One Careful Owner

Technology is great, but it can be expensive to keep up with. It’s also fair that a lot of us as consumers simply don’t need the latest and greatest model of any given electronics; a 2021 laptop is still going to be refreshingly zippy compared to your classic from 2012. The average user browsing the web or running Microsoft Office doesn’t really benefit from that 10% performance boost between model years. What then if there was a cheaper way of getting like-new technology at a discount rate? Something which had most of the benefits of buying new, but offered a fairly substantial saving over the cost of the flagship? As it happens, such programs exist and aren’t difficult to take advantage of! Allow me to share with you, the secrets of refurbished electronics.

Devices find their way back to manufacturers for various reasons during any given model family’s lifecycle. Warranty swap outs, recycling programs, factory seconds; all totally valid ways the likes of Apple and Samsung might find themselves with a pile of perfectly viable, one-generation old devices. Being that they have a ready supply of spare parts and expertise at their disposal, it makes total sense that they would offer ways to save this tech from landfill and in all honesty, offer them for sale in a condition which rivals brand new. It’s a win for the environment, and it can often be a pretty big win for the end user as well. Should we be at all nervous about buying previously loved smartphones and such, though?

To counter that question, consider what a brand stands to lose by selling less-than-perfect devices into the ecosystem. Samsung let’s say, does far more harm than good releasing refurbished phones which don’t act and look like new, given how important brand image is in this arena. The same goes for laptops, televisions, microwaves - any refurbishment program offered by the original manufacturer of the device (actually the only type I recommend) would be remiss to sell shoddy or badly repaired merchandise. So you can, by virtue of the way a brand values its image, be assured you’re getting a solid product.

So your confidence is high and you’re shopping for a new-ish phone or portable. How much money can you really save here? Well taking Apple as an example as they have one of the more highly regarded certified-refurbished programs, it can easily be several hundred dollars. The current generation 24” iMac can be snapped up for $200 less than a brand new machine. Outgoing M1 MacBook Air? $150 less. 2021’s Apple Watch? $90 less. Both Apple and Samsung actually offer the same warranty coverage on their renewed items as they do on their new ones, so there really are very few downsides for those of us who don’t care to buy bleeding edge hardware.

Would I buy refurbished devices for my critical business machines? No. Not because they’re inherently troublesome, but simply because when technology’s purchased as an investment, there are real world returns on buying the latest generation of something. For most of us however it’s an ideal solution to wanting replacements for our aging computers, phones and even smart devices. Buying directly from the manufacturer, knowing it’s carrying a warranty and understanding these aren’t the same as eBaying something of mysterious origin and quality means that more of us can afford to get more from our technology, which is always a win in my book.