.
In the YouTube video below this article, we can see how a seemingly innocent purchase of a Samsung external hard drive went completely awry. The packaging and the hard disk itself look genuine, and even come with the proper manual. However, after prying open the disk’s enclosure, it becomes evident there is a lot of junk in place and a small controller board acting as storage. Although the video is not in English, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on exactly.
Sadly, issues like this one are a lot more common than most people would like to think. There is a very large fake goods market in China, as well as in a few other countries around the world. With only an image of the product to go by, there is no indication as to whether an item displayed online is genuine or not. In most cases, there will be no issue whatsoever, but there is always a big risk of buying a fake product. Especially when it comes to mass storage, your mileage may vary a lot when “China shopping”.
Hard drives from China always carry an inherent risk to begin with. Even if such an item arrives and appears to be the product expected, there is no telling whether or not someone has tampered with the storage device. The same applies to USB drives, SD cards, and any other type of storage one buys directly from Chinese (third-party) sellers these days.
Indeed, the only way to completely avoid encountering such issues is to not buy anything from Chinese auction sites or websites which possess shady reputations. Third-party sellers are always a risk when buying critical hardware such as storage devices. This doesn’t apply just to China, but that is the market most observers focus their attention on these days. Rest assured a lot of people are scammed every month by purchasing hardware from sites such as Alibaba and the like.
Problems like these have been around for as long as most people can remember, and it is evident they will remain present for quite some time to come. Always be careful when purchasing sensitive hardware such as hard drives from China. Pay the extra money to get a 100% genuine product from local retailers. It certainly is tempting to buy cheaper goods from China, but you often get what you pay for. Sadly, that means a lot of products will have some sort of an issue along the way.
