Europeans now buy hard drives in the United States, which significantly saves money

How one Reddit user saved over $2,000 on a 28‑TB HDD

A recent post from a UK resident, u/cgtechuk, appeared in the Reddit community where he described his “world‑wide” hunt for hard drives. According to him, prices for 28‑TB drives were constantly rising in the country, so at the beginning of January he decided to travel to the United States and buy them there – with the advertised discounts they turned out to be much cheaper.

Trip plan
1. Choosing a model

The user tracked prices for the Seagate IronWolf 28‑TB and noticed that the cost was increasing in the UK.

2. Buying in the US

On Best Buy and B&H Photo each store limits purchases to five drives. Therefore, the Redditor ordered five HDDs from both sites to obtain ten units.

3. Logistics

After confirming the order he booked a flight to New York and a hotel room. The flight from London costs about $700, and accommodation plus additional expenses add another few hundred dollars.

Price comparison
Platform Price per HDD (USD) USA (Best Buy/B&H) 609.99 UK (Amazon) 980.46
Price difference – $370 per drive. Buying ten drives would save at least $3,700.

Taking into account the cost of travel and lodging, the user achieved a net savings of about $2,000, as he paid for the trip with bonus points and did not spend extra money on accommodation.

Precautions
To avoid fraud, the Redditor recorded a video of the drive pickup process and tested their functionality in the hotel. This confirms the reliability of the transaction.

HDD market trends
Although artificial intelligence is boosting demand for memory chips, hard drives are also experiencing price increases – over the last quarter prices rose by 46%. Western Digital reported that its manufacturing capacity is already fully booked for the current year. This makes buying HDDs in the US especially attractive for those looking to save money.