Renewed, refurbished, factory refurbished, Microsoft Authorized Refurbished (for laptops, meaning they bought new software to replace Windows 8.) , Open Box. C’mon it is USED.
Something is either NIB, intact as manufactured, packaged, and shipped from the OEM, or it isn’t.
If it isn’t, then you should expect a discounted price due to the unknown risk being assumed by the buyer for the “as-is” not new condition of the item. The risk is mitigated by any seller warranties, and the value of the seller warranty is market driven, just like the discount for not new.
Unless you’re buying an RTX 30 series nVidia GPU. Extremely limited supply issues are dominating market pricing. i.e. the premium the market will pay for an in stock item is far greater than any discount for its used condition.
@OnionSoup nope, if i am having a garage sale and think i fixed the lamp (it lit once after i rewired it), i still don’t call it refurbished. Neither should companies. It’s used unless functionally tested.
At least that is my expectation.
/giphy glass half full
@mollama companies probably SHOULDN’T use them interchangeably, but they do.
I used to trust “refurbished” but in recent years, I’ve seen several things that were obviously quite well used that were sold as refurbished. I take it on a case by case basis.
Some random seller on ebay or Amazon… Probably not trustable. I haven’t bought anything refurbished from meh lately, but, I trust meh as not trying to scam me, so I would trust meh, if something is crap, they don’t hesitate to tell us.
I think usually a manufacturer refurbished item is usually good too, because most manufacturers don’t want to tarnish their brand name.
But someone selling on ebay or Amazon’s platform:. Refurbished holds no more weight for me than someone advertising as Used.
@mollama@OnionSoup I bought a refurbished Switch from Nintendo a couple of months ago, it was indistinguishable from new, AND had the full 1 year warranty.
“Refurbs” from other outfits had 30 day warranties.
The distinction I take between “refurbished” and “used” is whether there’s a warranty or not.
Refurbished = it comes with a warranty. The term is most likely shortened and may come from the seller or distributor instead of the manufacturer, but nonetheless, a warranty will exist.
Used = you buy it, and that’s it. On the most part, it’s an as-is/where-is transaction. If a return policy exists, it’s a bonus. Manufacturers may not be obligated to honor the warranty for items sold as used, so it’s something to consider.
It’s been a while since I’ve bought a refurb, but doesn’t it still mean “probably used or returned; but tested, repaired, parts replaced, exterior close to new-looking, and sold with a warranty”?
@InnocuousFarmer In the past, that was mostly the case. Nowadays, some companies are using the term for “fully used, bought in bulk, repackaged, and resold.” The actual aspects of refurbishing, like making sure the product is fully functional to original specifications and whether it’s in good condition physically, gets skipped.
@InnocuousFarmer@OnionSoup
A lot of “companies” (meaning the equally bullshit “valued third-party store partners”) don’t even bother with that.
They simply tape the box back together and slap a new shipping label on it, being nothing more than freight forwarders between previous owners returning a defective item and the future owners of the still defective item.
@InnocuousFarmer@mike808
Very true. The warranty seems to be the only consistent thing you’ll get for sure lately.
I got a refurbished wii u directly from nintendo a while back that didn’t work out of the box. Customer support briefly attempted to convince me it was user error until I demanded a return label. Turns out the refurbished console was shipped with a dead motherboard.
Amazon “renewed” is the most bogus – I’ve received pristine used items from third party Amazon sellers, and dirty, malfunctioning items that were supposedly renewed from Amazon warehouse (and vice versa to be fair).
If I’m going to take a chance in hopes of a deal, I only go for used these days so long as they offer free returns and I’ll do my own diagnostics, thanks.
The discount on Amazon renewed items vs new is far too slender to justify even a slight risk.
@brasscupcakes In some cases, I’ve seen renewed sold at a higher price versus new!
The majority of my Amazon purchases are from Warehouse, straight up sold as used. Most items have arrived as advertised or better, though for the times in which it wasn’t, Amazon’s CS and/or return policy took care of it. The pitfall is that items are sold as used and manufacturers are not obligated to honor the original warranty whatsoever; their return policy is about the only recourse.
I believe items sold as Amazon renewed have a longer warranty.
Refurbished is distinctly different from used. Work goes into refurbished products, from cleaning internally to actually replacing parts, to make it as close to new as possible.
You missed “pre-loved”, and “open-box”.
Edit: Dammit no editing your post to make me look silly!
@Chmarr Yeah, “pre-loved” is nauseating!
You missed “like new”.
Something is either NIB, intact as manufactured, packaged, and shipped from the OEM, or it isn’t.
If it isn’t, then you should expect a discounted price due to the unknown risk being assumed by the buyer for the “as-is” not new condition of the item. The risk is mitigated by any seller warranties, and the value of the seller warranty is market driven, just like the discount for not new.
Unless you’re buying an RTX 30 series nVidia GPU. Extremely limited supply issues are dominating market pricing. i.e. the premium the market will pay for an in stock item is far greater than any discount for its used condition.
@mike808 This item is “LNIB”, by which I mean to say it’s “Like” new-in-box, by which I mean to say, it’s used.
@806D2701 It was “only overclocked a little”.
A bit like “just the tip”…
Refurbished and used used to mean two different things. Now they don’t.
@OnionSoup nope, if i am having a garage sale and think i fixed the lamp (it lit once after i rewired it), i still don’t call it refurbished. Neither should companies. It’s used unless functionally tested.
At least that is my expectation.
/giphy glass half full
That is not even close to a giphy that applies, but i LOVE Velma (i aspired to be her, not Daphne, as a geeky tween).
@mollama companies probably SHOULDN’T use them interchangeably, but they do.
I used to trust “refurbished” but in recent years, I’ve seen several things that were obviously quite well used that were sold as refurbished. I take it on a case by case basis.
Some random seller on ebay or Amazon… Probably not trustable. I haven’t bought anything refurbished from meh lately, but, I trust meh as not trying to scam me, so I would trust meh, if something is crap, they don’t hesitate to tell us.
I think usually a manufacturer refurbished item is usually good too, because most manufacturers don’t want to tarnish their brand name.
But someone selling on ebay or Amazon’s platform:. Refurbished holds no more weight for me than someone advertising as Used.
@mollama @OnionSoup I bought a refurbished Switch from Nintendo a couple of months ago, it was indistinguishable from new, AND had the full 1 year warranty.
“Refurbs” from other outfits had 30 day warranties.
@mollama Velma: an American treasure.
The distinction I take between “refurbished” and “used” is whether there’s a warranty or not.
Refurbished = it comes with a warranty. The term is most likely shortened and may come from the seller or distributor instead of the manufacturer, but nonetheless, a warranty will exist.
Used = you buy it, and that’s it. On the most part, it’s an as-is/where-is transaction. If a return policy exists, it’s a bonus. Manufacturers may not be obligated to honor the warranty for items sold as used, so it’s something to consider.
Defeated, decimated, trounced, pwned, hosed.
Oh, not that kind of Used?
Or maybe it does apply.
@mehcuda67 Decimated is used so very wrong… like 10 percent of the time.
I liked the old Woot! term “respiffied”.
Pre-owned. And the even more irritating: certified pre-owned.
@shahnm there is a certificate of authenticity proving it isn’t new.
“Demo”
“Photography Sample”
I have to agree. If its “refurbished” it needs to be at least 40% of MSRP. Used is still used.
@joebuddah
Can I buy all of your used $20 bills at 40% off?
I’ll buy all of your used $100s too, for $60 each.
@mike808 Money does not loose its value because of use. Computers , cell phones and cards do.
@joebuddah @mike808 Actually, money does in fact loose its value on use. It just doesn’t lose its value in the process.
@joebuddah @macromeh
True dat. This is a topic on applying loose vocabulary to items that lose their meaning in the vernacular.
/giphy let it loose nelly
Previously enjoyed
Field tested
It’s been a while since I’ve bought a refurb, but doesn’t it still mean “probably used or returned; but tested, repaired, parts replaced, exterior close to new-looking, and sold with a warranty”?
@InnocuousFarmer In the past, that was mostly the case. Nowadays, some companies are using the term for “fully used, bought in bulk, repackaged, and resold.” The actual aspects of refurbishing, like making sure the product is fully functional to original specifications and whether it’s in good condition physically, gets skipped.
@InnocuousFarmer a lot of companies consider wiping off the dust and light grime with a damp cloth to be refurbishing today.
@InnocuousFarmer @OnionSoup
A lot of “companies” (meaning the equally bullshit “valued third-party store partners”) don’t even bother with that.
They simply tape the box back together and slap a new shipping label on it, being nothing more than freight forwarders between previous owners returning a defective item and the future owners of the still defective item.
@InnocuousFarmer @mike808
Very true. The warranty seems to be the only consistent thing you’ll get for sure lately.
I got a refurbished wii u directly from nintendo a while back that didn’t work out of the box. Customer support briefly attempted to convince me it was user error until I demanded a return label. Turns out the refurbished console was shipped with a dead motherboard.
@Cythrin @InnocuousFarmer @mike808 that a company would sell something used as refurbished without even testing it, isn’t a surprise.
That Nintendo, a large company with a lot of reputation to lose, would do that is a lot more surprising, and disappointing.
@Cythrin @InnocuousFarmer @mike808 @OnionSoup Most probably an honest mistake that slipped through the cracks.
Amazon “renewed” is the most bogus – I’ve received pristine used items from third party Amazon sellers, and dirty, malfunctioning items that were supposedly renewed from Amazon warehouse (and vice versa to be fair).
If I’m going to take a chance in hopes of a deal, I only go for used these days so long as they offer free returns and I’ll do my own diagnostics, thanks.
The discount on Amazon renewed items vs new is far too slender to justify even a slight risk.
@brasscupcakes In some cases, I’ve seen renewed sold at a higher price versus new!
The majority of my Amazon purchases are from Warehouse, straight up sold as used. Most items have arrived as advertised or better, though for the times in which it wasn’t, Amazon’s CS and/or return policy took care of it. The pitfall is that items are sold as used and manufacturers are not obligated to honor the original warranty whatsoever; their return policy is about the only recourse.
I believe items sold as Amazon renewed have a longer warranty.
Refurbished is distinctly different from used. Work goes into refurbished products, from cleaning internally to actually replacing parts, to make it as close to new as possible.
Unless, of course, you’re GameStop!
“Flight Proven” ?