I knew a guy once, from a previous job, that said if given the option he would always buy the refurbished model, not because it was cheaper but because he thought the chances of it having a problem after going through QA twice was much less than that of a new product.

It created some interesting conversations.

Discuss.

 

Depends on the product.

I will buy quite a few things on refurb but there are some items I just don't want to trust that way.

 

i avoid most refurbs in general. good quality items do not break in the first place. if something broke then, something else will break later.

i just bought an ipod video refurb but sources say that it most likely was new and sold as a refurb to get rid of stock quickly

 

2/4 in my experience. bought a sony refurb tv which had a green tint on the bottom right corner and a denon 5 disc dvd changer which would lock up randomly.

the other two were viewsonic crt monitors which lasted 5+ years with no problems until I gave them away.

 

ive never really had any problems with refurbished items. ive only bought a few though

 

One of my coworkers used to work at Newegg for quite some time. I asked if he would trust the refurbed shit, he said absolutely. Most of the shit they only visually look at but HDs, displays, etc they individually test.

 

I think that could be a fun place to work. Looking up new products and stuffs.


but I'd want to go down to the receiving dock and rip open some boxes. I'd be fired or asked to head up their new product reviews dept. h:

 

I'd only buy refurbs if I could return it locally. I'm one for two on big refurb purchases. I bought locally a refurb 26" Toshiba CRT HDTV that has worked beautifully. I also bought online a refurb Onkyo 5.1 home theater system that worked great for a month, then started randomly shutting off. I took it in under the one year warranty, it was fixed, worked great for a month, and then started shutting off again. I need to take it back in as it's still under warranty, but it's certainly not worth the hassle. I wish I could take it back and get a refund, but shipping costs kill that idea.

 

I don't mind factory refurbs.
+ They're repaired to factory specs.
+ They're tested even harder due to the fact they failed once.
+ They carry higher / equal factory warranties.

Buying a refurb online is a roll of the dice. Depending on the refurbed's source, there might be more dings and scratches than it's worth. Only buy them in person, and be sure to inspect the box's contents before purchasing.

 

I bought my JBL Creature comp speakers as refurbs. The knobs work inversely from day one, down is up and up is down. They're about dead now, it's only been a year.