Refurbished Things In Amazon

Amazon refurbished, New, And used?

I sell a lot on Amazon, so maybe I can help:

1. NEW means just that. Original seal or shrink wrap. Straight "off the shelf" condition. Never used, never opened. Just like you'd find in a traditional "brick and mortar" store.

2. USED means not new. It could be a camera someone's been using for a day or a year. It could also be a NEW camera that's been opened, but never actually used at all. But as soon as someone "opens" the camera's box...it's no longer NEW and has to be listed as USED.

3. REFURBISHED means used but brought back to NEW-like condition. These are typically returns that are either sent back to the factory or some other facility that will clean the camera, test it, make any needed fixes, then send it back out to be sold again. Refurbished cameras start life as USED, but usually they were used for a very short time, maybe only a day or so, and then returned.

Now here's the weird thing. Refurbished cameras can also be NEW cameras. So why would a NEW camera need to be refurbished?

Simple. During shipping, an entire pallet of cameras can be dropped, hit by a fork lift, exposed to rain, or any number of things that could damage the cameras. In this case, sometimes the manufacturer will set the entire pallet off to a wholesaler/reseller who will then turn around and sell them to a company that will check each camera out, fix it if it can, then re-sell it. In this case, the cameras WERE new, but once they are fixed they can no longer be sold as NEW...only as Refurbished. Hence...how a NEW, unused camera can be a REFURBISHED one.

Hope this helps.

Is buying a refurbished blu ray player from amazon "safe"?

You are correct in thinking that a refurbished item had something wrong with it.. But the keyword is "HAD". A refurbished unit is normally just like new because when it's returned to the manufacturer they rebuild it to the normal specs so it operates as normal. Also, it usually comes with all of the original included accessories. Refurbished items usually comes with a warranty as well. You will have no issues buying a refurbished item through amazon. If it does have issues, amazon has a great return policy, or you can just use the warranty through the manufacturer.

**Also, keep in mind that if you personally bought a new item and got it home, tried it out, and didn't like it, even though there is nothing wrong with it, most of the time that will be the same condition as a refurbished item. it's just "previously purchased" condition, which is different than buying "used" on the secondary market.

Is Refurbished and Used the same thing?

I used to think refurbished is the best way to go if given a choice between used and refurbished. Upon further reflection, I realized that just because the part that was broken was replaced and the refurbished item is working again, does not mean that it will not happen again. Do you know what actually caused the breakage in the first place? All we know is that it is now working. A used item is working and has been working. My guess is that it will still be working for the life of the product, so I would buy used over refurbished. There is also some confusion between, "refurbished" and, "re-manufactured". A refurbished item is in many cases just cleaned and the broken part is replaced. A re-manufactured product is one that went back to the manufacturer for inspection then part replacement. That is the ideal environment because once re-manufactured it is made to be, "like new" according to the manufacturer's specifications. Refurbished and re-manufactured are definitely not the same thing! ALWAYS ASK THE SELLER TO define ,"REFURBISHED"

How does Amazon work? Do they only sell refurbished and used items?

Amazon is a little hard to understand sometimes. They sell their own items and also allow venders to sell through them. On that item it's going to be new in the box if you add it to the shopping cart from that page. If you look right under where it reads, "In Stock". It tells you who's shipping it. This item is coming from Amazon directly. If you click on the "32 New & Used" you get a list of the other outlets to get the item from and it gives you the condition of the item. If you get it from someone other than Amazon make sure you check into that vender closely.

I buy a lot of used CDs and all my MP3s from Amazon.

What does refurbished mean?

You have to check carefully. I can give you two example that are at extremes of the spectrum of refurbished.

1. Lenovo, Dell, Sony and others have factory outlets. People order computers and change their minds. Some of these machines never left the manufacturer, some got shipped to the buyer, not opened, and shipped back, some got booted and didn't work right, they got shipped back and repaired. All of these will be sold as refurbished, all are technically new, clean, recent models and a very good bargain.
2. Companies lease equipment, the lease ends and they return it. The leasing company cleans it, repackages it, and sells it on various sites as "refurbished". Picture a 2 year old lease return computer monitor, faded, scratched, two year old technology in a market where last year's model is obsolete - you get the picture.

Your "refurbished: item can be anywhere on this spectrum. Usually, the seller will have a description of exactly what they mean by refurbished. You're looking at Amazon so are we talking refurb power tools like Dewalt and Bosch? These were DOA when purchased and have been repaired to new condition.

Buying Refurbished items off ebay?

I don't like to buy anything of value on ebay as it is like the wild west where anything goes. True story--I bought a CD from this scum who not only didn't send me the CD but reported me for not paying when I did and proved as much to him and ebay. I never got the CD from scum and never heard this low life ever got punished.

Go to amazon.com and buy an Ipod second hand. They are class A at backing purchases up.

Is it safe to buy refurbished items?

It depends on what it is. Personallly I _always_ buy brand new hard drives simply because the risk of data loss is so great. I'd tend also to buy new any other mechnical components, e.g. optical drive, fans, power supply.

I'd have no qualms about buying refurbished motherboards, expansion cards, processors or memory though if they are clearly new or nearly new. Frequently all it means it that someone bought it from a retailer and then returned it for some reason - even though there may have been nothing wrong with the equipment they can't then resell the item as new.

On the other hand, if we're talking about older, more clearly second hand kit, I weigh that up on its merits. For professional-grade kit especially, used pricing is very attractive and the longer life expectancy of professional gear means the risks are not as great as for consumer-level equipment. However, I always factor in the cost of a few replacement parts (fans etc) when deciding if such a purchase is worthwhile, even if I don't fit them straightaway.