Is buying refurbished bad?

[rfalla3]

As in will, there be any differences compared to brand new or will it perform the exact same way as the brand new ones?

I was wondering because I bought a new razer lancehead for $45 which is a sweet deal to me.

 

[delaro]

It really depends on where you buy the item and whom did the refurbish. Generally it's better than risking used since you get at least a 30 day warranty, in some instances it's better than new because the refurb was part of a recall so the issue is fixed.

 

[Rusty1983]

It really depends on what your buying, when it come to stuff like mice (especially expensive ones) then apart from maybe small amounts of cosmetic damage I doubt there will be any difference... Half my system is refurbished/pre-owned and that's cool if you trust your supplier ... however, there are a few things I would NEVER buy second hand... Power supplies being the main one.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Really only you can decide - - - I wouldn't recommend it unless you really need it & you cannot afford to buy new.

 

[Solandri]

"Refurbished" can mean a lot of different things. A refurbished product can be:

• 
  ■New, but the order was canceled. Many states prohibit selling custom-ordered products as new if their order was canceled, even though the product never left the manufacturer's warehouse.
  ■Scratch and dent. Product is new, but has suffered cosmetic damage which doesn't affect functionality, but is bad enough the manufacturer doesn't feel it can sell it as new.
  ■Returned during the initial return period. Basically a few days to few weeks old. It could've been returned because the buyer decided he didn't want it. Or it could've been a defective return and the manufacturer fixed the fault.
  ■Returned under warranty. Could be several months to several years old, and the manufacturer has fixed the fault.
  ■Leased equipment whose lease has expired. A lot of businesses don't buy computers and office equipment outright - they lease it (like renting except for a predetermined amount of time) for a set number of years. At the end of the lease, the equipment goes back to the manufacturer, who then cleans it up as best they can and sells it as refurbished (usually with a short warranty), or sells it to another company who cleans it up and sells it as refurbished.

Obviously the condition of the product in the last two cases will be a lot worse than the first three. And people generally prefer refurbished by manufacturer over refurbished by third party.

I have no problems with the first two types. The third type is generally ok - mostly depends on if the manufacturer will match the warranty of a new product. The fourth type is iffy but can be hard to avoid since they usually will only tell you that it's a product return, not how long it was used. So it can be hard to distinguish them from the third type. The last type I generally avoid.

Be aware that a lot of credit cards exclude refurbished items from their protections like price protection, theft protection, extra year warranty, etc.