When shopping around for the best deals on many new products and/or appliances one can almost always find a “refurbished” version at often a huge discount. When most of us think of a refurbished item, we think of something that has been opened up, torn apart, and rebuilt, like an auto transmission rebuild, for instance. However, in the electronics world, it is not so obvious as to what the term “refurbished” actually means for the consumer. The questions most often brought to mind when seeing these products are: Is this product as good as a new one? How long will this product last if it has already been refurbished? Is this product under the same warranty as a new one?
First off, let’s consider the benefits of refurbishment.
By refurbishing a product:
It does not end up in the landfill as quickly. (perhaps never)
It can really save you money.
If it is a high tech piece of equipment for example; computer, television, monitor, ipod etc. you will have a clearer conscience when upgrading within a couple of years as technology advances and recycling the refurbished edition.
Often, products are brought to a ‘like-new’ condition with full warranty or at least a good limited warranty.
Sometimes when a product is refurbished, any parts that may have been faulty by design are replaced with the improved version.
What Qualifies As A Refurbished Item?
Basically, an audio or video component can be classified as refurbished if it meets ANY of the following criteria:
Customer Return - Most major retailers have a 30-day return policy for their products and many consumers, for whatever reason, return products within that time period. Most of the time, if there is nothing wrong with the product, stores will just reduce the price and resell it as an open box special. However, if there is some sort of defect present in the product, many stores have agreements to return the product to the manufacturer were it is inspected and/or repaired, and then repackaged for sale as a refurbished item.
Shipping Damage – Many times, packages can get damaged in shipping, whether due to mishandling, the elements, or other factors. In most cases the product in the package may be perfectly fine, but the retailer has the option to return the damaged boxes (who wants to put a damaged on box on the shelf?) to the manufacturer for full credit. The manufacturer, then, is obligated to inspect the products and repackage them in new boxes for sale. However, they cannot be sold as new products, so they are relabeled as refurbished units.
Comestic Damage – Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, a product may have a scratch, dent, or other form of cosmetic damage that does not affect the performance of the unit. The manufacturer has two choices; to sell the unit with it cosmetic damage visible or fix the damage by placing the internal components into a new cabinet or casing. Either way, the product qualifies as refurbished, as the internal mechanisms that may be unaffected by the cosmetic damaged are still checked.
Demonstration Units - Although, at the store level, most retailers sell their old demos off the floor, some manufacturers will take them back, inspect and/or repair them, if needed, and send them back out as refurbished units for sale. This may also apply to demo units used by the manufacturer at trade shows, returned by product reviewers, and internal office use.
Defect During Production – In any assembly line production process, a specific component can show up as defective because a faulty processing chip, power supply, disc loading mechanism, or other factor. Most of the time, this is caught before the product leaves the factory, however, defects can show up after the product hits store shelves. As a result of customer returns, inoperative demos, and excessive product breakdowns within the warranty period of a specific element in the product, a manufacturer may “recall” a product from a specific batch or production run that exhibits the same defect. When this occurs, the manufacturer can repair all the defective units and send them back out to retailers as refurbished units for sale.
The Box Was Merely Opened - Although, technically, there is no issue here other than the box was opened and was sent back to the manufacturer for repacking (or repacked by the retailer), the product is still classifies refurbished, because it was repacked, even though no refurbishing has occurred.
Overstock Items – Most of the time, if a retailer has an overstock of a particular item they simply reduce the price and put the item on sale or clearance. However, sometimes, when a manufacturer introduces a new model, it will “collect” the remaining stock of the older models still on store shelves and redistribute them to specific retailers for quick sale. In this case, the item can be sold either as “a special purchase” or can be labeled as refurbished.
What All Of The Above Means For The Consumer
Basically, when an electronic product is shipped back to the manufacturer, for whatever reason, where it is inspected, restored to original specification (if needed), tested and/or repackaged for resale, the item can no longer sold as “new”, but can only be sold as “refurbished”.
Tips On Buying Refurbished Products
As you can see, it is not always clear what the exact origin or condition of a refurbished product is. It is impossible for the consumer to know what the reason is for the “refurbished” designation for a specific product is. At this point, you must disregard any “supposed” knowledge the salesman tries to impart to you on this aspect of the product, because he/she has no inside knowledge on this issue either.
Therefore, taking all of the above possibilities into consideration, here are several questions you need to ask when shopping for a refurbished product.
1. Is the refurbished unit being sold by a retailer that is also authorized to sell new products made by the same company?
2. Does the refurbished unit have a U.S. warranty (it should have a 45 to 90-day Parts and Labor warranty)? — Also, some times refurbished units are gray market — which means they may not have been originally intended the U.S. market.
3. Does the retailer offer a return or exchange policy for the refurbished unit if you are not happy (15-days or more).
4. Does the retailer offer an extended warranty for the item? This doesn’t mean you have to buy an extended warranty — but whether or not they offer one indicates their degree of support for the product. In addition, if the dealer is not an authorized dealer of the brand, they would be hesitant to offer an extended warranty for it.
If the answers to all of these questions is positive, purchasing a refurbished unit may be a smart move. Although some refurbished products may be repaired or serviced units, it is very possible that the product merely had a minor defect during its initial production run (such as a series of defective chips, etc…) or subject to an earlier recall. However, the manufacturer can go back, repair the defect(s) and offer the units to retailers as “refurbs”.
Final Thoughts On Purchasing Refurbished Items
Buying a refurbished item can be a great way to get a great product at a bargain price. There is no logical reason why being merely labeled “refurbished” should attach a negative connotation to the product under consideration. After all, even new products can be lemons, and lets face it, all refurbished products were new at one point. However, when buying such a product, whether it be a refurbished camcorder, AV receiver, television, DVD player, etc… from either an online or off-line retailer, it is important to make sure you can inspect the product yourself and that the retailer backs up the product with some sort of return policy and warranty to the extent outlined in my buying tips to insure that your purchase has value.
Written with help from Robert Silva.
