Weekly Storage Price Briefing: 20TB Leads the Current $/TB Curve
This week's read: the index signal is large-capacity HDDs. 20TB is the best capacity tier by median $/TB, while the sharpest named row is Seagate Expansion STKP16000400 16TB new at BestBuy for $294.14 ($18.38/TB). Capacity tiers are index medians; named rows are current buyable listings with condition data. Data through May 15, 2026.
Notable capacity moves
20TB is the lowest current capacity tier in the index at $28.50/TB. 22TB posted the clearest 30-day move at +1.7%. The useful read is not "big drives are cheap"; it is whether the index tier and the named rows agree. This week they do: large HDD tiers are where the tracked market is showing the cleanest $/TB signal.
Current best-value drives
Current rows with clear condition data: Seagate Expansion STKP16000400 16TB new at BestBuy for $294.14 ($18.38/TB); Western Digital WSH72BV30ALE604 30TB refurb SMR at ServerPartDeals for $630.00 ($21.00/TB); Seagate Exos ST28000NM000C 28TB recert at ServerPartDeals for $610.00 ($21.79/TB); Seagate Exos ST25000NM000E 25TB recert at ServerPartDeals for $549.00 ($21.96/TB). If recertified drives are off the table, compare against Seagate Expansion STKP16000400 16TB new at BestBuy for $294.14 ($18.38/TB) and Seagate STKP24000400 24TB new at BestBuy for $529.99 ($22.08/TB). These are not interchangeable: condition and recording tech matter before the lowest $/TB row becomes a buyable recommendation.
Market lows
12TB has the lowest 30-day index average at $25.00/TB. Product-level lows worth checking now: Western Digital Gold WD241KRYZ 24TB is at $23.12/TB; Dell R730XD 10TB is at $23.89/TB. These are more useful than a generic sale label because they compare each row against its own tracked history.