Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On 13/10/2026 03:33, Maria Sophia wrote:

Would you keep them?
Or return 'em?

I would contact them to find out what they want to do. They could either collect it at their own expense and send you the correct products, or
simply tell you to keep it. Collecting it and sending you a replacement
would cost them a lot, so they will probably tell you to keep it.

This has happened to me many times with Amazon. They simply told me to
keep the products, even if they were faulty, and said they would send replacements. What you do with faulty goods is up to you, but they don't
want them back.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On Mon, 10/12/2026 10:33 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JzkkxBSq/memorycard01.jpg>

TOPESEL 256GB microSDXC Memory Card 2 Pack Micro SDXC TF Card with Adapter High-Speed Memory Card
<https://www.walmart.com/ip/TOPESEL-256GB-Micro-SD-Card-2-Pack-Micro-SDXC-TF-Card-with-Adapter-High-Speed-Memory-Card/15848911009>

My wife needs one for her PC and another one for her phone.
Both only have a puny 128MB card in them at the moment.

So I ordered two 256GB sd cards with a holder from Walmart online.
<https://i.postimg.cc/PJ1Rjq7D/walmart-listing.jpg>

What I got was two no-name cards labeled as 1TB sdcards instead.
$39.99 plus $3.90 tax = $43.89

Would you keep them?
Or return 'em?

If you do a capacity check, the capacity is unlikely the same
as what is claimed on the label.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1h86dbz/i_bought_4_1tb_microsd_cards_from_walmart_last/

It's not a "gift" when someone gives you (cheaper) fakes
in place of what you thought you were paying for. A 128GB or a 256GB
was more likely to be a legit item (at least, capacity wise, no
telling how "good" the flash is).

Physically examine them and see if the device offers any hints
as to what it really is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

"High capacity" items at "low low" prices, scare me.
Fraud is a continuously operating business model
on bazaar sales sites like Walmart or Amazon. They just
change the business name, and carry on when caught.

A typical fraud involves (at least) a factor of 8 error
in size. When you thought you got a 1TB item, it's a 128GB item
and a bit of registry bashing with a programmer. A capacity
check with a utility that checks whether the storage actually
works, should tell you how much fraud is involved.

I usually try to stay away from whatever the "top" capacity is.

When a few giant items were announced by reliable brand names,
they didn't actually ship the item due to the torrent of abuse
that would arrive in the form of fakes. I don't really think
they couldn't get the silicon die to make them, but perhaps
they could see the writing on the wall as to what
reputational damage awaited them. When the 16TB drives came out
(when QLC 8TB were the largest at the time), that was some sort
of unexplained technical issue, so that one wasn't a marketing
decision. All they needed to make those, was a controller rated
for 16TB, as the chips already were big enough to allow one to be
built.

If it reads out at 95MB/sec (or even lower), that could be
an inheritance caused by the "generation" of device it really is.
Who in their right mind would make a 1TB device that reads out
at 10MB/sec for example ? High capacity devices, if they really
had that capacity, need somewhat of a fast bus connection to make
them worthwhile for camcorders or digital camera backs.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On 10/13/2026 4:33 AM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JzkkxBSq/memorycard01.jpg>

Seems to be a fake:

2000 MP3 songs 3.5 min: 8 GByte
1600 5 MP images: 5 GByte
12h 384 kbps video 2 GByte
storage 1 GByte

So it seems to be a 16 GByte card.

Use:

https://www.heise.de/download/product/h2testw-50539 https://www.heise.de/download/product/h2benchw-3787

to test the card.

I would not buy a noname card, to much fakes.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On 2026-10-13, Andy Burns wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JzkkxBSq/memorycard01.jpg>

Not much to do with Walmart, sold/shipped by

longgangqubantianjiedaowuheshequguangyayuanerqugongyequ
shenzhenshi, GD 518129, CN

Would you keep them? Or return 'em?

Unless it was a mistake and not an intentional swap, I would yell at
them for not asking me first. And perhaps file a proper complaint.

Have you checked the true capacity?

It's always possible they're just bad at doing packaging and
documentation, but even then somebody must realize that this is not
ideal and will hurt any hint of reputation or sign of quality.

OTOH maybe it's like phishing, where text is badly written on purpose.

(And, much like phishing, it can end up looking too much like real
stuff, because spelling and grammar errors and pixelated logos are a
staple at some legit places...)

<https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/b739e5c1-384d-411f-b9f5-477affb581dd.13bed5adf66b9aef12c6444ed9093f8c.jpeg>

Note how the labels don't even match, Video has what seems to be a
description of photos, Photos talks about the video frame pixel area and minutes.

Also, if I'm doing math correctly (allow caffeine to kick in...) 87664
pictures of 3.5 MiB file size translate into ~300GiB. But maybe that's
like the postimg image linked in the quoted text, being meant to be
added to the others, and not XOR.

(What is "4-Proof"?)

This one almost looks like the æSD card with branding was added on top
of a blurry image, instead of it being a photo of the product in
packaging:

<https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/afc0751f-e26f-4c52-8f57-16c54a4f745c.88ebe560540e7132342477e39ff24572.jpeg>

Oh, I guess this one answers the 4-Proof. And maybe they mean the card
isn't temperature-proof :-P

(These two images from [1] - same brand, different capacity.)

[1] <https://www.walmart.com/ip/BERGUF-128GB-High-Speed-Flash-Memory-Card-with-SD-Adapter-Compatible-for-Smartphones-Tablets-Cameras-and-More/3492915950>

--
Nuno Silva

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On 10/12/2026 10:33 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JzkkxBSq/memorycard01.jpg>

TOPESEL 256GB microSDXC Memory Card 2 Pack Micro SDXC TF Card with Adapter High-Speed Memory Card
<https://www.walmart.com/ip/TOPESEL-256GB-Micro-SD-Card-2-Pack-Micro-SDXC-TF-Card-with-Adapter-High-Speed-Memory-Card/15848911009>

My wife needs one for her PC and another one for her phone.
Both only have a puny 128MB card in them at the moment.

So I ordered two 256GB sd cards with a holder from Walmart online.
<https://i.postimg.cc/PJ1Rjq7D/walmart-listing.jpg>

What I got was two no-name cards labeled as 1TB sdcards instead.
$39.99 plus $3.90 tax = $43.89

Would you keep them?
Or return 'em?

TOPESEL is a company in China that sells world wide. Your cards were manuafactured in China. It is posible that since TOPESEL sells world
wide and the cards are small they do not put thier name on all of their products for their export market because of spacial considerations

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On Tue, 10/13/2026 6:01 AM, Nuno Silva wrote:

On 2026-10-13, Andy Burns wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JzkkxBSq/memorycard01.jpg>

Not much to do with Walmart, sold/shipped by

longgangqubantianjiedaowuheshequguangyayuanerqugongyequ
shenzhenshi, GD 518129, CN

Would you keep them? Or return 'em?

Unless it was a mistake and not an intentional swap, I would yell at
them for not asking me first. And perhaps file a proper complaint.

Have you checked the true capacity?

It's always possible they're just bad at doing packaging and
documentation, but even then somebody must realize that this is not
ideal and will hurt any hint of reputation or sign of quality.

OTOH maybe it's like phishing, where text is badly written on purpose.

(And, much like phishing, it can end up looking too much like real
stuff, because spelling and grammar errors and pixelated logos are a
staple at some legit places...)

<https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/b739e5c1-384d-411f-b9f5-477affb581dd.13bed5adf66b9aef12c6444ed9093f8c.jpeg>

Note how the labels don't even match, Video has what seems to be a description of photos, Photos talks about the video frame pixel area and minutes.

Also, if I'm doing math correctly (allow caffeine to kick in...) 87664 pictures of 3.5 MiB file size translate into ~300GiB. But maybe that's
like the postimg image linked in the quoted text, being meant to be
added to the others, and not XOR.

(What is "4-Proof"?)

This one almost looks like the æSD card with branding was added on top
of a blurry image, instead of it being a photo of the product in
packaging:

<https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/afc0751f-e26f-4c52-8f57-16c54a4f745c.88ebe560540e7132342477e39ff24572.jpeg>

Oh, I guess this one answers the 4-Proof. And maybe they mean the card
isn't temperature-proof :-P

(These two images from [1] - same brand, different capacity.)

[1] <https://www.walmart.com/ip/BERGUF-128GB-High-Speed-Flash-Memory-Card-with-SD-Adapter-Compatible-for-Smartphones-Tablets-Cameras-and-More/3492915950>

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cameras/comments/1wjfibr/is_there_sd_cards_shortage_globally/

The general theme seems to be, stock still available, some places don't
have high capacity ones, prices double or triple. If you're being
given <cough> 1TB ones, a pair of them, that could be $300 worth
going for $40. If those devices were real, there would be no bowl of
rice for the seller today.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On Tue, 10/13/2026 2:14 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Paul wrote:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cameras/comments/1wjfibr/is_there_sd_cards_shortage_globally/

The general theme seems to be, stock still available, some places don't
have high capacity ones, prices double or triple. If you're being
given <cough> 1TB ones, a pair of them, that could be $300 worth
going for $40. If those devices were real, there would be no bowl of
rice for the seller today.

Thanks for that useful information as I really know nothing about sdcards.

For some reason, I had thought that Walmart is legitimate even as I was
aware that both Walmart & Amazon list stuff that other people sell.

I haven't opened them, as I only got them yesterday, and then my first thought was "Hey, they gave me 1TB instead of 256GB" which would be good.
<https://i.postimg.cc/JnrnY79Z/memorycard02.jpg>

It irks me if this is common at Walmart, 'cuz it means they can't be
trusted, but how did you find out the comopany that sells them?

I could only send a message to them asking (essentially) "WTF?".
Same with Walmart. I could only send them a request to return it.

The problem with returning it is it's a PITA for no good reason.
I'm not worried about getting my money back, but now I have to deliver the damn cards to Fedex or to Walmart personally, which is an extra PITA.

And, I still need to find a set of 256GB cards for my wife (who isn't
happy, as she thinks I screwed up, again, trying to find the best price.

I have to admit it seemed like a good price $20 each for 256GB cards.
To make sure it was a "good brand" I looked up TOPESEL before buying.

It wasn't top tier in my search results, but it was one level below.
These cards, it seems, are no-name as I couldnt' find who makes 'em.

I really do not know how this memory card process works.
Who makes 1TB cards (supposedly 1TB anyway) that wouldn't work?

What is the advantage of making a 1TB card that doesn't work?
Makes no sense to me.

I guess they could be rejected 1TB cards, in which case they would have
gone into the trash at the factory but they sold them at Walmart instead?

But I thought Walmart was reputable.
Why would they allow this to happen?

I guess I could order another set and if it still comes back like this,
then it's just a scam that Walmart perpetuates, but that's another PITA.

Sigh.
Where would we get 2x 256GB "reasonable-brand" cards for a decent price?

Originally, all the scams were on Ebay.

But Walmart and Amazon, in spite of efforts to stamp out the
fake SSD drives in the aluminum cases, they really can't keep up.
It's their responsibility to do so, but they seem less than
capable of running a bazaar.

Someone noticed there were no more Lexar ones, and Lexar is
now a Chinese company. And, they are very much alive. Lexar
has no trouble supplying SSD drives to my computer store,
so as a company, they are very much functional... if there
is something to sell.

It's hard to say what is happening on the supply side of SD,
and what we can really expect. But anyone who "up-capacities"
you like this, that spells "danger" to me. This isn't some
happy little accident. The happy little accidents do happen,
but usually the "qty" is wrong. You order one of an item,
a box of eight of something else shows up, which is just
an inventory filling mistake. The pattern in your case
is more suspicious. When the items are hard to get, they
shouldn't just be giving them away, unless it's a fraud
and the amount of NAND inside those 1TB is less than the legit
256GB you expected.

If you wanted a USB stick, the shelves are a bit barren.
They aren't entirely gone, but when stock is sold, they
seem unable to put more on the hooks. My computer store
for example, has had no "Extreme" sticks for several years.
And now, it's just a general shortage of USB sticks.

I haven't checked the Best Buy, to see if they even stock
USB sticks. At our store, they were sitting in a pile at
the bottom of a display, and you had to pick through them
like you were looking through a DVD delete-bin :-) They
couldn't be bothered to put them on the hooks.

These are thin times, and this sort of behavior is table-stakes.
And there will always be people out there, who pretend
everything is normal, and if you splash out with enough
cash, you will get the normal quality goods. Maybe.
Just not at the Walmart bazaar site.

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Walmart sent me 1TB no-name sdcards instead of a 256GB TOPESEL sdcards.

On Mon, 10/19/2026 5:52 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Paul wrote:

But Walmart and Amazon, in spite of efforts to stamp out the
fake SSD drives in the aluminum cases, they really can't keep up.
It's their responsibility to do so, but they seem less than
capable of running a bazaar.

UPDATE. given every thread should add new value to the topic...

Apparently "Topesel" is a real brand <https://topesel.com>
No. 6175, Building A, Pengnian University Town Tech Park,
Taoyuan Street, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong
but they seem to simply "rebrand" other people's sd cards.

Rebranding, in and of itself, isn't necessarily bad, given Delkin, HP, Integral, Kingston, Lexar, onn, and PNY all apparently resolve to the same manufacturer ID (27 / PH) according to what I found out recently.

Where their 256GB sd card seems to sell for $42.99 each
<https://topesel.com/products/256gb-microsd-card-with-adapter-topesel-memory-cards-a1-v30-u3-class-10-tf-cards>
So that's about DOUBLE the price I paid for at Walmart online.
<https://i.postimg.cc/Bbj21C4r/topesel-10-19-2026.jpg>

SanDisk sells a similar spec card for $64.99 (plus stuff)
<https://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/microsd-cards/sandisk-microsd-express-card-for-nintendo-switch-2>
Samsung sells a similar spec card for $79.99 (plus stuff)
<https://www.samsung.com/us/memory-storage/memory-card/p9-256gb-microsd-express-card-sku-mb-mk256t-am/>

With that knowledge in hand...
1. I tried to get Walmart online to send me what I ordered
2. But, they will only accept a return and refund my money
3. Even as I "could" (up until yesterday) just re-order it again

But get this... new development...

Yesterday the Walmart price for 2 was the same as before: $39.99 plus tax
But today, the Walmart price for 2 has more than doubled! $95.99 plus tax
<https://www.walmart.com/ip/TOPESEL-256GB-Micro-SD-Card-2-Pack-Micro-SDXC-TF-Card-with-Adapter-High-Speed-Memory-Card/15848911009>

Which, after all, is about where it should be based on the $42.99 each
price at Topesel's web site (where I don't know about tax & shipping).

So what's NEW is that Walmart drastically changed the Topesel price.

Here's the original screenshot (which was the same price yesterday).
<https://i.postimg.cc/PJ1Rjq7D/walmart-listing.jpg>
Here's a new screenshot (which is the price as of today).
<https://i.postimg.cc/N0CDnFJB/walmart10-19-2026.jpg>

I called the credit card company today and disputed the charges.
a. I told them to either send what I ordered at the price I ordered
b. Or come and pick up the (likely garbage) 1TB cards they sent

I suspect neither will happen, so now I'm back in the market for two 256GB name-brand (but I'll take second tier) sd cards for a decent price.

I still can't figure out if Topesel is a second-tier brand, or not.

Top tier? ($50 to $75 each perhaps?)
SanDisk (aka Western Digital) Extreme or Extreme Pro (avoid Ultra)
Samsung Pro Plus or Pro Ultimate or EVO Select for value

Close to top tier?
Lexar Professional Silver Plus or Play
Kingston Canvas Go! Plus
PNY Pro Elite or XLR8 Gaming or Elite-X

Solid tier?
Kioxia Exceria
Amazon Basics
Walmart onn
Silicon Power
Transcend
Delkin
Patriot
Verbatim Integral
TeamGroup
ADATA

Nor, am I sure what "markings" I really want since all the card will be
used for is for storing media, which really isn't all that important.

Markings?
microSDXC UHS-I
Speed U1 should be fine (U3/V30 for lots of video recording)
Performance A1 should be fine for photos/media (A2 is better)
(A2 if it's extended memory, which it's not)
U3/V30 if 4K video is your thing (it's not my thing)
UHS-I is fine for me.

Since I know next-to-nothing about SD cards, I appreciate the advice given
to test when they arrive. I can still test the supposed 1TB cards too, but they're currently unopened as I have no intention of actually using them.

Is this the recommended SD card testing software?

h2testw freeware on Windows, full test, takes hours
<https://h2testw.en.lo4d.com/windows>
ValieDrive freeware on Windows, spot check, quick
<https://www.grc.com/validrive.htm>
USBDeview freeware on Windows, speed test only, quick
<https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/deviceio.html>
Speed Out freeware on Windows, speed test only, quick
SD Insight freeware on Android, shows only the (spoofed?) manufacturer ID
True SD Card Capacity & Speed freeware on Android, full test, takes hours
SD Card Test freeware on Android, quick speed test only
SD Card Tester freeware on Android, capacity test, takes hours
f3 (Fight Flash Fraud) on MacoS or Linux, full capacity, slow
<https://github.com/AltraMayor/f3>
F3XSwift on macOS, full capacity, slow

With that in mind, it looks like a logical test sequence is to test on Windows because Android will be much slower & to test an empty card.
1. Run a spot check
2. And then run the full tests, overnight

Any additional suggestions?
(e.g., what do you think of the *new* current Topesel offering?)

There is "f3probe", which a Brazilian wrote to "Fight Flash Fraud".
It is apparently available for windows too.

https://manpages.debian.org/testing/f3/f3probe.1.en.html

The Windows version was written by Claude AI. There is supposed to
be a "fast" option, but following up on this (getting it to compile),
might be more time than it is worth. It should be noted that Windows 11 behavior has changed on things like "dd.exe" where you can run it in
an Administrator window, and it tries to elevate it a second time. It's
not a surprise then, that on Windows, this is going to be "flaky" because
of Windows Defender and friends (hard to start).

https://github.com/crack666/f3-windows-port

*******

topesel is a "legit" supplier as these things go. They are
unlikely to be a NAND Flash fab, and would be using someone
elses flash. That's not a name created yesterday just for fraud.
still, remember that you can place a "Sandisk sticker" on anything,
which is why some companies in the electronics industry were so
hard hit by fraud (market saturated with fraud), on their web site
they requested you buy directly from them to avoid middle-men.

Note that most companies "sell wholesale to disti", and the disti
distributes items to retail chains. The manufacturing companies do not want
to be wrapping two storage devices in a cardboard box. For example,
if you visit the Western Digital HDD Store in North America, that is
actually Newegg in disguise (they use the same bubble wrap and
five-sides wrapping job for the material inside the box).

*******

When I entered your link:

walmart.com/ip/TOPESEL-256GB-Micro-SD-Card-2-Pack-Micro-SDXC-TF-Card-with-Adapter-High-Speed-Memory-Card/15848911009

the item is listed as "Not Available". I'm getting a different result than you.

That means, based on cookies and +++ DOM storage
of your previous interaction, they have noted your activity and are now phishing
you with an "up-market fraud scheme". You're going to have to look around,
to do better than this. And NOT from a bazaar seller. That's a tall order to meet
when buying online.

As there is some degree of shortage when it comes to NAND flash,
you expect a lot of sites to list the item as "not available".

There are four of these in the city. Three of them are 1.5 hours drive
total away from me. That leaves one in the city core. Price is $94.99 CDN, times .71 is $67.44 USD. They have a 30 day return policy, and only
some items are struck off for returns. You have to check at the desk
to determine which items have the return policy today. For example,
I've only had one hard drive which was defective when tested. I took
it back, explained to the returns guy "motor won't spin on this drive".
He tested it and agreed, it would not be starting anytime soon. I
got an exchange on a working one. I've also done refunds there.
I returned an SSD that was running at 1/4 normal speed.

TEAMGROUP High Endurance 256GB microSDXC UHS-I U3 A1 V30 C10, Up to 100MB/s Read, w/ Adapter - Micro SD Card (THUSDX256GIV3002)

Review is from four years ago. Which means any comments are invalid by now,
as the source materials are likely different today, with the shortages.
Flash page size of 64K is likely the same on whatever ships now. "High Endurance"
can mean a couple things. Micron makes an industrial-grade flash with 6x
write cycles. The other way to do that, is to use Wear Leveling, which is
hard for a buyer to verify based on any available information. Only a couple USB sticks that look like USB sticks, actually have both kinds of wear leveling,
which should be "quite worth it". The SD is unlikely to have that on the interface
as such (supporting things like TRIM). We would hope the High Eudurance then relates to writes-per-cell. This isn't really a review, but you can get some info from it.

https://www.guru3d.com/review/teamgroup-high-endurance-v30-sdxc-256gb-review/page-1

While that one isn't available everywhere, you should still find some Sandisk ones on most sites. This isn't bazaar pricing, but it is definitely boutique pricing for those who want boutique. Notice that some of the adverts here,
show the read/write speed, and the really cheap 256GB is 10MB/sec on write :-) It will take you some time, to sort through those.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com

Paul

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)