We have touched on this in other on-line shopping forums.
Every [I think] HDD that I have bought in India has been simply packed, sometimes only in an anti-static bag. What this means to me is the the suppliers buy OEM bulk supplies, thus bringing their wholesale prices down, probably by a considerable amount.
Any problem?
Could be, if one needs to claim warranty.
It is also a pain in the neck if one does not have a tin of miscellaneous PC screws and bits and pieces, as no fixing harware, not even screws, is included.
This applies
both to HDDs I have bought online
and to those I have bought in shops.
How to avoid? Look for, or demand, something in a consumer-sales box.
On the other hand, I have not had a problem with my disks, and some might consider the
absence of the extra packaging to be an overall advantage
