PSA: Don't buy refurbished items.

[Pepsei]

i got a refurb dyson. it's the BEST vacuum cleaner i've ever owned.

 

[Toasthead]

When I'm in the market for a new tech product I will check if there is a refurb market for that specific item. If there is a huge market for one or more manufacturers, I'll avoid that manufacturer entirely.

Case in point: HP Desktop PCs

Newegg = 11 models
Tigerdirect = 37 models
HP Business Outlet = Too many to count

I will not buy an HP desktop, period.

could it also be that there are a lot of refurbs of a manufacturer because they sold a boatload of products too? Volume needs to be part of the equation. # of refurbs inst as important as % of refurbs.

 

[pontifex]

All the refurb stuff I've ever bought turned out to be crap. It's been a while, but I won't bite again. I must just be unlucky.

I bought a refurb TV once. it worked great when it actually turned on...

I will never buy refurb anything again.

 

[iversonyin]

I buy refurb all the time. Nothing has gone wrong so far. I will continue buying them.

Thanks

 

[dbk]

I bought some refurb ipods. No problems

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Refurb != defective

And the message is not that it is OK to sell defective items, they're all sold off at a discounted rate so obviously there's admission that the item is not as good as new.

No, but from my and my friends/families experience, it means something is wrong with it, or it dies much sooner than it would have otherwise

 

[jupiter57]

This PSA brought to you by a 12 Year Old whose parents pay for everything.

Everyone knows this

 

[Gooberlx2]

Fuck that, I like cheap prices for inspected and tested products with warranties.

And you're not saying it's OK to sell defective items at all. The person who returned the item is telling the manufacturer and store that the item was unacceptable. You buy it at a much reduced price, and so the store and/or manufacturer takes a hit on the cost of that item to begin with.

The only entities affected here are the stores and manufacturers. And since the penalties are financial (not just on the cost of the product, but the time, effort and salaries to "refurb" the item), it's a good incentive for them to improve their standards.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I guess for me it's also psychological: If I buy something refurbished (which I've never done) I would think the same thing as if I was picking up some garbage from some guy's curb.

You have a mental defect called stupidity.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I guess for me it's also psychological: If I buy something refurbished (which I've never done) I would think the same thing as if I was picking up some garbage from some guy's curb.

That's called being a snob.

 

[arcenite]

I just bought a refurb router and a refurb sound card.... saved $100. Both work great thus far, and in my mind, the hardware is probably better than what it was new.

 

[geno]

No, but from my and my friends/families experience, it means something is wrong with it, or it dies much sooner than it would have otherwise

As far as I can remember, I have literally never had anything refurbished (computers, cd players, speakers, receivers, a dehumidifier, and probably more that I'm forgetting) break on me. I've had plenty of new stuff break I'd be willing to bet the quality or likelihood of something breaking is the same between new and refurbed.

 

[Born2bwire]

I got my dad a pair of refurbished Sennheiser HD-600's, it was a great buy.

 

[hclarkjr]

to date i have bought 2 refurbished items. one worked fine the other turned into the deal from hell. it was motherboard bought on ebay. had to file dispute to get my money back 3 months later. last time i ever bought a refurbished item

 

[Muse]

I'm not rich, I'm careful with my dough, but don't make a practice of buying refurbs. I bought one and it turned out to be something other than as represented. Buy.com sold me a Sandisk Sansa m250 MP3 player "refurb" and it wasn't working right from the start. I won't go into the story of how I got a replacement, but it turned out that Sandisk does not have a refurb program. This means that the unit I got was _certified_ by a 3rd party to buy.com, who passed it off as a refurb. Upshoot of this is that Sandisk is not required to service the buyer.

I have often considered refurbs but of course the price is a big factor and almost always the price I've seen wasn't low enough for me to risk the item. Often they are OK, I'm sure and there's some kind of warranty, maybe the same as for new, but I figure this:

---> Many of the items were returned because the original buyer thought the product wasn't OK. You have to ask yourself "how confident am I that the person(s) who checked out this item did a thorough evaluation and testing procedure on this item and found out what was wrong and then fixed this item before returning it for sale?" My intuition tells me that very often they do a cursory analysis and you wind up with substandard goods. I pass.

OTOH, I bought an iRiver H140 "refurb" that has turned out to be great. A 3rd party who I think was retained by iRiver was selling literally dozens of H140 refurbs virtually at once on ebay around 3-4 years ago, and the auctions were closing at well below auctions for "used" H140's on ebay. They came with a 90 day warranty, which most ebay deals for used merchandise don't get, of course. The H140 (and H120) were no longer being manufactured and had features unavailable in currently available devices, features I wanted. I figured it was a no brainer and I've been completely happy with this purchase.

 

[PottedMeat]

I buy refurb all the time. Nothing has gone wrong so far. I will continue buying them.

Thanks

Same here. Depending on the company, I'll buy refurb products - it's like a second run through quality control. Maybe the they've upgraded the firmware or upgraded the hardware. It's probably gone through a different set of test equipment or hands on inspection - all for a much lower price.



Heh I don't think I've bought a new Sony product that didn't break down. But once it was repaired by them, it was bulletproof.

 

[Muse]

Same here.

Depending on the company, I'll buy refurb products - it's like a second run through quality control. Maybe the they've upgraded the firmware or upgraded the hardware. It's probably gone through a different set of test equipment or hands on inspection - all for a much lower price.

That's pretty optimistic!

Heh I don't think I've bought a new Sony product that didn't break down. But once it was repaired by them, it was bulletproof.

I guess that would be an endorsement of Sony refurbs. Maybe they have a good program...

 

[alphatarget1]

Never had a problem with refurbished products. Bought a linksys router recently and dd-wrted it. Works great.

 

[grrl]

Another quality Arcadio post.

I worked in electronics for several years. Refurbs can be a great deal. The only one we dealt with at my store that was a bust was the Sony STR-AV-570, an early home theater receiver. It had a problem with its protection circuitry that Sony could never work out.

 

[Newbian]

Just remember...when buying refurbished fleshlights to clean them before use.

 

[geno]

Just remember...when buying refurbished fleshlights to clean them before use.

So it wasn't a bonus mine came pre-lubed?

 

[Newbian]

So it wasn't a bonus mine came pre-lubed?

That's not lube...

 

[IronWing]

I guess for me it's also psychological: If I buy something refurbished (which I've never done) I would think the same thing as if I was picking up some garbage from some guy's curb.

I've had many years service out of items picked out of other people's trash. When we have serviceable items that we no longer have use for, we put them on the curb with a "free" sign. The neighbors take the stuff. Most of our furniture is used. Thrift stores for clothing. All is good.

 

[her209]

Another Arcadio quality post.

Fixed for accuracy.

 

[her209]

to date i have bought 2 refurbished items. one worked fine the other turned into the deal from hell. it was motherboard bought on ebay. had to file dispute to get my money back 3 months later. last time i ever bought a refurbished item

You filed a dispute 3 months later?