Retailers who pack & ship HDDs right?!

Submitted ⁨⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Benjaben@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨selfhosted@lemmy.world⁩

Hello Selfhosted - I’m writing to y’all asking for recommendations for a retailer that will properly pack spinning platter HDDs for shipping. These devices are sensitive to impacts, and since I’m intending to use them for critical data archiving, they need to be packed with appropriate padding! Newegg is apparently incapable of understanding this.

In particular I am looking for WD Red Plus drives, 2x of them, 10TB apiece.

To name and shame Newegg, I have now gotten two shipments of these from them, around $400 each time, and they have botched the packaging so badly on both that I would never accept and trust these drives. The first RMA I requested included notes about exactly how their packing failed, and about how these devices need to be treated better, which were entirely disregarded when they packed the second round.

Who can I buy from that will take their clients’ purchases seriously?!

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Comments

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TheImpressiveX@lemm.ee ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve had good luck with ServerPartDeals.com.

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- Benjaben@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Thank you! For reference, here’s the copy on their site indicating how their drives are shipped, this is MUCH more what I would expect (though technically this does seem to leave them the option of just using air pockets?) :
  
  Our drives ship in 225lb per sq inch pressure-rated boxes, specifically tested for impact. Inside the box you’ll find suspension brackets, foam inserts, or air filled pockets that secure the drive in place and prevent any possible impact from movement in the shipping process. The drive itself is sealed in an anti-static bag that protects the drive from any electromagnetic interference.
  
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  - JordanZ@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Ordered a number of drives from them recently. This is what they showed up in. Foam at the top and bottom of the smaller boxes, with each drive in a bag. Then both smaller boxes were in the larger box with some bubble wrap. Dates on each drive ranged from July 2022-July 2024.
    
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  - brandon@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    They use air pockets but they are of the stiffer variety that are fitted around each drive, not the super cheap and thin air pockets that just get jammed in to fill the box.
    
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- CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I just got 5 drives from them and both orders were packed well.
  
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- Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Ordered two drives from them, came in very well packaged and even included the PWDIS adapter. Very good deals. Could throw the box across the yard and the drives would probably survive.
  
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Aux@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
HDDs from the factory should come in a parked state, that means they don’t require any additional packaging apart from what they come in.

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- lud@lemm.ee ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Don’t HDDs usually come just in antistatic bags?
  
  All the drives I ever purchased came in just a plain box with packing materials and the drive in some antistatic bag. So I assume the retailer gets big loads of disks from the manufacturer/reseller and unpacks them and then ships them individually and thus packs then on demand.
  
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moody@lemmings.world ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I haven’t bought an HDD in a long time, but is the drive’s packaging itself not designed for shipping? The last one I bought had a ton of empty space and shock-absorbing packaging inside the box.

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- Benjaben@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I guess that’s the heart of some of the issues one or two others are taking with me having a problem here. When it’s said like you did, it seems like a reasonable take to me.
  
  Here’s my take on the physics itself - when an object is inside a container significantly larger than it and free to bounce around, and then put through the shipping process, that introduces a lot of collisions that are admittedly usually small, but strictly speaking mathematically related to the magnitude of the impact and the available space and inner (OEM) package padding/shock absorption. Those collisions largely do not exist if the object simply has no freedom to move in its containing package - it’s just the smaller collisions when the containing box is moved. The packaging by the mfg may be designed to absorb impacts to appropriate degrees, but it can’t be argued that somewhat unknown stresses (due to the unknown handling by the shippers) may have been applied by that freedom of movement in 2 dimensions, that would not have occurred if the OEM boxes were packaged in their container such that no freedom of movement was available. I have worked briefly with vibrations in industrial and once a small scale system, even, and we all underappreciate the effects of even just vibrations. Stabilization of sensitive components is a hard problem.
  
  It’s not that expensive at all to just close up that space reliably with every order of HDDs. If you know you spell ~expensive HDDs, do that. I am, strictly speaking, just asking for a retailer that does that. But FWIW I guess I have to acknowledge that the physics and relevant questions are interesting.
  
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  - non_burglar@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    You’re perceiving some kind of blame from those users asking, but tbh you didn’t make your situation clear in your original post and they’re fair questions.
    
    And I’ll echo most here and suggest you stop buying from that provider. It seems like the obvious choice. NewEgg isn’t exactly the paragon of customer service.
    
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cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This is a weird post, the HDD boxes are already packaged in a way that works well for shipping. Also the retailer doesn’t necessarily ship the package either. I think you’re asking more about shipping companies.

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- Benjaben@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Apparently it’s indeed a weird post. I’ll buy from the shop provided by several of the commenters who answered the question I asked. Really uninterested in describing to a user named “cyberpunk” of all things, why wanting a minimum of care for my purchases is somehow too much to request, I think every possible thing I might say has been said.
  
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  - cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I felt my comment was rational based on the information presented, just trying to understand. I’m surprised it made you so unhinged.
    
    I’m also not really sure what some random internet handle/username has set you off, it’s not like my username is “I_drop_then_ship_yo_HDDs_lol”.
    
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Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I got one recently by B&H Photo Video, may have got lucky but the drive was brand new and untampered, and was in plastic cushioning, in a fitted box, inside 6" of airbags, inside another box. Delivered by DHL Express.

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- Godnroc@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  B&H is one of my favorite vendors, but god damn do they go overboard with the air cushions in their packages.
  
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brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Amazons renewed drives usually come well packaged. Antistatic bag, suspended inside very thick air pocket thing that completely encases the drive, inside a good cardboard box.

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- toynbee@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I tried to buy an external 20TB drive from Amazon twice. First one that came, I bought refurbished; the drive had been shucked and replaced with a 146GB drive.
  
  Second one I bought was 20TB, but was clicking and grinding from the moment I turned it on. When I tried to initiate a return saying “drive is clicking and grinding, indicating that it’s failing,” their support bot helpful informed me that a clicking and grinding drive usually indicated drive failure.
  
  They did accept the return for the latter. They also accepted a return for the former, but it took literal months and several support interactions where the (seemingly real) agents actively lied to me.
  
  I’ve had okay luck with smaller Amazon drives in the past, but will have trouble recommending them for this kind of purchase in the future.
  
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  - brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Totally reasonable. I don’t shuck anymore, so I don’t have the concern of getting the wrong disk.
    
    I’ve personally never had a problem with their returns before. But I haven’t had a doa disk out of their “renewed” internal disks yet.
    
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- Benjaben@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  That’s all I’m looking for and seems like a reasonable thing to expect, I’d prefer to avoid Amazon but am glad to know of that option, thank you! And to be clear, think you could confirm if you mean sold/fulfilled by Amazon or if you’re thinking of a 3rd party seller using Amazon the platform?
  
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  - brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Specifically the renewed drives sold by Amazon. They are the returned/refurbished drives. I’ve probably bought 10 or so in the last few years and that’s how they’ve all come. I haven’t had a failed drive out of them yet. (Seagate 22tb and WD reds 18tb)
    
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Xanza@lemm.ee ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This isn’t the fault of retailers. Shipping things is hard. It entirely depends on the people in transit willing to do their jobs, and sometimes you just don’t get lucky.

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- Benjaben@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I think if my business saw a $400 return for damaged goods, and I’m sure higher in cases too, I’d ensure I have a robust system to package those orders correctly the second time, no? I’m not complaining about the way it was treated in transit, but the way it was packed. It used only air bubbles, which both times (and on the same side) ruptured or deflated from elevation change, but either way left the drives just freely bouncing around their containing box. And I directly and precisely explained exactly the nature of the failure to them, with photographic evidence (as their process requires). I’m willing to acknowledge that mistakes happen, but c’mon. In addition, shouldn’t Newegg of all places know these are fragile devices, and probably savvy customers?
  
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  - catloaf@lemm.ee ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    $400 is nothing for businesses. At my job, purchases under $10,000 don’t require any approval.
    
    You haven’t said who you’re actually buying from. Any actual retailer selling new drives should be shipping them in the OEM packaging, and WD and Seagate should be packaging them just fine.
    
    But really, hard drives aren’t that sensitive to shock. If the drive is off, the heads are parked, there’s not much that can happen unless they get absolutely slammed against something and directly impacted. I run plenty of used drives shipped in a single layer of bubble wrap with few issues. Where I do have issues (connector damage, excessive bad sectors, failed short/long/conveyance SMART tests), those I replace.
    
    But, if this is critical data, you should always be prepared for drive failures with hot spares. Even an apparently healthy drive can suddenly stop working.
    
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  - Xanza@lemm.ee ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    I have a robust system to package those orders correctly
    
    This is my point. You can package your electronics as good as you want, but when it comes to hard drives, if the middle man decides to play ice hockey with your package it doesn’t matter. If you want to blame something blame Newton’s second and third Laws of Motion. 🤷‍♂️
    
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- CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  It is the fault of the retailers because it’s well known that things don’t always get handled with care in shipping, especially when you’re talking about automated machines and people handling millions of boxes. They’re the ones packing these items to ship and damaged items are needless waste. I buy car parts online and they manage to pack these often heavy and awkwardly shaped parts correctly so that they don’t sustain damage. Newegg could do the same with some HDDs.
  
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  - catloaf@lemm.ee ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I’m sure they can and do. I have never received a defective drive purchased new, through I don’t even know how many desktops, servers, and storage systems. Even drives preinstalled in desktops with no extra packaging have run perfectly well for years. I can count on one finger the number of hard drive failures in those desktops I’ve seen in the last decade.
    
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