Which experiences did you have with buying refurbished electronics?

[noname223]

I want to buy a new smartphone. I had two phones in my mind Xiaomi X6 pro 5G 12 GB RAM (new 240 Euros) and 512 GB or the Xiaomi 13T with 12 GM RAM and 512 GB (new 420 Euros).
The latter one seems to have an extremely good camera (compared to mine Samsung A22 5G). Thus far I always bought phones for 200 bucks. But I think now I am willed to pay a little bit more. However, 420 Euros is beyond my pain limit. Which would be 350 Euors.

I looked at many refurbished sites. And I think I only will use websites which are extremely well rated where I live. And I think I will only buy a used phone there with the highest rating "excellent".
The problem is the Xiaomi 13T would still cost 370 Euros. And I am not willed to pay that much. So I guess I will wait until it gets cheaper or when a good offer emerges. The refurbish website I chose even upload pictures of their phones which is sort of a green flag and everyone says it is the best place for refurbished electronics.

What is your opinion on refurbished electronics? Should I forget about it? It is like rolling the dice a little bit.

 

[bankai]

I bought an expensive refurbished Samsung Galaxy S9 phone for my mother 7 years ago.Best decision ever. Best gift I've gotten someone. It changed her life. She went from a normal dumb phone which didn't even have Internet access to being able to use WhatsApp and Telegram, share pics with myself and my sister and browse YouTube. Post comments and have a lot of fun..Watch movies,listen to music,etc.

So this phone has lasted her seven years. It's still going strong. We changed the battery once at the authorized service center.

I have a Galaxy Note 9 that I bought new, though also running on seven years. Superb phone.

Buying refurbished is definitely A roll of the dice. There are also some bad stories. But overall, I think you can risk it. I hope there's at least a three to six month warranty.My mother's phone came with a six month warranty.

 

[noname223]

I bought an expensive refurbished Samsung Galaxy S9 phone for my mother 7 years ago.Best decision ever. Best gift I've gotten someone. It changed her life. She went from a normal dumb phone which didn't even have Internet access to being able to use WhatsApp and Telegram, share pics with myself and my sister and browse YouTube. Post comments and have a lot of fun..Watch movies,listen to music,etc.

So this phone has lasted her seven years. It's still going strong. We changed the battery once at the authorized service center.

I have a Galaxy Note 9 that I bought new, though also running on seven years. Superb phone.

Buying refurbished is definitely A roll of the dice. There are also some bad stories. But overall, I think you can risk it. I hope there's at least a three to six month warranty.My mother's phone came with a six month warranty.

12 months warranty thanks to EU Regulation. And I can send it back within the first 30 days.

 

[bankai]

12 months warranty thanks to EU Regulation. And I can send it back within the first 30 days.

There you go. Use the hell out of it for the first three weeks. That should highlight any potential issues.

 

[sinfonia]

Very good ones. I boight a used Pixel 4a last year and I'm (still) very happy with it. Works perfectly fine and does what it's supposed to do. I have no love fot fancy new smartphones, tbh. But my old ones were defect and I wasn't able to download apps anymore, so I nneeded a new one. I think I paid a little over 100€ for it, I don't remember exactly. I might buy a new ttablet on one of these webaites soon because watching films om my phone isn't such a great experience.

People nowadays have no appreciation for technology, it makes me sad.

 

[angelalexandra]

its probably a bit hit or miss, but if youve got photos then its probaby worth going refurbished, i grabbed a second hand z flip 3 a few years ago for really cheap (waaaaay cheaper than brand new) and i love it to pieces

 

[bleeding_heart_show]

In my opinion it is easier and safer to buy something in decent condition and refurbish it yourself (provided you have prior knowledge of the device).

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

It's been a bit of a mixed bag for me really. I've bought refurbished electronics that looked and worked like new, whereas other items didn't work well or were visibly damaged (scratches on the casing, dead pixels, etc).

I think one of the problems is the vague and generalized categories the sellers love to group these bulk items into. They'll say "Excellent condition" or "8.2/10" or some such. Like what the fuck does that even mean? Just take individual pics of everything and be honest about the functionality and we wouldn't have these issues.