An important aspect of ‘used’ machines becoming more accepted by today’s standards is the distinction between simply ‘used’ machines and refurbished. Both of these machines are technically used but refurbished machines typically carry noticeable benefits. Used machines have been common for a long time really, typically being sold across sites like eBay for very low prices as opposed to their retail price. However, the vast majority of them are listed and sold by individual end-users with no company ties or guarantees for quality. Refurbished items however have become a much larger part of the market in recent years with refurbished laptops, desktops etc. So what kind of benefits can you expect from refurbished products?
Most used items on auction sites and the like are a much riskier purchase than a reputable refurbishing store like Studio Macs. A lot of the time the only protection you have is PayPal’s buyer protection but this can be quite a hassle and is far from the ideal level of support you’d expect when purchasing a computer and if any issues crop up, you will often be caught out with no assistance and sometimes even hostility from the sellers in extreme cases.
On top of that you get far lengthier warranties attached to refurbished products than you would typically find on used listings.
This support layer and peace of mind is one of the greatest differences between used and refurbished that you will find and it’s a big reason why refurbished products are becoming a safer purchase for many, even if the cost is higher than used products.
After all, you can’t put a price on peace of mind!
