Cheap, new Samsung 470 on ebay?

[wpcoe]

I'm *brand new* to ebay. Just signed up this evening. All I know is to be careful about snake oil and scammers. Maybe you guys can help me make sense of this?

Brand New Samsung 256 GB,Internal (MZ5PA2560/0D1 ) (SSD) Solid State Drive

Current bid is $20.50, with 2.5 days remaining. What's the catch? Seller has "94.4% Positive feedback." Is that too low of a rating?

Another seller with a "99.8% Positive feedback" has four listings for the same drive (new) for with bids at $56, $67, $90 and $111 with 5.5 days remaining.

I googled the drive, and it's a Samsung 470, basically a last generation drive (SATA2), which is fine with me since the notebook it's destined for is SATA2. An anandtech.com benchmark chart puts the drive squarely in the middle, which again is fine with me. People seem to continually praise Samsung for quality drives here on the forum. In fact, even Anand himself said:

Although the 470 was a downright decent 3Gbps drive, it was competing in a world dominated by 6Gbps alternatives. Crucial's m4, Intel's SSD 510 and OCZ's Vertex 3 all offered better performance, at a similar price point. The only leg Samsung had to stand on was reliability, which believe it or not can sometimes take second place to performance depending on the target market.

Why are these drives going so cheap? Or, does bidding shoot up in the final hours? The range of $56 to $111 for the same model from the same seller is puzzling, too.

 

[janas19]

Or, does bidding shoot up in the final hours?

You've answered your own question. Why do you create a thread for something this stupid? How about make a bid and find out.

/thread

 

[wpcoe]

Wow. What a considerate and kind reply. Did you grasp the concept that I am new to ebay, and wondered how it worked? Thanks for the great clarity you have provided, and the great kindness with which you have shown it. :thumbsup:

 

[Binky]

Prices always shoot up at the last minute/second. Use a sniping service or program, cross your fingers, and wear your lucky underwear.

 

[bryanW1995]

You've answered your own question. Why do you create a thread for something this stupid? How about make a bid and find out.

/thread

Personal attacks are against the TOS. Please don't post in threads if you have nothing constructive to add.

@OP: looks like your question was answered by binky pretty well. I don't remember prices of the 470 right now, but generally speaking a good deal on a quality new sata II ssd is around $1/gb. The drives you're looking at are coming from resellers, so I'd look to spend $220-$240 shipped for that 256gb ssd. If it's more than that then just keep your eyes peeled for specials in the hotdeals forum, at slickdeals.net, etc.

 

[janas19]

Personal attacks are against the TOS. Please don't post in threads if you have nothing constructive to add.

@OP: looks like your question was answered by binky pretty well. I don't remember prices of the 470 right now, but generally speaking a good deal on a quality new sata II ssd is around $1/gb. The drives you're looking at are coming from resellers, so I'd look to spend $220-$240 shipped for that 256gb ssd. If it's more than that then just keep your eyes peeled for specials in the hotdeals forum, at slickdeals.net, etc.

I wasn't attacking him, I was attacking the thread.

 

[Motorheader]

They are very nice drives. Probably Dell models which means that the Samsung SSD Utility software won't work (not the worst thing in the world) and you won't be getting any updated firmware since Dell hasn't released any for the 470/PM810 drives since they were released over a year ago - they just work. Also there won't be any type of factory warranty since they were likely system pulls or new replacement drives.

What bryanw1995 said -> pricing has come way down per gb and anything under $250/$260 shipped would be fair. If you click on the sellers "see other items" on the right and then click "completed listings" on the left you will notice they have sold about a dozen of them recently. From recent feedback for the drives the buyers seem happy.