Thread: Buying Refurbished Products

You can purchase refurbished products straight from the manufacturer or through a third party liquidator.

There are pros and cons when it comes to buying refurbished products. For example, brand new products will come with a warranty, however, refurbished products might not even come with such a guarantee.

Well, refurbished products are just like anything else you buy, it will depend on the supplier and product.

I have seen places where they actually grade the stock they offer. It usually goes by a lettering system. A is top notch merchandise, B includes minor scratches, C might have dents/cracks, D and F are not even worth the time.

Never knew about the lettering system, but thank you for your replies!

Are refurbished products worth your time at all? I mean what constitutes a refurbished product? Was it defective at one time or was it just previously used?

Refurbished essentially means that something that was once broken, that was once not working, has been repaired and is now in working order. Unfortunately the quality of refurbished stock can vary greatly depending on the supplier you are ordering from.

The determining factor is how was it repaired?: were original parts or lower quality parts used in the repair process, was it refurbished by an experienced factory worker or by a part time reseller, and so on.

If you have a small starting capital and wish to enter highly competitive product categories in a highly competitive marketplace like eBay then your only profitable route to market is often the resale of refurbished goods.

Do refurbished products generally generate more profit than new goods? I am into many different kinds of electronics, and I might be interested in researching these a little more.