Refurbished products: Yay or Nay?

[T-ski]

Are you comfortable buying a tv, laptop, gaming system, etc if it has been refurbished?

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I bought a refurbished Wii and Wii U because that was really the only way I could my hands on them. If the option's available I'll pretty much always buy new, but refurbished will work if that's all there is.

[gmillerdrake]

We bought our three boys refurbished iPad Mini's a few years back. I think it was three Christmas's ago. They all crashed pretty quickly....I'd say within 6-8 months they were useless.

[ProfessorPeart]

Normally, I avoid refurbs like the plague. The only exceptions I have made is Apple and Nintendo products. Have bought multiple from each and never had a problem. Could have sworn they were new.

[Phoenix87x]

If the price is right, sure

[MinistroRaven]

Normally, I avoid refurbs like the plague. The only exceptions I have made is Apple and Nintendo products. Have bought multiple from each and never had a problem. Could have sworn they were new.

Me too, except for Nintendo, I have never bought a Nintendo in my life.

[goo-goo]

I've tried refurbished products many times and never been burned by any: Instant Pot, iPhones (like 3 or 4), iPads (2), even a Macbook Pro (currently typing from it) which I bought in 2014 I believe.

[ReaperKK]

I think it depends on the product. I broke my iphone 6 and my insurance gave me a refurbished model and it worked flawlessly until the day I handed it down to my mom and it's still working perfectly now. I also bought a laptop a while back in 2015, a HP Elitebook for $300 off groupon, I needed it to surf the internet and to remote into from work to enter some trades nothing else. To this day it's still my trading machine and hasn't missed a beat although it's clunky as hell.

[krands85]

If the price is right, sure

Yeah, if it's a decent discount, I'd happily consider it. I would need a good warranty period as well though, at least 6-12 months depending on the product.

[Chino]

I bought a refurbished Wii and Wii U because that was really the only way I could my hands on them. If the option's available I'll pretty much always buy new, but refurbished will work if that's all there is.

Depending on the console, going refurbished might actually be the better option. I know there certain models of the first and second gen xbox that had defects, and refurbished models with the problem remedied sell pretty well.

[Chino]

For me it would depend on the product. Refurbished speakers or monitors, I'm okay with that. Usually in hardware like that, the problem was something simple like a blown capacitor or a bad connector to a board. For something smaller that someone might have carried around and banged up/abused, I'd rather go new. I don't think I'd even consider a refurbished phone.

[faizoff]

I've bought refurb products with varying success. I think I bought a netgear refurb modem that lasted a few years. My very first smart phone purchase was a refurb iphone 3G that worked 3 days before the wifi stopped working and I decided to just get a new iphone 4.

[Stadler]

For me it would depend on the product. Refurbished speakers or monitors, I'm okay with that. Usually in hardware like that, the problem was something simple like a blown capacitor or a bad connector to a board. For something smaller that someone might have carried around and banged up/abused, I'd rather go new. I don't think I'd even consider a refurbished phone.

This.  I would just expand to "anything I can't completely wipe, both figuratively (clearing memory) and literally (clean the outside)".   I also almost exclusively buy used cars (not the same thing, I know, but it's the general idea). 

[The Walrus]

I refuse to buy refurbed products; if I'm spending a chunk of money on a piece of electronic equipment, I want it new (although I don't put cars under this category)

[jingle.boy]

I don't think I'd ever buy one from an individual seller (eBay, Craigslist and the like), but if they were sold with a warranty from a trusted brand (eg, Verizon 'certifying' the refurb with a warranty), then I'd be ok with it.  It's kinda like buying "BMW Certified".

Otherwise, I fear that "refurb" would mean polishing it up real nice on the outside, and the inside is still suspect.

[T-ski]

Here’s what I’m looking at....Denon A/V receiver listed for $229 down from $279, factory refurbished with a one year manufacturer warranty.

[ReaperKK]

I don't think I'd ever buy one from an individual seller (eBay, Craigslist and the like), but if they were sold with a warranty from a trusted brand (eg, Verizon 'certifying' the refurb with a warranty), then I'd be ok with it.  It's kinda like buying "BMW Certified".

Otherwise, I fear that "refurb" would mean polishing it up real nice on the outside, and the inside is still suspect.

My laptop that I referenced earlier seems to be the opposite. It was really beat up on the outside but it just keeps working.

[kirksnosehair]

For me it depends on the product.  Something that's 100% solid state like an iPad for example, yes.  In fact, I have 256GB iPad Air 2 that I got for $150 as a referb.  At the time I bought it they were selling new for around $400.  I've never had any issues with it and when I got it I could barely tell that it had been used.  To me that's a pretty good deal. 


I tend to avoid anything refurbished that has moving parts or a lot of capacitors.