Buying refurb electronics online

Remove all ads!

Yo.

I'm curious if anyone has had any luck with purchasing refurbished electronics online. Anything from small components (like iPods, heat-sinks, RAM, etc. which I've done before, with zero issues) to larger purchases (like monitors, laptops, or LCD HD Tv's, which I'm currently shopping for). I went to a website called RefurbDepot.com, where I found the kinds of HDtv's I'm interested in at anywhere from 5–15% cheaper than the best price I've found them elsewhere. I imagine the warantees are void on these products, but are there other drawbacks to shopping this way?

Any input helpful and appreciated.

 

I bought a PC from a Used Electronics Store and got burnt. The fella said he rebuilt the system, but it never worked from day one. What a hassle i had trying to get him to fix it, let alone trying to get my money back. It took over 3 months for a resolution and he was a local merchant. I would definitely look for feedback from previous customers for their experiences with whoever you are trying to buy from. I checked afterward and the guy was a crook!

 

I like returned TV's from Best Buy and other stores. I purchased my daughter 20" LCD TV with a built in DVD player for $250. The normal price on it was $400. It was a return.

The other day I should of jumped on the 1080p 50+" LCD return that was priced at $1500, but the wife said, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" So, I didn't get it.... next time I'm not listening to the wife....

The price on the 50+" LCD new was over $3000.

 

My mp3 player was missing a cable, and got 40 euros off when i ordered the opened box from the reject corner at a big hardware store. The new cable was 9,50.

 

For only 5% less on the price, it's really not worth taking a chance, especially if you don't get a proper warranty with it.

 

I purchased my Sony 50" TV from Ubid. At the time the unit was selling for $1500.00 US dollars at Best Buy, not including delivery and tax. After checking out the TV at BB I bid on one and got it for $900.00 US dollars including shipping. So I saved 600.00 dollars, plus the cost of delivery and tax. The TV has worked just fine for the last two years, even though my kids abuse the hell out of it (they watch it more than I do).

My latest purchase did not go so well. I purchased a high-end Denon DVD player, for $170.00 including shipping (unit retailed for $850.00). The unit is only a player (no record feature), but it does play SACDs and it has an HD CD decoder. I bought it mostly for its fine audio capabilities, but it supposedly has a great DVD picture as well. The audio is excellent, and now I can hear my collection of Rolling Stones CDs in SACD instead of standard "Redbook" quality. Also, Rhino has released its Grateful Dead recordings on HD CD, and they sound great in HD playback.

As for DVD playback, the movies appear extra sharp, with super detail. The only problem is that it plays DVDs in B&W for some strange reason. It came that way out of the box. Denon advised me to take into a service center here in town, and they would repair it free of charge. So I have 90 days to take it in, which is luckly here on the Northside.

So you are taking some chances. Still, I would rather take the unit in for repairs, rather than have paid another 400.00 or 500.00 for the player that can play my SACD and HD collection.

 

I have computer speakers that were refurbished; they were new but the only thing missing was a wire that connected them to the PC. The speakers new cost over $100; I got them for $20 at Best Buy. The great part was I had an extra wire at the house to connect the speakers. If I did have to purchase the wire it would have cost me $5-10

 

Dr, the help page at refurbdepot.com states that

So hopefully you should be okay with them.
I would still check to see what customers have said about them or check with the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed against them.

 

I bought a refurbished iPod over ebay once and a 2 year warranty from squaretrade was offered with it. After a year, the iPod stopped working and I got a full refund of the purchase price, so that was nice.

For more successful examples I have a refurbished PS2 (also with warranty) that has never had any problems. My brother also recently bought a refurbished laptop for $675 or so (about $900 standard value) and it only has a problem with the disk drive (loud and you just need to tape it down).

If you can get a warranty go for it, otherwise just make sure it is a great value.

 

That is not always the case. Some times refurbished means the original owner opened the box and found out that the item purchase does not meet their needs, so they returned the items with no or limited use.

Refurb also means a product that had some damage that was fix and the product is now working as it should be.

Both are considered by most stores refurbished/returned items that are sold cheaper than the new items. Is it worth it? Yes and No! Yes if the refurb/open items has a warranty were you can test the product out to verify that it will meet your needs. No, if it does not have a warranty or a return policy if the product does not work, etc...

 

Thanks, all. I think I'll just continue avoiding refurbs for major purposes and just stick to things like RAM and small components. For such a high $$ investment, it just isn't worth the risk to save a few bucks. Besides, I've seen some incredible deals at places like Fry's recently, so I'll wait it out and see what kind of deal I can get.

Thanks again, y'allz.