Buying refurbished electronics surely saves you money and if you can smartly select one, it will also last you as long as a new one. Here are some tips to ensure you get the best out of your money. Go for an open-box return Refurbished is a very wide concept where most of the products are meant to be repaired after a stint of usage. However, at times a product is bought and opened but returned even before use. This happens if the buyer wanted something else, or maybe there was a minor issue like missing cable, etc. If you can get such an open box refurbished product, go for it. Look for who refurbished the product The restoration of the electronics is either done by the original manufacturer or a third-party vendor. When going for a refurbished electronic, go for the original manufacturer route as they are most likely to use the original high-quality parts and provide a factory-certified status to the refurbished product. Check out for the warranty status As a thumb rule, never go for a product, be it new or refurnished which has an ‘as-is’ clause that takes away the implied warranty status of the product. Even if the product is refurbished, it is bound to have some sort of after-sale warranty. If the product is refurbished by the original manufacturer, surely there will be a longer warranty cover. What is the actual condition of the refurbished product? There is no official grading system in place for a refurbished electronic. The sellers usually go with the nomenclature such as ‘like new’, as they can’t call it ‘new’. But you have to do due diligence and look out for the true condition of the product. The product might be hardly used or have had a real hard life, might have scratches, cracks, etc. Does it have all the out-of-the-box items? Not having an in-box accessory like a charger or earphone in the case of a mobile phone is highly likely in a refurbished electronic. This is another reason you should try to buy refurbished electronics from the original manufacturer as the probability of getting all ‘in-box’ products is high. This applies even to the software that comes preloaded especially in laptops. Look out for the return policy Lastly, you may want to evaluate the return options if there are any with your refurbished electronic. Read the fine prints carefully while buying the electronic and try to examine the product on the spot if there is no lateral return option. With a bit of caution, you can get a great deal on refurbished electronics.
