Amazon knows how to ship harrdrives

SeegsElite

[H]ard|Gawd
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Oct 6, 2007
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1,105
I bought this 1TB 7mm Slim 2.5" harddrive to replace the 500GB one in my Dell XPS 14 from Amazon. When I saw how large the box was I thought they shipped the wrong item to me. But as I opened it up I saw they went to a lot of trouble to make sure this was well protected and would not move/bounce around during shipment:

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Held down TIGHT by wrapping film:
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Double layered bubble wrap around the OEM anti-static bag:
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The Final Product:
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I was extremely impressed with Amazon in how they shipped this to me. I've had not-so-great experiences with Newegg. Newegg should really follow Amazon's lead here to ensure we get these delicate items to our door safe.
 
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Maybe they can setup a workshop for Newegg's shipping department employees :D
 
I prefer Newegg's shipping method for SSDs and HDDs. What you posted is just a waste with no benefits.
 
When I bought a pair of ES.3 drives each one came in it's own box with plastic bookends like Seagate uses plus they were wrapped in bubble wrap.

That box and the air pillows does look like overkill.
 
Dead trees.....EVERYWHERE!

Thousands of dead fishies in the ocean choking on plastic.

In all seriousness, awesome job Amazon.
 
My german shepard mix dog loves getting packages like this, as when I open them he will help me by pulling out all the air pillows and popping them with his mouth.

However, when I get packages like this I still ponder the fact that the drive is still on the bottom. If the carrier tosses the package 6 feet up onto the top of my front porch steps, there's still an impact shock to the bottom of the package (never mind the rare chance of a sharp object coming through the bottom at some point in shipment).

Ideally, I'd rather see the drive immobilized for shipment, while centered in the cushioning, which would preferably be something like anti-static foam to avoid impact from any direction.

Realistically, though, the calculation these retailers are probably making weighs the cost of the improved packaging against the cost benefit from the expected decrease of returns. If, for example, it costs $0.10 more to package it better, in a pool of 1000 $70 hard drives, that's $100 more cost to them. If out of those 1000 hard drives the normal return rate (for any reason) is, say, 10 hard drives (1%) and the better packaging only prevents 1 extra hard drive from not being returned they are still at a loss when improving the shipping methodology. If the return rates were higher and the packaging would prevent more returns, then there is a point where the added expense would be worth it, but that also means there's a point where it's not. You can make the equation more complicated in the customer's favor by trying to factor things like lost business due to reputational damage, etc., but ultimately somewhere there is a crossover point where one customer on the margin is going to be happy and the next one is not. Otherwise, if you're spending so much money to make all customers happy in a commodity business like selling hard drives, you'll probably lose to your competitors in the long run.

So in the end I do appreciate better packaging as over time it probably saves me some hassle, but so long as the shipper has a good return policy for defects (like Amazon does), I'm probably not going to worry about it too much... though I do like bringing some enjoyment to my dog.
 
Almost as nicely padded and huge as the box I got for my large mouse pad. It was almost 4'x2' with wrap, and paper... for a foam mousepad. L O L. Then others throw in heavy case of water with crushable food... same mouse pad in another box less than 1/2 the size. LOL
 
I prefer Newegg's shipping method for SSDs and HDDs. What you posted is just a waste with no benefits.

^^ This. Newegg knocks it out of the park with the packing they use now. Keeps 2.5"/3.5" drives very snug and protected.
 
Newegg uses a "pillowcase" style wrap that the 3.5" hard drives slide into, and then usually encloses it in a form fitted box. It's the best packaging for hard drives I've seen.
 
So much waste. You don't need a giant cat condo to ship a drive. I've gotten RMA drives back in packages hardly larger than a thick paperback and it was all good.
 
Haha, it's hilarious to me that people say this is overkill and make that out to be something bad. While it may be overkill, wouldn't you rather have this than something that is just "adequate" or lacking?
 
Haha, it's hilarious to me that people say this is overkill and make that out to be something bad. While it may be overkill, wouldn't you rather have this than something that is just "adequate" or lacking?

It is overkill. The hard drive has a lot of room to bounce around in all those large bubles. It is shitty packaging. Newegg has it perfect now. Specially fitted bubble wrapping in a fitted box, no room to bounce around in the box.
 
They have done this to me, but it sucks cause i pay duty based on size or weight, which ever is more....
 
My german shepard mix dog loves getting packages like this, as when I open them he will help me by pulling out all the air pillows and popping them with his mouth.

However, when I get packages like this I still ponder the fact that the drive is still on the bottom. If the carrier tosses the package 6 feet up onto the top of my front porch steps, there's still an impact shock to the bottom of the package (never mind the rare chance of a sharp object coming through the bottom at some point in shipment).

Ideally, I'd rather see the drive immobilized for shipment, while centered in the cushioning, which would preferably be something like anti-static foam to avoid impact from any direction.

Realistically, though, the calculation these retailers are probably making weighs the cost of the improved packaging against the cost benefit from the expected decrease of returns. If, for example, it costs $0.10 more to package it better, in a pool of 1000 $70 hard drives, that's $100 more cost to them. If out of those 1000 hard drives the normal return rate (for any reason) is, say, 10 hard drives (1%) and the better packaging only prevents 1 extra hard drive from not being returned they are still at a loss when improving the shipping methodology. If the return rates were higher and the packaging would prevent more returns, then there is a point where the added expense would be worth it, but that also means there's a point where it's not. You can make the equation more complicated in the customer's favor by trying to factor things like lost business due to reputational damage, etc., but ultimately somewhere there is a crossover point where one customer on the margin is going to be happy and the next one is not. Otherwise, if you're spending so much money to make all customers happy in a commodity business like selling hard drives, you'll probably lose to your competitors in the long run.

So in the end I do appreciate better packaging as over time it probably saves me some hassle, but so long as the shipper has a good return policy for defects (like Amazon does), I'm probably not going to worry about it too much... though I do like bringing some enjoyment to my dog.

Still, despite Amazon's return policy on returns, it's STILL a hassle doing the returns - and it's worse when it's due to damage caused by the shipper. If care in packaging can reduce - or eliminate - damages caused by shippers, why WOULDN'T you want the seller/packager/fulfiller to do so? Having had goods arrived damaged in shipment, I decidedly prefer overkill as opposed to underkill when it comes to content-coddling; there, in my experience (and Mom's experience as well) Amazon/AFS is second to nobody.
 
I just got two 4TB WD Blacks from newegg and they were packaged very well. I think you would be fine ordering from either company now.
 
Once I bought a lower control arm for my Wife's car from Amazon. The box probably did not need to be any bigger than your forearm. The box arrived, it was an outer shipping box for a huge ass auto radiator. I had no less than 70' of those air bubble pocket things in the box.

I like the big boxes, I re-use them, but WTF am I going to do with that many air pockets? Oh yeah, "here kid, pop these" :p
 
I recently received a motherboard from a person and it was shipped in an anti static bag inside if a box. With a piece of paper as padding. I wish that person would of taken notes from Amazon. I have never had anything arrive damaged from then.
 
True. If either Amazon (or their fulfillment service - Amazon Fulfillment Services - which some sellers use) packs an order, no matter HOW it ships (even UPS or USPS), it won't arrive damaged or DOA - can Newegg say that? Overkill on packing is ALWAYS better than underkill - ask ANYONE that has had a package damaged in shipping. Mom is a Prime member - but she made the mistake ONCE of ordering something that was NOT shipped either by Amazon or fulfilled via AFS - and it arrived damaged in shipment. She promptly swore "Never again!", and now insists on either purchasing direct from Amazon or fulfillment via AFS.

And I don't blame her one solitary bit.

Strange necro.
 
Amazon has been using that new shipping method for most things lately. Although for hard drives I don't like how they let the drive sit on the bottom of the box. It needs padding under it. Although the extra piece of propped up cardboard under it should suffice just fine as long as it's propped a bit with some air under it, and not just flat against the bottom of the box.

Newegg has been using fantastic packing for their drives for quite a while now. They have these custom bubble sleeves that are very nice. Anyone who had bad experiences in past, well that was a long time ago.
 
I prefer Newegg's shipping method for SSDs and HDDs. What you posted is just a waste with no benefits.

I got an SSD from newegg shipped in a padded envelope.

the last few drives I ordered from Amazon came in brown WD boxes inside a large Amazon box with some air bags like in the OP's pic. Box wasn't as big as the OPs' though.
 
Uhm, amazon makes mistakes.

I ordered multiple 4TB RE drives, 3 came in their packages 1 was removed and in the box bare drive alone. It arrived on the 'edge' of the box, no padding to hold it place, just a couple bubles to keep the other boxes from moving too much, this drive was much thinner than boxes so it moved freely around up and down the bubbles banging into everything as it went from amazon to my house.

I returned it ;)
 
Uhm, amazon makes mistakes.

I ordered multiple 4TB RE drives, 3 came in their packages 1 was removed and in the box bare drive alone. It arrived on the 'edge' of the box, no padding to hold it place, just a couple bubles to keep the other boxes from moving too much, this drive was much thinner than boxes so it moved freely around up and down the bubbles banging into everything as it went from amazon to my house.

I returned it ;)

Was the product, in fact, shipped/sold by Amazon?

Amazon has three sorts of storefronts - those run by Amazon itself, those run by third parties (with Amazon handling fulfillment via their dedicated arm for just that - Amazon Fulfillment Services) and storefronts where the seller handles everything. The two cases where there has been damage-in-shipment were both the last case (seller handled everything). That is also why I refuse to buy from (or even look) at any third-party seller or storefront that does NOT use AFS - as good as Amazon's return policy is, doing returns is STILL a pain in the rear.
 
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