Buying refurbished products can be a great way to save on purchases. And guess what? They are often nearly as good or just as good as their new counterparts. I’ve been buying refurbished products for years and have yet to regret a purchase.
Buying refurbished
For example, at the start of the pandemic, I fully transitioned to work from home and was in dire need of a solid pair of headphones. I checked out various options online, read some reviews, and watched some YouTube unboxing videos. I ended up settling for the Jabra Elite 75t Active Bluetooth headphones but was looking to get the best deal possible. After a few seconds of searching Amazon, I found a refurbished pair of headphones for 40% less than new. I added to my cart, checkout, and waited for my order to arrive. I wasn’t too sure what to expect as this was my first time purchasing refurbished from Amazon.
To my surprise, the headphones looked practically brand new. I tested them out with various devices and they worked flawlessly. Over a year later, I still use them on a daily basis. Needless to say, I’m very happy with my refurbished purchase.
Another recent example was my purchase of a Sony Alpha 6000 mirrorless camera. I was looking to get a little more out of my photos and move away from my smartphone as my primary camera. I checked out various sites but ended up settling for an open box camera in excellent condition from Best Buy. When it arrived in the mail, it was perfect. No scratches, dings, blemishes, or fingerprints. It literally felt, and smelled, brand new. Buying the open box item saved me about 30%. Oh yeah, and it takes great photos!
Final example
My final example is the computer I am writing this blog post on. My old computer was getting super slow and having difficulties connecting and staying connected to the internet. I decided it was time to purchase a new computer as I was putting in way too much effort in keeping the old computer running. I wanted something lightweight, portable, and fast.
After looking at various options online, I settled on the Apple MacBook Air M1 with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB hard drive. Brand new they run $1,449 before tax. I scoured Apple’s Refurbished selection after watching a YouTube video on refurbished Macs and settled on the one I’m using now. It cost $1,229 before tax. That’s a savings of $220. The computer came in the mail today in new packaging. There’s not a single flaw with this computer. It even smells brand new! In fact, I’m so happy with this purchase that I decided to write this post about buying refurbished products.
So in a nutshell, buying refurbished products can save you lots of money. I’ve been doing it for years and have yet to have a poor experience. For me, it all comes down to one question. Why give up more dollars for essentially the same product? I’d rather keep more of my money and use it for things like paying off debt or beefing up my emergency savings.