Deals and Bargains forum: Refurbished or recertified electronics safe to buy?

Refurbished is the first place I look if I'm in the market for anything other than a keyboard, mouse etc.

The 22" monitor I am using right now was bought refurbished from an online electronics store. It is going on 3 1/2 years and still going strong with no problems whatsoever. It was indistinguishable from new when I received it. The price was just a bit over 1/2 that of a new one. I have never regretted my decision.

My iPod was bought refurbished from the APPLE online store. Again, looks and performs brand new-the savings was close to $50.00.

Although this doesn't concern an online store, my hubby and I are still using our 36" Mitsubishi TV. It is in its own wooden cabinet and a lovely piece of furniture to boot (not having HDTV really does not bother me at this point). Purchased from an electronics repair shop. We have had it 15 years and it was about 5 years old when purchased. Have replaced only one major part at a cost of $250.

Buying refurbished online is a great way to go. Just make sure there is some kind of warranty (even 90 days) just to be safe. Remember that refurbished products are not only repaired for whatever defect happened to be present, but then they are gone over in their entirety to insure that nothing else is wrong. Most refurbs get a better inspection than new products at the factory.

And yes, some are returned for reasons as simple as it was bought as a gift and not wanted. Sometimes there will be some scratches, it was the wrong color or "just didn't like it". I would heartily recommend a refurb. Buying new does not always guarantee you will not get a lemon, and the savings can sometimes be substantial.

I bought a Vizio TV for a monitor and a few months later gave away the remote (Long story there). When I went to Vizio site to purchase a replacement found my TV was no longer supported. Out of date though was brand new. Then looking around the web saw my model being sold brand new REFURBISHED. Vizio (I assume) had a bunch of them but no remotes so they changed whatever inside to work with the newer remote. I know the remote was different because some sellers had pictures with remote.

Refurbished? As many have stated "Research. Know who you buy from and why and who refurbished."

Refurbished quite simply means the manufacturer opened the case, fixed all the broken stuff, and it went up for sale. Re certified is basically the same, just a different name. So, feel free to buy stuff that's re certified or refurbished. It just means it was used, and fixed by the manufacturer to work like new.

1. Merchandise should have at least a 30 day warranty, no as-is.
2. Manufacturer refurbished electronics are the most reliable.
3. If merchandise or packaging is damaged or incomplete, return it immediately.
4. Install and check out your purchase immediately. If there is any problem, call it in and repair or replace immediately.
5. You should be able to save 30% - 50% on a refurbished electronics purchase. Don't give it back in shipping and extended warranty fees.

I have doubled my electronics purchasing power and increased my personal satisfaction at not getting ripped off. Recent successful refurbished electronics purchases include a $2,000 home theater system for $800, an $899 HP laptop for $399 and an $1,100 HDTV for $599. I always research features and competetive prices prior to shopping. I usually go to manufacturer sites first, then expand my search to include Overstock, eCost and NextTag. My one big disappointment was a portable HP printer, but the issue was with the driver, not the electronics.

I purchased a refurbished gaming computer from Dell-an XPS 730X in Dec. 2010. It's important to buy an extended warranty(protection plan) with refurbished electronics. The fan started running constantly in April 2011, that's just 3 months later. I called Dell, they did a remote diagnosis, and a technician was dispatched with replacement parts 2 days later. Buy the protection plan if you buy refurbished or you may wind up chucking your refurbished products in the garbage.

I have purchased a couple products as recertified: A Sony CD/DVD changer and a Denon Surround Sound receiver. In both cases, they have performed flawlessly and are still going strong after a "new" warranty would have expired.
My thoughts on how to buy these:
1) strongly consider a warranty. This isn't one of those extended warranties that are generally overkill for a new product. I'm talking about something that extends the warranty to the same point as a new purchase--then see how the costs compare.
2) check the price verus new--I have seen some cases where the new product was only 40 dollars more on a $160 item--in some cases new may be cheaper wehn you factor in the cost of a warranty and the risk.
3) Stick with Major manufacturers whose products you know and trust. Going to a recertified product from a new or unknown product is probably too risky.
4) read the repair history of the products (like the handy user reviews on CNET) to see if a particular model has had a recurring problem. If that is the case, there have probably been a glut of returns to the manufacturer, which boosts supply and lowers prices. But, you have to ask yourself if they have adequately solved this problem in the remanufacture process.
5) consider the type of product also--the more moving parts and complexity--the more risk (in my opinion) that the product may still fail.

I have bought several "open box" or "refurbished" Items, including printers, computers, and a TiVo DVR. I have always been satisfied and never had a problem. HOWEVER, I have always bought from the manufacturer or from an authorized reseller, and received a full warranty. I would be very skeptical of anything that did not carry the full manufacturer'w warranty.

As others have already explained there are several categories of refurb and recert, so I'll skip that.

Check the reviews, professional and consumer, of the product sold as new. If the new product got good or great reviews, you're probably better off with a refurb of that product (depending on what it is and how old it is) than a new product that gets mediocre or poor reviews. I personally place more faith in user reviews than manufacturer's warranties.

But some things are not ever worth buying refurbished, imo, like monitors or desktop printers. They have a limited lifespan due to usage and if you don't know how they were used, you don't know where they are in that lifespan. Also, since these items are usually pretty cheap to begin with, I find any refurbished status to be suspect -- it doesn't make any economic sense to refurbish these products, imo, but I could be wrong about that. I also usually stay away from "scratch and dent" items.

I buy all the electronics for our company and have had very good luck with refurbs, but for higher end items I usually stick to recertifications with manufacturer's warranties, Also, I do the homework first: read a lot of reviews, make a lot of comparisons, investigate the reseller's reputation and return policies. This last point is very important when dealing with refurbs or recerts. I've only had two returns of many, many items and only one warranty repair, and all went smoothly. The rest of the refurbs/recerts have been excellent and saved the company a lot of money. In some cases, the company has been able to purchase items it could not afford to purchase new, like high end graphics laptops. Last year I scored two great recert high end desktops for the graphics crew and now everyone else is jealous. The two lucky users can never leave their desks without some other employee jumping on their computer in their absence. We saved about $1000 over new and neither has had a single problem.

Refubished, recertified, and also "Open box"
All may be good.
I've purchased 3 Gateway computers called refurbished... All 3 are still in perfect working order.
Also a Samsung Blue Ray player
None had any visible signs of wear.. not even a smudge.
Most Refurb or Recert items only come with a 90 day warrantie, so best to buy an additional one like square trade.
So I would say "Yes" safe to buy, just make sure you can return if you get a "Lemon"
Good Luck!

Many years ago I found out that Apple sells tons of refurbished product. I took a chance on two Powerbook G4s for my business. Please understand that I also ALWAYS purchase Apple's "Apple Care" extended warranty program as well. I have also purchased refurbished Ipods, a Mac Mini and my current iMac. The reasons I do that is because refurbished product can be upwards of 40% less expensive then new. However, a human has taken a second look at the entire product to make sure it as good or even better then new product.

The only time I had a problem under warranty purchasing a refurbished product is when I first opened one of the two Powerbooks. For whatever reason one of them would not even turned on. I think within a couple of days I had a new one that is still working today over six years later.

Back to Apple Care, though. Here is another great reason to only purchase Apple products in that whenever I have had anything go bad under my three year warranty, I walked into the local Apple store and it was taken care of IMMEDIATELY! Heck, the machine I am writing on right now had the hard drive go down early last summer and it was replaced the SAME DAY! Then, just a few months later, near the end of the three year warranty, my mother board went down. Heck, it did not take them but I think barely two days and I was back in business. But the best reason for Apple Care? Three years of tech support included with the extended warranty! Find that with anyone else! Oh by the way, from what I understand, Consumer Reports has said it is the only extended warranty, including autos, that they would recommend.

Bottom line is do purchase refurb product, but I would only do so with a manufacturer's warranty and directly from the manufacturer or trusted source. A refurb product usually undergoes additional testing that even new product might not being that a human triple-checks everything.

Refurb - Recertified - Remanufactured they all point to the same thing but they are not necessarily equal.
I will detail this and give you my experiences.

They can be RE.... by the manufacturer, a third party, or maybe not really tested. Sometimes the ad will tell you, other times not. If it has been done by the MFG. (in MOST cases) it will be in the same packaging as a new one and contain the letter "R" after the model number. If it has been done by a third party or even the store (heaven forbid) any packaging is possible.

Most, not all, RE.... product has a shorter warranty than a new product. I got an Apple iPod and it has the same warranty as a new one. This may or may not be a really bad thing. If you are savvy (I'm an electronic engineer) then it is less of an issue since most things can be fixed out of warranty - but it may not be fixable and may cost too much if it is.

The most important issue is whether you are talented enough to fully check the product out for complete operation.
With the magnitude of features available on product today, it can be difficult. The issue is, a lot of product does thru the RE... process which is totally fine (open box items, returns because it wasn't what the person wanted, and maybe display items) and they get cleaned up and put back in as new condition and shipped out. Some are returned with a major issue and whole assemblies are replaced and it is good as new again. Unfortunately, some may have very subtle issues which are not picked up in the initial test and therefore never fixed. That may have been the reason they were returned but no one takes any notes from the customer so it is not found.

MANY of these deals are exactly that - deals. Some are not. I prefer a RE product if I can determine that it is a manufacture refurb and if the savings makes the potential hassle worth it. Only you can put a price on that and it is different for everybody.

My Experiences:

Panasonic digital phone. Deal came out about $15./phone (5 phones) saving about $10./phone. It did not indicate who refurbed it but the deal was good. When I rcvd it, I checked out all functions and everything worked EXCEPT one of the charging stands had a defective connector. I called the company I bought it from and they sent out another stand AND charger immediately. While I was waiting I took the stand apart and fixed the connector.

HP 8540W Elitebook laptop. The savings on this was about $500.00 It did give me some grief and it was a factory refurb. Let me preface this by saying that even though HP tech support wasn't terribly knowledgeable they were responsive. The first thing I noticed was the audio didn't sound right. When I called they immediately offered a FedEx next day shipping box and FedEx next day return. I knew that if I just sent it back without totally quantifying the issue I was likely to get it back unrepaired as all I could tell them is it didn't sound right. They eventually put me in touch with a real engineer and I was able to convince him and myself that there was a problem but it was still not clear. Since I had a 1 yr warranty - down from 3 yrs as a new product - I had plenty of time so I waited.
The bluetooth then quit. HP sent me a new module which did not fix it. The engineer said the two issues were not directly related BUT.. there was a possibility. OK, having a dead function meant they could fix something so I returned it. THREE days later I got it back. They replaced the motherboard and everything is working now.

LG Monitor - this one looked like a demo unit. Not even in a real box, just bubble wrap inside a shipping box. OK, looked like everything was working, not factory new looking, but no real cosmetic issues either. However, there was something strange about the auto bright function. It took me a while to finally determine that it was indeed not functional. I called the vendor and thay trans-shipped another one immediately. This one arrived in a real box and may be a third party refurb. Everything is functional now. It would have been a great deal at $155., as a new one was about $240. - however, Newegg was having a sale at $180. At $160. I was about to take the sale, but they dropped it to $155. so I went for it.

Sansa media player. No issues at all. Price was about 30-40% less than new.

Apple iPod $299. instead of $399. Mfg. refurb. The first one was DOA, That can happen with new product also.The replacement process was next day shipping but FedEx managed to take 2 days getting it back to me.

That is the RE... world. I always look for refurb product first. Except for the monitor, they were all well worth it. The monitor was borderline. But it is the same as asking what computer is best. "BEST" is a quantitative term that only applies to you. You can ask how it compares in speed, graphic performance, memory, storage, etc. If it is an Elitebook 8540W it is BEST for me, but if all you do is email and don't want to spend much, it isn't best for you. If you can't handle the kind of issues I dealt with, RE... isn't best for you.

I've bought three refurb Compaq laptops within the last three years, along with one new one. These have all seen fairly heavy service.

The first one we bought was a Christmas present for my son. This was the new one. I liked it so much, I bought a refurb of the same model, at the same major computer store (brick and mortar). The refurb lasted past the one-year new warrantee, then had a motherboard failure. My son's new one later had an LCD failure, so we replaced it with the one from mine. It's still running.

I later replaced mine with a refurb Compaq (same store) and have been using it for over a year now without a hiccup. I later bought an identical refurb for the office of our church, where it sees heavy use. On that one, I bought a seller's one-year warrantee, just in case.

These refurbs were all in original Compaq boxes, with full instructions and accessories, all packaging and instructions, and clearly marked "Refurbished" on the boxes. The store offered a ten-day refund period, which seems enough time to test the product thoroughly. In my case, saving 35-50% of new price wasn't a hard decision.

OTOH, make sure you read the complete specifications, and that yu can trust the seller. If I'd had to mail-order these, I might not have been so confident.

Even with the extended warranty. TV was miserable. Never could get fixed right. I found out that Samsung had given up on the firmware mids needed to fix thousands of the HDTVs #LN-52A550 and they were dumped. Referb-depot got a bunch and I got one. Horrible experience to save 500 dollars. Was NOT worth the hassle. Warranty wasn't honored and a portion of the original warranty cost was refunded. All the HDMI ports don't work. Engineering error that was swept under the rug. I have a large 52'' TV that is a piece of sheet. These things should have been dismanteled and never allowed to be sold to the public.

One thing most people should know is that most refurbished or recert products are almost never performed by the original manufacturer. Repair can be costly to most manufacturers and the majority outsource and contract Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's). Most manufactures see there is little money to be made in repair/refurbishment of products and are more interested in research and development, so as to stay on the cutting edge of technology. This is where the OEM's come in, all which bid on high to low end repair/refurb contracts. The lowest priced, quality oriented, ISO 9001 certified OEM's bids, are typically always the ones who win the contracts. Mainly due to expertise, standard repair time and excellent component sourcing and planning.

I work for one of these companies, due to Intellectual Property agreements, I can only "sum up" or "gloss over" the topic. However, it's all very good information. The OEM I work for, has contracts with large, substantially well known, high end companies.

As an OEM, they are as good or as bad as the organization from which they perform repair or refurbishment. When an OEM works on these products, they depend upon the original manufacturers resources and Engineers to ensure continual support with updates/changes, documentation, part sourcing, and (most importantly) communication. What I often see, is as a product becomes older, less and less support is given from the manufacturer. That really should come as no surprise, if the product is beyond a 5-8 year origination range, dump it. Buy new. As technology grows, focus on warranties, refurb or repairs for old products, becomes non-existent. You ultimately have a 50/50 chance if it's going to be a good or bad purchase.

Often, you cannot find any information on where the refurb/recert product comes from. Large companies mask or pretend they are the repair entity when 99% of the time, they are not. There is another business of people and companies trolling for stripped down product, to throw sub-par parts and semi up-to-date software/firmware and then resell?.eBay and the such. Again, ultimately you still have a 50/50 chance on these as well.

With all that said, one of my best laptops was a refurb, which I upgraded after purchase?voiding the worthless warranty. I have 1 AIO pc now and a brand new laptop?both a year old and I have had more problems with the new than I ever did with my supped up refurb (which I sold to my friend - at friend price - for a $100). Ya never really know what you're going to get. Research as much as you can, buy with your gut and hope you made the right decision. Sorry for the Debbie-downer response but I hope it still helpful.

You are correct and incorrect. We are a certified OEM, repair, manufacturer, refurb and recert facility. We are certified 'EM' from the 'O', which allows us to operate as an OEM. We receive training, support and documentation for the original.

For instance/example, you call HP for warranty/repair support. They give you an RMA, send you a shipping box with a shipping label, you send your equipment for repair (thinking it's to HP), it comes to us. We repair and return, all under the guise of HP. In no way will it have our company information (this is up to the Original Manufacturer whether it looks like it came from us or them).

Don't get your panties in a bunch over something so silly.