Would you buy "Refurbished" electrical equipment?

Zascar

We all see it all the time on eBay - but how many of you would purchase a refurbished item? I'm looking at buying this camera - looks to be fantastic value.

It only comes with a 3 Month Warranty though - why is this?

Would you buy it?

majiktripp

wrote:

Zascar
It only comes with a 3 Month Warranty though - why is this?

Would you buy it?

It was "refurbished" so may have been broken / faulty previously when it was originally sold or indded damaged in production and then repaired so they only provide a 3 month warranty as its not fully "new".
I don't know whether I'd chance it or not myself as its a lot of money to be hoping that the camera stays working after 3 months...

patpark121

Zascar wrote:

We all see it all the time on eBay - but how many of you would purchase a refurbished item? I'm looking at buying this camera - looks to be fantastic value.

It only comes with a 3 Month Warranty though - why is this?

Would you buy it?

I've bought refurbished items from ebay. LCD TV & DVD recorder. Have them 6 months now. Not a hitch. They will give shorter warranties with these type of goods cause they usually rework & retest them themselves with their own techs, according to manufacturers guidelines apparently. They are not manufacturers warranties. They use refurbished as a broad term, so you could be buying a returned item that someone didn't like or something that had a slightly harder life & was replaced under warranty.

Addmittedly though neither of my purchases were over €100 a time cause it could be an expensive failure further down the road.

Guy:Incognito

I used to work in a Sony Centre, we got a fair bit of refurb stuff in and myself and plenty of other staff members bought loads of stuff. I got my dad a refurb tv (€2200 down to €900) and 3 years on its still going strong.

Ive had a couple of refurb mp3 player without problem. I'd have no problembuing refurb stuff again.

Vikings

Don't know if I would go near refurbished goods on eBay now, if I was buying anything refurbished I would definitely want to see it in full working order before handing anything over.

I know the item above is good value including lens and all but with the good exchange rate against the $ you should look at B & H photo in the US.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productList&A=buyUsed&Q=457530

Thats the same camera above except it is used, not refurbished and it is only about €380 - ok there is no lens but you could pick one up on eBay and still be cheaper than the refurb above. Plus given the reputation of B & H photo they won't be selling you a dud either.

themole

Myself and 2 other friends bought refurbished pda's a few years ago and all three failed. Should have know due to the fact that there were a few available :rolleyes:

My adice is to do some searching to see if there is a problem with the model.

Although, i myself would not part with that much money something refurbished.

jor el

I probably would buy refurbished electronics, depending on the price and the original price, but not from eBay. A warranty from an eBay seller is often not worth much as you're not actually dealing with a shop in most cases, and have no real comeback if a fault develops.

If you're saving a lot of money, then it might be worth considering. But it'd have to be giveaway prices to make it worth while.

Wertz

My dell 2001fp is a refurb, I've had it nearly 4 yrs without a problem. Got that on eBay (€550; it was 800 to buy here new from dell)
Have an Inspiron 8600c that I've had for almost 3 yrs as well (bought from dell outlet)
Have owned smaller electronic items that were bought on ebay as refurbs and no problems except for one diamond rio mp3 player.

The way I see it with refurb is it's been through QA processes at least twice so any faults are more likely to have been picked up on...and with most refurbs they're just customer returns or very minor repairs, as it's not really worth a companies while carrying out lengthy repairs on an item they could just produce for the same cost.

yop

Have bought a load of refurbs off Ebay without any issues, that seller has massive high sales and is a power seller so I would not have any concerns with buying off him.

Eoin

Some refurb items may just have needed software / firmware re-installed, so it may not even have experienced any physical damage. I wonder how many items sold as new in shops in Ireland are actually returns anyway.

cabinit

Bought my dell demension 9200 from dell outlet, came with vista home premium but no modem, forgot the shagging thing. Have to say am very happy with it and I got it for the princely sum of €575 with free delivery. Been working great ever since. Normal cost of computer was something like €1200. A great bargain, reccomend it to anybody. May the refurb be with you!