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Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

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Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#201

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

kbos87 wrote: post #8

The marketplace-ization (is there a word for that?) of every retailer feels so short sighted. I’ll throw out an example I’ve noticed lately - furniture manufacturers. Search for any item on Crate & Barrel or West Elm’s website and you’ll first see a handful of exclusive pieces that are clearly built for the brand. Keep scrolling and the search results gradually become a bunch of generic third party items that you can…

I kinda hate that I know this, but I suppose I might as well put my MBA to some use. There is such a concept as brand deposit ( where you are basically building up goodwill ) and brand withdrawal ( where you are using your brand for an activity that is likely to result in short term profit at a loss of goodwill of the customers ). For one reason or another, a whole slew of companies decided that short term profits are more important than their individual brands. It is puzzling for companies like Amazon, who partially rely on brand recognition.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#202

Post by kube-system »

nobody9999 wrote: post #128

I try to keep abreast of SSD prices, as I've been looking to swap out the spinning rust on my ESXi server with SSDs, but the prices are still a bit too high for my taste, and that hasn't changed much over the past few years. Which is why I was really surprised to see this both on Vice and ArsTechnica[0]. A quick web search for "4TB external SSD" shows prices in the USD$400-600 range. So 30TB for ~USD$40 seems too goo…

I think that "too good to be true" is an intentional strategy in these kinds of listings. This way, the only people who buy it are those who don't know better, and probably won't realize they were scammed. They'll just buy it because they know 30 > 1 or 2, so it must be better.

If you sell a scam device that seems like plausibly real deal, you might have a bunch of buyers who actually know what they're doing, intend to use the space, and will subsequently complain and return the devices.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#204

Post by calvinmorrison »

cogman10 wrote: post #71
hotpotamus wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I relatively recently learned about Aliexpress and it seems like most American retailers are just a local cache for them. But if I can order sketchy Chinese knick-knacks directly and skip the markup at the cost of a bit more waiting time, I'd just as soon do that. I've also found the Chinese customer service speaks English just fine and have been great whenever I've had to deal with them.

It's gotten really bad, particularly on amazon. Search for anything and you are likely to find the same item with 50 different brand names but all essentially the same garbage from aliexpress/wish. For example, here's a search for "bike trainer" [1] [1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bike+trainer&crid=KCCRWTVZHHQ7&sp...

And the information customers want is missing! Customers want to know the VALUE of a product.

I am looking at barrier hose crimpers for air conditioning lines. Okay, there's about a dozen identicalish looking ones on amazon with a price from 100-300 dollars, and a reputable united states manufacturer starting at 2500+. How do I know what's the best option?

I really don't care about the price, I want to know if the price is worth it. If these different products are different or just rebranded, I want to know.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#205

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

Aperocky wrote: post #198
everly wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, it’s called Costco, it’s great

was gonna say, that sounds like costco. just that they don't usually deliver.

Sounds like the idea for a company. Does Ikea deliver yet? If not, add them to your vendor list.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#206

Post by cout »

samwillis wrote: post #25
kbos87 wrote: post #8

The marketplace-ization (is there a word for that?) of every retailer feels so short sighted. I’ll throw out an example I’ve noticed lately - furniture manufacturers. Search for any item on Crate & Barrel or West Elm’s website and you’ll first see a handful of exclusive pieces that are clearly built for the brand. Keep scrolling and the search results gradually become a bunch of generic third party items that you can…

What I find particularly annoying is that these online “marketplaces” are not curated - they literally sell anything, probably drop shipped. It used to be that you would shop at a branded store, and there was a level of expectation that they had curated their collection so that it was of a quality that matched the stores brand. Some of their wares may be under their own branding, but they would sell other bands too t…

I would love to see a curated list of stores that sell curated items.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#207

Post by stickfigure »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #179
schnevets wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll do you one better: a curated retailer that only carried merchandise with a 10+ year manufacturer's warranty. And they automatically register/store all proof of purchase information in an online portal. If that isn't profitable, make the warranty storage/customer service advocacy a yearly subscription where they take care of the full return process.

This is basically Costco, although it would be even better if it was truly Costco. I mean, they do require your receipt, but they can often look it up for you and they usually take returns well past the warranty expiration due to their 100% satisfaction guarantee.

I've returned countless things to Costco (a tiny fraction of my embarrassingly large monthly habit) and never brought in a receipt. They just look up the purchase in my account.

Re: Walmart Sells Fake 30TB Hard Drive That's Two Small SD Cards

#209

Post by pessimizer »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #15
pupppet wrote: post #12

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the meeting when reputable businesses decided it was in their best interests to sell random garbage they couldn't vouch for.

did Walmart ever have a reputation for quality?

Yes. They're ruthless with their vendors (in the stores, not online crap) about complaints and returns.
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