What exactly does refurbished mean?

[drexel]

Was it broken, and repaired?

Was it returned, and un sellable as a retail item?

Is it used, and touched up?

 

[Skydiver39]

refurbished means it was fixed. Plain and simple. If your buying from a retailer to sav e a couple of dollars, do not waste your time. The savings versus the possible headaches will not pay off.

Return items are basically used items if the box has been opened.

 

[Dc5e]

its usually a returned item that was sent back to the manufacturer and checked out.

Sometimes they are broken then repaired. With refurbished items, you may cosmetic defects in them but with video cards, it'll practically make no difference.

 

[IR1]

My 9700pro was a refurbished item bought from Newegg.com, so far its been a year and its been awesome. there is risk involved. But you usually will still have a warranty or a return period. So make sure everything is good if you do make a purchase.

 

[eaglescouter]

Refurbished means the product was previously owned.

What the vendor did with the returned product varies widely.

Could be checked out by the factory, or just glanced at and thrown back into a box.

 

[Agent_Mull]

Does newegg do a good job @ refurbished stuff. Im looking @ a 9600xt refurbished after xmas if they come in stock

 

[johan851]

do not waste your time. The savings versus the possible headaches will not pay off.

I don't think it's a waste of time at all. I've saved a couple hundred dollars for a couple different clients, and I've been very happy with almost every refurbed item I've gotten from Newegg. What Newegg says about their refurbs:

Newegg.com does not test any product, including refurbished items. Refurbished components are therefore only tested by the original manufacturer. Due to the varying quality of manufacturer testing, YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING REFURBISHED PRODUCTS. Refurbished items are OPEN BOX products that contain components that have previously been owned by other clients and returned to Newegg.com.

Don't know if I'd trust anyone else though.

 

[Evnas]

Was it broken, and repaired?

Was it returned, and un sellable as a retail item?

Is it used, and touched up?

Refurbed means all of those things

Also many items that were overstock in a store and sent back to the company get marked as refurbished (even though they were never opened, and are 100% functional)

Basically Referbished can mean anything from broken and doesnt necissarily work, to completely untouched

My digital camera for instance. Bought it marked as a "refurbished" item on e-bay. When i got it it was still in its original, untouched factory shrink-wrap

 

[tom10167]

If it's tested by the manufacturer, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, though.

 

[DayUSeX]

yeah true as long as you buy from a manufacture that has a good rep. Dont buy from some random company.

 

[Matthias99]

Newegg in particular has a very good reputation with their refurb items. Most are just things that people bought, tried, and returned because they were dissatisfied with its performance or overclockability. They only have a short warranty (30 days, I think, and only 1 week to return) on refurb items, but it's enough to test the item out and make sure it functions properly before deciding if you want to keep it.

I got my 9800Pro off Newegg as a refurb, and it's been flawless. Overclocks pretty well, too.

One thing to be careful of is that you don't get any of the stuff that normally comes with it (well, you might, but don't count on it). I bought a refurb Palm Pilot off overstock.com, and it didn't come with ANY of the software that the new units come with (even though it was sold as being in "like new" condition, with all components). It works fine, but I'm missing some functionality (I'd have to buy the Outlook synchronization software separately, for example, even though they give it away with new units). RADEON AIW cards, in particular, don't come with any of the VIVO cables or the recorder/DVD player software that the retail versions include, and may not have the remote control either.

 

[Strida]

Even if you get a lemon refurb, you can just return it. This has only happened once for me on all the stuff I've bought refurb though.

 

[stratcatprowlin]

save $$$$$

Ive bought more new stuff that didnt work than refurbished!I always checkout how to save money but of course im careful.

 

[Damian]

Re: Re: What exactly does refurbished mean?

My digital camera for instance. Bought it marked as a "refurbished" item on e-bay. When i got it it was still in its original, untouched factory shrink-wrap

I'm guessing the mfr. probably re-packaged it.

 

[mx-6*]

I wouldnt buy a refurbished item from newegg. I once purchased a motherboard refurbished from them and it was about 170 bucks instead of 240 or so new. It was an Asus A7m266-d (dual Athlon mp board). It seemed like a good deal but when I got it all they shipped was the box and the board. This board has no USB ports and is supposed to come with a USB 2.0 pci card but it wasnt in the box, neither was the manual, CD or UDMA cable, floppy cable etc. Nothing except the board and the box. when I called Newegg they said that refurbished means that its just the board, lol (even though it didnt say that on their site). I argued that I cant even plug a keyboard into the mobo without a USB port (NO PC2 supported keyboard on this board) so I couldnt even use it. I wanted to RMA it but they said that refurbished items are sold as is (in otherwords pack sand) but after arguing with this person and their manager they finally agreed on an RMA (since the board was usless to me unless I went out and bought a 50 dollar USB 2.0 card, which was almost the difference in price of getting a new board, lol)