A branded, well specced SD card is not really that expensive that I would risk - for example - my photos which are certainly much more valuable to me than a few $ saved. Even if it's in the 10s $ range.
I honestly just don't get it.
There is no rhyme or reason what works and what does not, what is fake and what is not. Apparently, we just had a 256GB no name, found on Alibaba SD card for $44 USD pass all the tests with a flying colors ( and go through about 100 full write/full read cycles ) while newest drop shipped from a "fulfillment" center 128Gb Samsung SD Card ( received via email directly to our Samsung contact ) end up being a 32Gb relabeled card.
[Edit: typos]
A better approach IMO is to test the card first using easily available tools and use backups. This is more work, but can save you a major aggravation. My 2c.
Thanks! I was really not aware that this is a problem and will likely test my cards in trhe future.
This is atrocious.
I basically buy all my camera gear from B&H. The prices are competitive, their shipping is prompt and reliable, and I don't have to think about counterfeits - I have a fair amount of trust that they will not devastate their entire professional-oriented brand by allowing fakes into their supply chain. Getting something fake from B&H would probably be more shocking to me that getting it from an Apple store! Amazon is a different story - you can hardly tell if it's the "real" sandisk (or whoever) you're buying from. Hundreds of listings from hundreds of unknown sellers for the same thing, all slightly different, maybe backed by amazon, maybe not? No thanks.
I'd rather have a reasonable amount of trust in the distribution chain and not have to run checks when the thing arrives.
It seems like the distribution channels are poisoned.