The short answer is: no.

Here’s why.  Counterfeit cheap flash drives are flooding the market and often end up enticing victims because they appear authentic but, in actuality, are created by nefarious characters living in overseas countries who are getting rich off unsuspecting consumers.

These scam artists are pretty good at what they do. They create USBs with such well-known brand names as Sony, Imation, and Kingston and offer them at extremely low prices. They look spot-on and come with such enticing capacities as 64 GBs for ridiculously low prices. One recent example? A 64 GB flash drive was listed for $104. Such high-capacity flash drives typically cost $200-plus. While it may be difficult to resist what seems like a great deal, chances are you’re not getting what you’re paying for.

The problem with these USBs isn’t that someone is copying them, it’s that they often say they have a huge capacity, when in fact, they do not.

Some actually will display a false capacity when you insert it into your computer. The only way to tell if your storage device has the capacity advertised is to conduct what’s called a read back. Basically, store a large file on your USB then read back the same file from the flash drive to another location on your PC and compare.

Fake USBs will take forever to write a file—or seems like they are writing a file when they are not.

The best way to avoid buying a fake USB is to buy from a reputable company that manufactures them. You won’t be doing you or your company any favors by buying fake USBs.

If you are wondering how cheap flash drives can help your business, you are not the only business owner to be skeptical. However, for you to understand how they are going to be successful, you must first understand two things. One, cheap does not mean low quality. It simply refers to the cost. Two, you must know how the flash drive works. In very simple terms, it is a device that allows you to store data on it from your computer. It makes transferring data from one computer to another very easy.

When you choose this item to promote your business, you are actually giving away a very useful item. People all over the world use them. Many people actually use them everyday when they bring home work from the office. Not only do they find them to be an efficient way of transferring data, they find them convenient because they are so small. The fact is, this item has a very high usability factor which only means success for you.

If do choose to use these to promote your business, you want to do more than just have the name of your business imprinted on the side of the drive. Take advantage of the storage space and upload a presentation on your company. Many businesses who use these items also include a small product catalogue, so potential buyers will know exactly what they have to offer.

Deciding to use cheap flash drives in the promotion of your company can actually get you out of the rut you may be in with your marketing. After all, giving away such an advanced item may just advance your business, as well.