Amazon Basics 128GB Ultra Fast USB 3.1 Flash Drive $10.72

[trs96]

They've finally come out with their own USB flash drive. Not sure who makes these for them but the quality looks good. A reviewer says the case is metal but the Amazon listing doesn't state that it is.

You can easily put all of your macOS installers on this or just use it for backups. Comes in a larger 256GB size as well. Only costs $8.52 more than the 128GB drive. The first flash drive I can remember buying was 128 MB and it cost me more than this !

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6148YKN/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

 

[trs96]

I'm not certain, but I think this move by Amazon is to under cut in price all the fake/cheap plastic flash drives from sellers that scam their customers. They sell super cheap flash drives that don't actually have the stated capacity. Many claim to be 1 or 2 TB drives. Can you imagine how many of those must get returned to Amazon ?? Probably thousands per week.

So someone at Amazon must be noting this and said "There's so much demand for high capacity USB flash drives, why don't we sell a high quality 128/256 GB drive at a low price ?" Then they probably added "and we'll make all the profits rather than refunding our customers' their money."

Since the cost of flash memory has dropped so much this year, the bigger companies are all lowering prices now.

If you want slightly faster write speeds than Amazon's 128GB drive, you can buy this genuine HP 128GB model. It is plastic though if that matters in your buying decision. It looks as if PNY makes these for HP but it could be some other manufacturer.

 

[trs96]

Here's one of the better YT videos on the topic of fake flash drives sold online. He focuses on the larger 1-2TB scams but it does also happen with the lower capacity flash drives too.

Here's a flash drive they'll give you for free ! 256GB capacity. This is from Wish.com. You can make a Wish that you'll get 256GB of capacity but you'll just end up wasting that shipping fee.

 

[trs96]

It looks like what Amazon does when the buyer figures out it's fake, is let them keep the storage device rather than return it. What would they do with mountains of these returned drives ?

 

[derkonsamarie]

Great news! Amazon has launched its own USB flash drive, offering good quality and an affordable price. It comes in both 128GB and 256GB sizes, with the larger option being just $8.52 more. Make sure to check the product listing for confirmation on the metal case. For more information about Amazon and their products, check out this link:https://howly.com/apps/name-amazon/
Happy shopping!

 

[trs96]

It looks like the lowest average price (questionable capacity) 1 TB flash drives are selling for is about $19.99. So Amazon's strategy appears to be working. I wouldn't be surprised though if these "off brands" lower prices more to compete with the best sellers list on price.

Amazon.com : 1 tb flash drive usb 3.0

Here's a few trying to get a few extra dollars out of unsuspecting consumers.

 

[trs96]

Here's a YSeaWolf drive that has to be misleading customers. Impossible to sell any kind of SSD (1 TB) at this low a price unless incurring a huge loss. Possibly a SeaWolf in sheeps clothing. It's actual capacity is probably 16GB.