Black Friday Buy and Buy - Value Seagate Seagate 8T Large Hard Drive Purchase and Transfer
Since purchasing high-capacity, high-value HDDs from Meiya in 2015, we haven't bought any BNM drives for a long time. Every year, we carefully evaluate the options and tend to buy more domestic hard drives along with some external storage solutions. The annual capacity is usually sufficient to meet our needs.
The main hard drive purchased in 2015 was from Meiya, and the following years saw a shift towards buying more local brands. In 2016, we continued this trend, but by 2017, there was a noticeable drop in demand or availability, leading to a slowdown in purchases.
This time, the hard drive in question is the Seagate 8TB portable drive we bought in 2016. It's still in good condition and ready for use, so I'm planning to sell it. When choosing between an Expansion model and a HUB model, the key difference lies in the HUB's two USB 3.0 ports, which allow for connecting additional devices. However, the actual hard drive inside is the same.
The EXP Black version costs $142.49, while the HUB model is priced at $149.99. This year, prices have dropped by about $20–$30 compared to last year, and with UnionPay discounts of around $100–$150, the overall cost becomes even more attractive. Even though the hard drive itself has limitations, using different computers and iPads, plus multiple accounts, can help bypass restrictions. One account purchase was enough to secure the deal.
At the time, this hard drive was available for direct shipment from Central Asia. As a Prime member, you could get free shipping, and only pay 11.9% of the e-commerce tariff. However, since I couldn't take advantage of the $15 discount campaign, and for items around ¥1000, the tariff would be ¥119. If the transshipment cost is lower than that, it makes sense to go through a transit service.
For this particular hard drive, due to its high value and light weight, using a postal inspection company or a tax-transshipment service is ideal. Since it’s a big ticket item, looking into the Quartet (a popular cross-border platform) is the way to go.
E-commerce channels are straightforward, as they all charge 11.9% tariffs, and using Prime helps avoid shipping delays. In 2017, Quartet introduced tax-inclusive channels, which added more options. Based on previous purchases, the EXP weighs around 1.5kg and the HUB is about 1.6kg. The freight cost is approximately ¥104 (including tariffs) for EXP and ¥130 for HUB.
Postal shipping is also an option, but it's often more expensive than the tariff subsidies. There's also a chance of being charged 15% in tariffs, depending on the carrier.
Before Quartet offered better tariff subsidy coupons, the discount was around 60% or 70%. Although I had already used it once, this time the Black Square provided another 20% off on the tax package and postal vouchers. The four-party tax package (Quartet, Long Road, Long Water) is a long process, especially when shipping from the US to China.
The shipping address is similar to the foreign warehouse address after registering on Quartet. Even if you use different channels, each party has their own mark—like PESTS for tax packages, IPS for e-commerce shortcuts. But in reality, it doesn’t matter what address you fill in because it will eventually go to the registered ID, and then you choose the delivery channel.
For example, with the 8TB HUB, I received a random address from the four-party order. The PPS postal service was fast, and with a $15 discount, the final payment came out to $134.99.
I didn’t choose Prime this time because I had a lot of items to buy, and I was worried about possible shipping delays or customs issues. Instead, I staggered the orders and manually selected the delivery schedule.
The hard drive arrived at the Quartet warehouse on November 29th. I made an early forecast and paid the freight promptly, using 88 coupons. The weight remained 1.6kg, so the freight cost after discount was (52 + 26 + 26) * 0.88 = ¥114.40. If I had chosen the PRIME pre-intermediate tariff in Central Asia, plus the UnionPay $15 discount, it would have been almost equivalent to a ¥100 discount.
As for the transportation speed, the route went through Singapore first, then to China via Singapore Post. It took almost a month, which was slower than expected. In contrast, the Taipei Post option was much faster, arriving in just half a month.
In the end, the 8TB HUB reached me for about ¥995, including the shipping cost of ¥114.40. Selling the box could fetch between ¥100–150, making it a very cost-effective storage solution.
Many people worry about the safety of transporting HDDs, but there's no need to be concerned. These drives can withstand over 900Gs of impact when powered off and static, and they come with good internal packaging. I’ve had several Seagate drives, and none of them were damaged during transport.
The HUB model comes with a two-year limited warranty, but it's only valid in certain countries. Mainland China isn’t included, so any repairs would have to be sent back to the US.
Some of the HDDs I ordered this year are still in transit and should arrive soon.
In summary, the tax-included (tariff-subsidized) channel seems to work best with the postal service and some gamble on the tariff. If there are any tariffs, Quartet compensates based on the agreement, but so far, I haven’t encountered any taxes, so I haven’t experienced the compensation process. Still, this channel is great for high-value electronics like laptops, even if it’s not perfect.
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