Imagine you want to buy the latest and greatest electronic toy. An iPad maybe, or a smartphone. Yet prices in the shops are too expensive. You could buy one second-hand (used), but you don’t trust the quality. There is another option: refurbished.
Sometimes items are bought new, and then returned to the store soon after, because a button doesn’t work, or the screen flashes, or the customer simply doesn’t like the color. 83 percent of refurbished items are in fact not damaged or broken in any way.
What can the store do with this returned item? It can’t legally sell it as “new.” Instead, the store sells it to a refurbishing company, or gives it to their own refurbishing department. The company replaces any faulty parts, thoroughly tests everything to make sure it all works, and resells it at a lower price than new.
The item is essentially new again. Sometimes, though rarely, there might be a few scratches or dents from the first owner, and you might have a shorter warranty period, or a sticker certifying that the item has been refurbished, but most people wouldn’t see or care.
Refurbished items are common, since the refurbisher can buy and sell electronic goods and parts in bulk. You can find refurbished items on eBay (www.ebay.com) and other online stores such as Amazon (www.amazon.com), or through Craig’s List (www.craigslist.com).
Sometimes the demand for refurbished goods is very high (Apple products, for example), so the refurbished price is not much less than the new price. In these cases it may be better to pay the extra ten or twenty dollars to ensure that it hasn’t been touched by non-factory hands and to get the better warranty should anything go wrong. At times, though, buying refurbished can save you fifty dollars or more.
If you want a longer warranty for your refurbished item, you can purchase one separately from such websites as Square Trade (www.squaretrade.com). For the most part, though, extended warranties are simply a money maker for a company. For example, Best Buy actually makes more profit on sales of extended warranties than on the sales of the products themselves. And the cost of an extended warranty can eat up the savings you are enjoying by buying refurbished. I’ve purchased dozens of refurbished items and never had a single problem, though I am sure others may have had different experiences.
If you don’t mind your new toy being not quite brand new, and you like the refurbished discount, refurbished electronic appliances are the way to go.
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