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Luke James Social Links Navigation Contributor Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
TechieTwo Criminals never miss an opportunity to exploit during a crisis. 🙁 Reply
Sam Hobbs Computer memory prices dropped significantly at the end of 1995 due to massive new South Korean fabrication plants coming online. There was a theft of memory from an Orange County, California manufacturer at about that time. I suspect it was an inside job and the company wanted to get the insurance payout of their large inventory at the value of the memory at the time of theft. Reply
valthuer RAM theft in 2025… and here I thought only GPUs had street cred! :ROFLMAO: At this point, I’m half-expecting to see a "RAM insurance" plan pop up next to my extended warranty. Small, valuable, and easy to snatch — sounds like the perfect storm for modern-day package bandits. If your PC build vanishes before you even hit POST, remember: film the unboxing, snap the tape, and maybe invest in a doorbell camera… or a moat. Reply
bit_user valthuer said: remember: film the unboxing, snap the tape, and maybe invest in a doorbell camera… or a moat. I once had an Amazon seller ship me half the number of items I ordered. After I opened it, I subsequently later saw their instructions to film the opening of your package (I think it was in their seller profile, or something?). But, I've never done that. I submitted a claim to Amazon anyway, and they took care of it for me. So, even if you don't film the opening, it's still worth trying to file a claim. I guess, if you're worried, filming it might provide some benefit. However, I'm not really sure how you can prove that you didn't tamper with the package before you ever started filming it. It seems to me that someone intent on committing fraud can find ways to carefully sneak into the package (e.g. from the bottom) that wouldn't show up in the "opening video". Reply
valthuer bit_user said: I once had an Amazon seller ship me half the number of items I ordered. After I opened it, I subsequently later saw their instructions to film the opening of your package (I think it was in their seller profile, or something?). But, I've never done that. I submitted a claim to Amazon anyway, and they took care of it for me. So, even if you don't film the opening, it's still worth trying to file a claim. I guess, if you're worried, filming it might provide some benefit. However, I'm not really sure how you can prove that you didn't tamper with the package before you ever started filming it. It seems to me that someone intent on committing fraud can find ways to carefully sneak into the package (e.g. from the bottom) that wouldn't show up in the "opening video". Haha, yeah, Amazon does make things easier when they actually step in, but the horror stories make you paranoid anyway 😅. I guess filming is more like an insurance policy for your nerves than a foolproof solution — kind of like carrying a fire extinguisher: hopefully, you never need it, but you’ll sleep better knowing it’s there. And yeah… there’s always a sneaky way for a thief to get creative. Modern PC building apparently comes with an unintended side quest: Defeat the Package Bandits . Reply
bit_user valthuer said: Haha, yeah, Amazon does make things easier when they actually step in, but the horror stories make you paranoid anyway 😅. Yeah, I've read those and was worried they wouldn't take care of me, but they did. My point was that people should at least try – even if the seller does something like in my case, where they explicitly said to film it (which I only noticed after-the-fact, as I was trying to submit a claim). valthuer said: Modern PC building apparently comes with an unintended side quest: Defeat the Package Bandits. I do worry about package bandits a lot, but I'm sure I've lost more packages to strong wind than bandits. I did have one paper envelope-style amazon package show up improperly sealed and missing items. However, the label was misplaced and interfering with the package closure and I suspect the missing items fell out during transit. They've since revised their envelope packaging. Reply
valthuer bit_user said: I do worry about package bandits a lot, but I'm sure I've lost more packages to strong wind than bandits. I did have one paper envelope-style amazon package show up improperly sealed and missing items. However, the label was misplaced and interfering with the package closure and I suspect the missing items fell out during transit. They've since revised their envelope packaging. Yeah, sometimes it really is just bad luck or packaging rather than actual bandits. It’s wild how a tiny label or weak adhesive can turn a whole delivery into a scavenger hunt. At least Amazon fixing their envelope design means fewer ‘mystery losses’ going forward. Honestly, between wind, sorting machines, and the occasional human gremlin, it's a miracle anything survives the journey at all 😅. Reply
bit_user valthuer said: between wind, sorting machines, and the occasional human gremlin, it's a miracle anything survives the journey at all 😅. I've been very impressed with their logistics, over all. When I account for how much more I've bought from them, I've had remarkably few issues. Most of them seem to involve delivery, including a few misdelivered packages (both mine and others'). Reply
Mindstab Thrull Stories like this are why I prefer to shop at a physical store and go pick the item up myself. If you have the option, do the research and then swing by your local tech outlet (for me, it's Canada Computers) and pick it up then and there. You know when you'll get the part, you know you'll get what you asked for, and you might even get them to test it for you before you leave the store. Plus with how I've seen some companies deliver, it's often drop the item at the door, maybe take a picture, send a message saying it's been delivered, and drive away. So even if it's been delivered, there's no guarantee the customer has received it. I'm not talking that chance, especially when many parts are $100+ these days. Mindstab Thrull PS, if you're curious: My user name comes from Magic: the Gathering, which came out in 1993 when I was in university. Aka yes I'm getting old 😉 Reply
Shiznizzle In the UK we are protected by the Distance Shopping regulations which state a that customer is not responsible for goods lost in transit. Shoppers have a contract with the seller and not the post office, so any attempt to shift blame wont work. Go straight back to the retailer. It helps to have tracked shipping with a signature but in the post covid era they just drop your stuff at the door and call it delivered. That alone is not a delivery and can be challenged if item is missing. I would ask them to produce the signature and possibly a pic of the actual door where item was dropped. Any delivery guy wanting to protect himself would take a pic of the door. Also the signature will be faked. Some delivery guys take a picture of you receiving the item even. They are protecting themselves. A few weeks ago i bought 149 pounds worth of DDR5 and chose standard royal mail shipping at 3.99. Not tracked it turns out. The retailers did not list items as being shipped for nearly a week. So i started checking on the distance selling regulations since i was sure that this was taken at that point. I knew that i was covered according to what i read. It showed up 9 days after purchase even though i had semi fast shipping. My guess is that overclockers in the UK had to get the item from a separate warehouse first and then ship it once they took delivery of it. Dont take any crap from retailers. Your contract is not with the post office. Get the "best" tracked shipping as well to protect yourself further. Yes it sucks paying 4.99 or 5.99 pounds for shipping but if you are forking out for a 400 pound GPU from a non amazon retailer then you better take steps to protect yourself as well. They could claim you took it and want a second one. Then courts have to get involved. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ddr5/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ddr5/package-theft-leaves-pc-builder-without-ddr5#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.