A man flew from the UK to New York just to buy hard drives, and the math behind his decision actually makes perfect sense

A Reddit user from the UK booked a flight to New York and filled his luggage with hard drives because it was cheaper than buying them at home. The math actually worked out in his favour, making the cross-Atlantic trip a calculated decision rather than an impulsive one.

Hard drive prices have been climbing sharply in 2026, with increases of 40% to 50% in just a few months. Major manufacturers like Western Digital and Seagate have been selling most of their supply to large tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft, leaving fewer drives available for regular consumers. SSD prices have also gone up, pushing even more demand onto traditional hard drives.

According to Dexerto, the UK buyer had been “watching the prices of 28TB drives go literally ridiculous in the UK.” With prices “only going up,” he planned a “short trip to New York just after new year to stock up on some 28TBs,” and ended up buying ten of them across two retailers.

The trip came with real logistical hurdles that tested his patience

Stock for high-capacity drives kept going in and out at major retailers like Best Buy and B&H, and both stores capped purchases at five drives each. He also ran into trouble at Best Buy when his UK cards were rejected unless he used a Delaware billing address. 

New York has been making headlines for all kinds of unexpected reasons lately, including a food reviewer who accidentally filmed something wild on a city street. He eventually used an American Express card and absorbed the foreign exchange fee to complete the purchase.

Once he had the drives, he wanted to make sure they were genuine. He said “the paranoia of being scammed” kicked in, so he recorded every part of picking up the drives, including their serial numbers. He also filmed “the whole opening every drive and testing in the hotel.” He ran diagnostic tools like Seatools and Crystal and performed file copies to confirm they were “in fact 28TB drives and not rocks or a swapped out 500GB drive.”

The total cost of the drives, even after factoring in the flight and trip expenses, still came out cheaper than buying the same drives in the UK. This shows just how steep the price difference between the two markets has become.

This situation reflects a broader problem for consumers as hardware prices continue to rise and supply gets locked up by large corporations. New York itself is also dealing with its own pressures, as seen in NYC Mayor Mamdani’s recent stance on ICE surges in major cities. For regular buyers who need high-capacity storage, the options are getting more limited and more expensive, and some are clearly willing to go to great lengths to find a better deal.