Newegg ships without packaging?

[NovemberWhiskey]

I just bought a new Seagate Momentus XT hybrid 500gb 7200 HDD, and it came only in a plastic anti-static sleeve (sealed) and wrapped in bubble wrap.

I was wondering if it is supposed to come in a Seagate box with documentation/papers, and why this drive did not come with anything besides the wrapping.

What about warranties, etc.?

 

[DesmoPilot]

It's called OEM and it's fine.

EDIT: looking at newegg it even says in the description for the Momentus XT " - Bare Drive"

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

Thanks. I thought the "bare" part referred it it coming without any mounting ware.

 

[panzer06]

Thanks. I thought the "bare" part referred it it coming without any mounting ware.

It means it comes with "nothing" but the drive you ordered. Some stores like Fry's and Microcenter sell these "bare"/OEM drives. Same as the retail drive just a bit cheaper.

Cheers,

 

[pika2000]

I was wondering if it is supposed to come in a Seagate box with documentation/papers, and why this drive did not come with anything besides the wrapping.

Yes. Even OEM drives are supposed to come in their own boxes (sans any documentations) where the hard-drive is secured or padded generously, albeit it's a generic brown box, not a fancy retail box. If you do an RMA to the hard-drive manufactures like Seagate and ask for their box, it will be a super-padded box where you can only put a single drive in it. Shipping bare drives just wrapped in bubble wrap is ridiculous, and it's just a way for newegg to save money. Try doing that when doing an exchange to Segate, and they will deny it and/or say it's damaged due to shipping due to inappropriate packaging. Unfortunately, other retailers like Amazon is doing the same thing. This is the reason I never shop at Newegg again. I bought a few 1TB drives, and they shipped them all stacked together naked with only 1 layer of bubblewrap (the bubbles were popped on one side, providing zero protection), and one of the drives was dead, and Newegg wanted me to pay for return and replacement shipping, even though it's their fault. Ridiculous.

If you want to buy hard-drives, check Amazon's prices for the retail version of the drive. A lot of times, they are the same price or only a couple dollars more than the OEM version. If not, at least Amazon won't charge you for return shipping if it's their fault.

 

[panzer06]

Yes. Even OEM drives are supposed to come in their own boxes (sans any documentations) where the hard-drive is secured or padded generously, albeit it's a generic brown box, not a fancy retail box. If you do an RMA to the hard-drive manufactures like Seagate and ask for their box, it will be a super-padded box where you can only put a single drive in it. Shipping bare drives just wrapped in bubble wrap is ridiculous, and it's just a way for newegg to save money. Try doing that when doing an exchange to Segate, and they will deny it and/or say it's damaged due to shipping due to inappropriate packaging. Unfortunately, other retailers like Amazon is doing the same thing. This is the reason I never shop at Newegg again. I bought a few 1TB drives, and they shipped them all stacked together naked with only 1 layer of bubblewrap (the bubbles were popped on one side, providing zero protection), and one of the drives was dead, and Newegg wanted me to pay for return and replacement shipping, even though it's their fault. Ridiculous.

If you want to buy hard-drives, check Amazon's prices for the retail version of the drive. A lot of times, they are the same price or only a couple dollars more than the OEM version. If not, at least Amazon won't charge you for return shipping if it's their fault.

I haven't seen a brown/white box OEM drive in over 5 years. Even the brick and mortar stores just hand you the drive in a static bag or a clear plastic holder.

As long as the shipper puts some bubble wrap or uses that stretchy hold it in place packaging I see no reason to add more packaging that will just be discarded by most people.

Cheers,

 

[DesmoPilot]

I haven't seen a brown/white box OEM drive in over 5 years. Even the brick and mortar stores just hand you the drive in a static bag or a clear plastic holder.

As long as the shipper puts some bubble wrap or uses that stretchy hold it in place packaging I see no reason to add more packaging that will just be discarded by most people.

Cheers,

Same here; never seen a brown/white box OEM.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

My Intel X-25M came in an Intel Box.

 

[Matthew9559]

I remember the first time I got something OEM. It was very apparent when OEM meant when I got the HDD.

 

[pika2000]

As long as the shipper puts some bubble wrap or uses that stretchy hold it in place packaging I see no reason to add more packaging that will just be discarded by most people.

Try doing that when doing returns/exchanges with the hard-drive manufactures. If retailers are allowed to ship drives naked with just a layer of defective bubble wrap (what newegg did on my order), then hard-drive manufactures shall accept returns/exchanges from customers with the same kind of packaging, and shall not give the excuse of "inappropriate packaging" or "damage on transit" when fulfilling warranties. The packaging provided by the hard-drive manufactures themselves is a super padded box. They're not taking any chances, so why should we?

 

[Reapur]

My Hitachi 7K500 Travelstar came in a full retail box from Newegg.

 

[pika2000]

My Hitachi 7K500 Travelstar came in a full retail box from Newegg.

If you order the retail version, obviously you'll be getting a retail box. Newegg used to ship hard-drives properly, but I guess they rather save themselves some shipping cost.

 

[Reapur]

If you order the retail version, obviously you'll be getting a retail box. Newegg used to ship hard-drives properly, but I guess they rather save themselves some shipping cost.

There wasn't even an option, besides I wouldn't trust OEM drives shipped via courier. Unless its SSD I dont want my drive wrapped in only bubble wrap to protect it. Even if there was an option between OEM and Retail and there was a price difference id pick retail for the peace of mind.

 

[pika2000]

There wasn't even an option, besides I wouldn't trust OEM drives shipped via courier. Unless its SSD I dont want my drive wrapped in only bubble wrap to protect it. Even if there was an option between OEM and Retail and there was a price difference id pick retail for the peace of mind.

Agreed. Sometimes, the price is even the same between retail and OEM version, or only a couple dollars more. I used to buy OEM drives all the time, but after the newegg incident (where all the savings were negated due to newegg charging me for return and replacement shipping), I rather buy a retail version knowing that I have better warranty and proper packaging. Oh, and I shop at Amazon now, where return shipping is automatically free if it's their fault.

 

[Nermal]

I haven't seen a brown/white box OEM drive in over 5 years.

They definitely still exist; I got one just a few months ago.

 

[Darth.Titan]

If you order the retail version, obviously you'll be getting a retail box. Newegg used to ship hard-drives properly, but I guess they rather save themselves some shipping cost.

NewEgg has always shipped bare OEM drives the way the OP describes, and I've been buying them for almost ten years. I've never received a damaged drive.

The amount of bubble wrap and additional packing they use is just as secure as the OEM box if not more so.

 

[pika2000]

NewEgg has always shipped bare OEM drives the way the OP describes, and I've been buying them for almost ten years. I've never received a damaged drive.

The amount of bubble wrap and additional packing they use is just as secure as the OEM box if not more so.

No. I used to shop from Newegg when they were selling PC components only (ah how I missed the days of the super fast free fedex shipping), and they used to ship OEM drives properly, each in its own individual super-padded/secured box, not naked and stacked with each other. During those times when the drives were properly packaged, I never receive a damaged drive either.. Of course the real kicker was that Newegg wanted me to pay for return and replacement shipping, despite it's their fault for using inappropriate packaging (they only used 1 layer of bubble wrap, and one side all the bubbles were popped, resulting in zero protection).

The bubble wrap is not secure at all, as the bubbles can pop and the drive(s) themselves are freely bouncing around inside the box. Look at retail packaging, or even the box used by the manufactures themselves for returns/exchanges, the drive is secured and doesn't move freely. Look at any packaging guidelines from Seagate, Hitachi, WD, etc, and they all show a secured super-padded packaging for hard-drives, not bubble wrap.

This is the exact quote from Seagate:

Secure each unit in 2 inch-thick foam rubber in a corrugated box. Do not use popcorn, peanuts, bubble wrap or newspaper. If packaging more than one drive, use a separate container for each drive.

It's obvious that retailers are not even following the recommendation from the hard-drive manufactures for shipping hard-drives.