Why are Memory Sticks so cheap on ebay?

cookie_365 · 11-06-2006, 20:10

I want to get a 2Gb Memory Stick Pro Duo for my phone.

On Dabs a 2Gb Sony stick goes for ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£70.44 with a little bit of postage.

However, on ebay the going rate seems to be about ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£35 including post.

That's a pretty hefty difference - anyone know why?

Could a lot of the stuff on ebay be fake - and how would I know if I bought it?

Thanks

11-06-2006, 20:14

scrubed cuz i didnt read properly

mind u I wouldnt buy from hong kong

Chicken · 11-06-2006, 20:19

There are fake flash around, and there are lots of 'generic' flash too which can be OK, just not quite as fast as the real thing. How can you tell?? You can't - unless you are prepared to break open the case.

But, that said, remember that the price of Flash was much higher around last Christmas time (thinks to Apple buying a huuuuuuuuge quantity and there being a shortage) - that shortage has now turned into a surplus and consequently the price has dropped through the floor again.

Dabs are probably just hoping people will buy the chips they brought a few months back when the price was high without Dabs suffering a loss.....

Oh, and as zinglebarb says, don't buy from Hong Kong (or anywhere abroad) through eBay - not only does it take weeks and weeks to get your items, there's a high change it'll get stopped at Customs and you'll end up paying VAT+import tax+surcharges @ Extortionate amount on your purchase.. and of course if you have any problems with it its not easy to contact the seller.......

11-06-2006, 20:21

There near 70 quid on 7dayshop too

58 quid here

same here

Matthew · 11-06-2006, 20:24

MyMemory is usually a good place to get memory from.

11-06-2006, 20:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew

MyMemory is usually a good place to get memory from.

80 quid on there mate (66 quid is there cheapest 2 gig)

cookie_365 · 11-06-2006, 22:44

Thanks all

I would only go for a UK seller anyway - but their prices are still similar, which is what set off the alarm bells.

I'll assume that Dabs and so on bought at a price so are selling at a price, so I'll go for ebay

11-06-2006, 22:51

I paid ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£23.97 for my 2GB scandisk SD card from ebay with next day delivery!

It is ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£169.99 in argos!

Here is the link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/UK-New-Fast-De...QQcmdZViewItem

I know the original poster wants a pro duo but I provided the link just in case anyone is after one!

Mine turned up next day and it was sealed brand new in a box!

luvclub · 12-06-2006, 00:23

Hiya (1st post)!

Those ebay 'Sony' sticks are definitely fake. It normally does not matter if they are UK sellers or HK sellers, since the UK sellers get their supplies from China/HK anyway.

Fake does not necessarily make it a "bad" thing though. I have ordered and received one of these sticks from a UK seller and currently it is as good if not better than a genuine Sony stick. Faster and slightly more storage.

Anway, if you are looking for memory sticks I advise you to get a Sandisk one.

Speedwise from fastest to slowest it goes:

Sandisk Extreme
Sandisk Ultra
Sandisk Standard
Sony High Speed (Fake - in my case)
Sony High Speed (Real)
Sony Regular

There have been some horror stories about people faking lower size sticks as the 2GB one, but usually if the ebay seller has good feedback for the sticks then they would be "real 2GB", but still usually fake Sony, if total incl P&P is less than ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£50.

Hope that clears it up. Check out this link for more info
http://boardsus.playstation.com/play...age.id=2235693

As far as I know Sandisks aren't as oftenly faked.

Don't let Sony fool you that their products are better than others. Sandisk codeveloped the MS standard with Sony. I advise you to get Sandisks if possible.

12-06-2006, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvclub

Hiya (1st post)!

Hope that clears it up. Check out this link for more info
http://boardsus.playstation.com/play...age.id=2235693

As far as I know Sandisks aren't as oftenly faked.

Good 1st post mate

to the forum too

luvclub · 12-06-2006, 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

Good 1st post mate

to the forum too

Thanks very much!

By the look of things the Sandisk Pro Duos seem to be going at a cheaper price on ebay!

Another thing is that the packaging for the fakes are nearly always indistinguishable except they don't usually have the warranty card inside.
This is the giveaway. If you do get a card and manage to register the serial number on the respective website then it most definitely is genuine.

I might get one of these sandisks

With Sandisks the regular 2GB comes in sky blue and there are "gaming versions" of these which are see-thru blue. The actual internals are identical, but they normally make out the gaming version is better.
A good thing about the transparent version is that they wouldn't want to fake these as they would have to go to the trouble of having to fake the details on the chip as well because it is visible.