There's a guy in my area who's selling hard drives on Craigslist for really low prices. I think it's like $15 for a 300GB hard drive. It's not improbable but it's somewhat unusual. I'm wondering why he would ask that little. The ad says they are tested working, but not where they come from. What are the red flags to watch out for so I won't get burned when buying a used hard drive? Thanks.
Red flags when purchasing a hard drive...
- Thread starter janas19
- Start date
bryanW1995
Lifer
- May 22, 2007
- 11,144
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$15 is probably all it's worth. Even with the recent price spike, 20gb per $ isn't that good of a deal.
razel
Platinum Member
- May 14, 2002
- 2,337
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Yes skip it. Not worth the question marks.
However if you must, find out what brand it is, look online to see if the manufacturer offers any diagnosis software. If they do, tell them to run the full test and give you screen shot that it passed with no errors. Chances are they'll blow you off, but if they're at all responsible, they'd already have done it.
That'd be plenty of a litmus test to see if they're competent at all.
However if you must, find out what brand it is, look online to see if the manufacturer offers any diagnosis software. If they do, tell them to run the full test and give you screen shot that it passed with no errors. Chances are they'll blow you off, but if they're at all responsible, they'd already have done it.
That'd be plenty of a litmus test to see if they're competent at all.
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If you want to find out if a Craigslist person is shady or not, ask to setup the meet for exchange at a specific location.
Choose to meet him on foot, outside the doors of the closest police station.
If he has a problem with this, then avoid.
Choose to meet him on foot, outside the doors of the closest police station.
If he has a problem with this, then avoid.
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I'll jump in quick while the water's still good here with a +1 to all of the above.
I see older/smaller 5400rpm drives that are new or open box item's at Microcenter for the same price or even cheaper than that price all the time. Some PC shops will also sell used hardware and guarantee that they are good/working units with decent return policies, so depending on where you live it may be worth checking ino that as well.
I see older/smaller 5400rpm drives that are new or open box item's at Microcenter for the same price or even cheaper than that price all the time. Some PC shops will also sell used hardware and guarantee that they are good/working units with decent return policies, so depending on where you live it may be worth checking ino that as well.
That is not helpful at all guys.
Yeah this is great advice for meeting people in general. I suppose my question was more of a technical one, but you are correct.
I haven't had a life-changing experience on Craigslist, and hopefully being smart I never will. My most negative experience to date was when I was trying to buy a phone and I went to a public place to meet the guy. He told me 4:00 but he didn't come. I'm pretty patient so I waited for 15 minutes then called him. He said he was on the way. 15 more minutes and I was still waiting. I would've left but I wanted the phone. I contacted him again and he said hold on, he was coming. Finally I became exasperated and sent him a message WTF, why are you wasting my time?
He never responded. I had waited on him for almost an hour. I don't get people like that. Either he was an abject liar who couldn't tell the truth, or something else was up which I am completely ignorant of. Either way, that was a disappointing experience.
In my opinion HDDs are not something to take chances with. When you compare the "cost" of dealing with a failed drive and recovering from the loss of its contents to the relatively very minimal cost of a new drive, there is no justification for buying a used or refurbished drive.
Within the past year, against my better judgement, I purchased two very inexpensive WD refurbished HDDs from Newegg because they were not going to be used in a critical application. They only come with a six month warranty which makes a statement of its own. Sure enough, one of the two failed. Nothing catastrophic because of how it was used but still something that got my attention.
Within the past year, against my better judgement, I purchased two very inexpensive WD refurbished HDDs from Newegg because they were not going to be used in a critical application. They only come with a six month warranty which makes a statement of its own. Sure enough, one of the two failed. Nothing catastrophic because of how it was used but still something that got my attention.
Good point, very true!
Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing how the refurb drive failed? I'm trying to learn more about this exact issue. Would love to hear any input you could share
Are you looking on craigslist because you think the prices are attractive? In general, it's not worth the trouble unless the price floor on a new drive is too high for you (in which case, why not save up?)
I have personally sold working IDE drives (some 80-120GB caviars) for about $25 each in 2009, and presumably that was because new IDE drives are a ripoff, and odds are that if IDE was necessary, that it was an old system not worth spending new stuff on. So yes, it might be fine, but is it worth it in your case to satisfy a particular need?
I have personally sold working IDE drives (some 80-120GB caviars) for about $25 each in 2009, and presumably that was because new IDE drives are a ripoff, and odds are that if IDE was necessary, that it was an old system not worth spending new stuff on. So yes, it might be fine, but is it worth it in your case to satisfy a particular need?
The machine knew the drive was connected but the drive would not spool up. Seemed to me the electronics were OK but it did not appear as if the disk was spinning.
Hope this helps.
Considering I bought a 500GB drive for about $50 2 years ago (assuming this flood-induced price hike is temporary), $15 for a used 300GB seems about right.
That said, I wouldn't buy a used HD at all. The potential for issues grows the longer they have been powered on. My 5-year-old Samsung drive is still working fine in my HTPC but SMART in Ubuntu has flagged the drive condition as 'yellow'. It may be working now but it also potentially will fail sooner than new drives.
That said, I wouldn't buy a used HD at all. The potential for issues grows the longer they have been powered on. My 5-year-old Samsung drive is still working fine in my HTPC but SMART in Ubuntu has flagged the drive condition as 'yellow'. It may be working now but it also potentially will fail sooner than new drives.
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