How do you feel about purchasing refurbished units?

[Scooter]

Do you find refurbished units are as good as new merchandise? Are you comfortable buying them? Do you have concerns about quality or warranty? Do you really save money?

There are a large number of refurbished items appearing from large vendors all the way down to clearance outlets. Let's hear what your opinions or experiences are.

[ilovemykids]

Yep I would. As long as it's warrantied I would save the money. But I guess it depends on what it is.

[travelgeek]

I usually don't keep up to date with technology, so I'll wait till it's 'mass produced' or discontinued.... resulting in significant price drops. By that time, the price difference between new and refurbished isn't that big.

[roseofblack25]

depends on what it is and how much cheaper getting a refurbished one would be

[Beast Master]

I would not TOUCH them.
Years ago I worked in a camera store and we sold refurbished....they were pieces of CR@P that kept breaking down and you would just cross your fingers they would last the limited 90 warranty.
The only thing I bought refurbished was this Microsoft keyboard, for 99 cents.

[ex0ticb3lla]

I don't get a choice, hubby wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole to see if they're dead Even if they were only .99

[ergo2]

depends on what it is and how much cheaper getting a refurbished one would be

i agree. i would never buy a used pc or camera tho

[zameluzza]

I bought 2 faxes refurbished, well they are multifunction, and just for the price of the ink I go that way.
not sure about a PC.

[crumpet]

Yep! I LOVE XSCargo, and they sell lots of refurbished! I got a brand name surround sound with 5 slots for dvd/mp3s, and a couple of stereos, a 27 inch flat screen, brand name tv for $120 there 2 years ago, (I didn't option the store warranty, cuz I think that's a rip off). They all still work great! I've also gotten dvd players there for 20 - 30.00, and have given them as gifts, bought one for my daughter's room. An alarm clock...hmm. Can't think of anything else right now though. No one can tell its refurbished, it works like new, all of it, except once when a dvd player didn't work, and I brought it back in to exchange, no problem.
The only thing I don't want to get refurbished is a computer, or a cell phone. Oh, and also refurbished can sometimes mean that is was a floor model

Oh! and I got a multi-function scanner/photocapture centre/fax machine/printer/copier for $60 refurbished, works perfectly 2 years later.

[ex0ticb3lla]

My girlfriend just bought a floor model 42 Inch tv from Costco She only ended up getting $100 off the price of the tv

[Jacq]

bump! :D

It really depends on the product. I would NEVER buy anything refurbished / display model from a big box store like XSCargo unless it was something like a console controller or I needed throwaway parts (For example, I bought a "refurbished - broken!! - Roomba for $15 just so I could take it apart.)

However, refurbished is sometimes used to mean products that have simply been opened. A great example of this is websites like Tiger Direct and Newegg: if somebody returns a product for whatever reason (including changing their mind or upgrading or whatever), then legally they can't sell it as "new", so they offer a discount but usually still have the same warranty/return polocy. I have bought a few refurbished hdd and one monitor thus far and never had any problems.


PS: I am still kicking myself for spending $500 dollars at Tiger a week before joining SC >.<

[caitfoster]

I will only buy refurbished from an independent computer business in town. They have taken care of me for years when i didn't know a KB from a hole in the wall, and have stood behind their guarentee when they build DHs PC that has a mysterious ghost in it. (Everything in that computer was replaced except the graphics card and the tower. Some things were replaced 4 times, like the RAM). And they are great about not charging us since they know our faces. I've bought refurbished from them before, and I will again.

But as for anywhere else? No. If it screws up there are too many loopholes for big box companies to get out of fixing them.

[BobSagget]

Depends on what it is. Sometimes refurbished is over 50% cheaper than retail and there is nothing wrong with it.

For example:
Last year I bought a factory refurb Logitech MX Revolution mouse off ebay it came sealed in a bag directly from Logitech and only paid $40+10 shipping for it. The mouse retail is like $120.

It's still going strong and it's the best mouse I've ever used.

So for little things like this, i am not afraid of going refurb because you can really save yourself some money. However for bigger things I would be more cautious going the refurbished route.
.

[Sally888]

Depends what it is

[Natalka]

Seems like we've had good luck with refurbished items. Our computer was 200 from Future Shop, going strong for two years now. Son has gotten several refurb. mp3 players - iRivers, and they have been totally fine - from XCargo. Also from there, our 5-cd player - needed one replacement, but is fine now.
For these things, we wouldn't have been able to have the items at all if they hadn't been refurb.