Should You Buy Refurbished Electronics?

Should You Buy Refurbished Electronics?

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Is buying refurbished electronics a great way to save money, or a risky gamble on a mistreated gadget? Techquickie explains.

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Readers Comments (50)

  1. @larryhorne-px4ky November 14, 2024 @ 9:46 am

    I just bought a refurbished hp the other day and it was brand new. Not a scratch on it, the power cord was unopened.

    Reply
  2. 10 years ago, I bought a refurbished laptop for $500 off Amazon. Other than a drive swap to an SSD, it’s the device I’m using to type this message now. She works great even now.

    Reply
  3. @PerpetualProfit1 November 14, 2024 @ 9:49 am

    What about laptops ?

    Reply
  4. In my opinion, anyone can buy a refurbished product, but with a bit of repair.

    Reply
  5. Just pay the extra buck and you know at least you for longer. Bought this T490 Thinkpad refurbished for around 400 bucks , it has 48GB of RAM DDR4 , and they called it "like new" (it looked like it). But when running chrometabs or vscode it was struggling and often time was lagging behind…. Even just running roblox is a big challenge as it gets UPTO 3 to 20 FRAMES PER SECOND MAX (when the CPU is cooled down)

    i was wondering why my cpu was at 50-60 degrees while just running a chrome tab so i decided to take a look at the thermal paste and low and behold the ones who refurbished it put wayyy too much of it to the point that it was spilling over …..
    After changing the thermal it was still the same ;/

    Decided to buy a GIGABYTE G5 MF5 for double the price but it was well worth it.

    Reply
  6. Love that segue 😂

    Reply
  7. WARNING!!!!
    Got a stuck phone. the phone looked completely different from the original. now I don’t mean that there was a little wear and tear on the phone, it was a completely different phone. The camera at the back could be detached as it was only glued on. You also didn’t get a charger that worked. And I didn’t get any tree certificate either 😂

    Reply
  8. Should I buy a Ex-display laptop

    Reply
  9. @LaurentiusTriarius November 14, 2024 @ 9:59 am

    I bought a 3000$ MSI laptop for half the value and it was sold as "used" but in fact the company who sold it to me is known to buy pallets of returns. I think it’s more honest to sell them as "used" than refurbished. Refurbished means new parts to me.

    Reply
  10. I am watching this from my refurbished phone😂😂

    Reply
  11. @WhiteheadHugo-o3q November 14, 2024 @ 10:00 am

    Tyson Flat

    Reply
  12. I bought refurbished iPad Pro M2 1TB for 866 USD just because it has a little scratch on the logo. A new one is for around 1300 USD)

    Reply
  13. Everything new for me

    Reply
  14. I only buy refurbished monitors as my backup/2nd monitor in a dual monitor setup. They always last at least 3 years minimum and at $26 each, it’s well worth it.

    Reply
  15. One week of warranty? 😂 In the EU, second-hand goods sold by a retailer benefit from a mandatory legal warranty of one or two years, depending on the country. This does not apply to goods sold by an individual or at a public auction, though.

    Reply
  16. I bought my wife a refurbished iPad and the battery only lasted 10 minutes after getting charged.

    Reply
  17. ok so no gaming monitors even if they are 50% discount?

    Reply
  18. seeing Linus this young is uncanny

    Reply
  19. He says to not buy hard drives or SSDs refurbed, but what about a laptop that has a SSD in it? I found a refurb laptop on Amazon that I really like, but it has a 90 day return window, not like a year or anything, should I be concerned?

    Reply
  20. As the man says, buying new is STILL a lottery.
    I bought a new ultrabook (Dell XPS 13), kept it in immaculate condition, used it only moderately. One day it just stopped powering up. In one day from perfect to nothing. The only out of warranty repair Dell can offer me is I pay them for a refurbished motherboard. They get to keep the original motherboard as part of the contract. So in the end my ‘bought new’ laptop is going to be a refurbished one.
    (What they will do with the original motherboard is anyone’s guess – probably apply an easy fix and sell another device at huge profit)

    Reply
  21. Anyway, return policy sounds like “you have 30 day to try” so you have a chance for mistake

    Reply
  22. I bought a refurbished acer Chromebook 311 c722 for work, school, and casual use. I bought 2, not having faith in them, and it performs perfectly! The second one I gave to my sister who’s uses is for education.

    Reply
  23. @briananeuraysem3321 November 14, 2024 @ 10:15 am

    Bought a Pixel 7 Pro refurbished for 330$ USD and couldn’t be happier

    Reply
  24. Refurbished like new – condoms

    Reply
  25. @reoencarcelado5904 November 14, 2024 @ 10:16 am

    @Linus-Sebastian & @Linus-Tech-Tips:

    I’m sorry Linus, but <timestamp-1:25>-to-<timestamp-1:31> reminded-me-of when Monica Geller accused Chandler Bing of being "a dropper".

    (Please note, this scene is for-reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNCbopXE2k ).

    I propose putting a competition (a comparison, in this case (I guess an <overlay between all the times each person has dropped stuff> would be the only way to do it, since Chandler Bing is a fictional character)) between Linus Sebastian and Chandler Bing to see who is even-MORE "dropper".

    Reply
  26. 4 Years Old Angel Number Support Do You Have Any ? Support ? Or Waranty?

    Reply
  27. @advantage.network9441 November 14, 2024 @ 10:18 am

    the common misconception that refurbrished hardware or used hardware is bad and outdated no longer holds true. You can get close-to-new components for a fraction of the dollar cost of the retail price. We believe its important to re-use hardware!!

    Reply
  28. IT SEEM LEGIT THEN TO BUY REFUBLISHED LIKE BEATS OR APPLE PRODUCTS

    Reply
  29. Atlast found a good informative video on refurbished PC.

    Reply
  30. Basically amounts to where you buy it from. Refurbished could be a great deal or it could mean we did a quick once over and didn’t find a problem and you’re getting a lemon. Graphics cards in particular are notorious for this. They will literally plug them in see if they function and mark them good in some places. I’ve literally got a DOA graphics card that was supposedly refurbished directly from EVGA.

    Reply
  31. I simply refuse to buy anything refurbished unless it’s unopened. I would rather spend extra money than use a product that’s already damaged, used, and not fresh anymore

    Reply
  32. I understand ssd, but hdd is actually a fake news
    Refurbished by the producer hdd’s are tested better than any normal drive you would find in local store
    Sometimes, they are even better than any new drive, because they are older, and new hdd’s, well, kinda sucks
    they are being cheaped out to be exact
    they still are fine as a mass storage, but 40mb/s vs 100-180mb/s is a big difference
    and longevity is also cut down in new ones

    Reply
  33. Do you guys recommend buying a refurbished gpu from msi on newegg? I found 2 models of the 3080 from msi, one of them is a GAMING Z TRIO(600$) model, and the other is a VENTUS 3X PLUS(588$) there are both from newegg, and they are way cheaper than the ones that are sold locally in my country.

    Reply
  34. @shatakshipandey8014 November 14, 2024 @ 10:27 am

    laptops and electronics can get so expensive. I am going to buy a lot of refurbished electonics during university.I am not gonna spend a fortune buying brand new.

    Reply
  35. You can get a great deal on a refurb Pc
    HOWEVER,
    It will be old tech. Not the latest nor the fastest altho they may have WIN11
    The HDD will be smaller. Look closely at Walmarts Pc line. Most are refurbs.
    I was looking at DELL business computers and thought I was going to get
    a great deal until I read the specs CAREFULLY. I ended up buying a brand
    new DELL i5 12th gen w 8G ram & 256G SSD which I upgraded to 16G ram
    and a 4T SSD. I paid $499 from DELL. Brand New. I’m into it for about $800

    !

    Reply
  36. @stephensnell5707 November 14, 2024 @ 10:30 am

    Refurbished electronics absolute pure junk
    Buying brand new is best

    Reply
  37. maybe this isnt the best idea, but ive bought all of my moniters from the acer official refurbished store on ebay, i got a 1440p 240hz 32in panel, and a 1080p 24in 240hz moniter, and they both came in good packaging, no signs of use, and worked as intended. and it is SO MCUH CHEAPER. im talking like a 30-45% discount, which is a lot of money when you are talking about the 300-600 dollar range.

    Reply
  38. @HabeshaMusics231 November 14, 2024 @ 10:32 am

    Republishe = Rubbish

    Reply
  39. would you trust refurbished tablet from ebay?

    Reply
  40. a second hand tech with warranty

    Reply
  41. It all depends on your luck

    Reply
  42. This dude is quite funny

    Reply
  43. McClure Burg

    Reply
  44. No Unless You Want To Run Kid Games ? BUT ? Is It Up Grade able To Apps ? OR Catch Data ?

    Reply
  45. @theballerina4476 November 14, 2024 @ 10:42 am

    Nice video…. Great source of knowledge

    Reply
  46. Currently considering a refurbed version of the laptop I’m about to buy, price difference is like £10, but the refurb one has a much better GPU in it. RTX 3060 6gb vs 3070 8gb, the benchmark scores are way better and I’m thinking that these laptops are probably built around the same time period, so they are as old as one another, but the refurb has clearly had a fan issue or whatever and been sent back. Might just do my part for the planet and get a refurb.

    Reply
  47. @LaurentiusTriarius November 14, 2024 @ 10:43 am

    Earbuds, pls don’t buy refurbished earbuds. Eww

    Reply
  48. @techhelpwizardgenie3146 November 14, 2024 @ 10:44 am

    As a tech in the refurb sector let me say that goods that are damaged are insured and sent to recyclers. Less scrupulous recyclers will attempt to refurbish them and resell them after being paid to dispose of them. The company I work for buys out corporate leases and auctions from large tech giants such as google when they do layoffs or upgrades. Really it comes down to contacting your merchant. If they don’t want to chat, odds are they have something to hide.

    Reply
  49. refurbished used is better than non-refurbished used hahaha

    Reply
  50. I quite like a low level of "fixer upper". Case in point – my ‘new’ laptop was a grade C, had no HDD, but was tested to BIOS and everything ran just fine.

    New SDD, a HDD caddy to replace the Blu ray…

    Happy days

    Reply

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