The hubby and I have, in general, steered clear of refurbished products. As a rule, we're pretty big fans of full warranties on products. The only used items I love are books (there's something so wonderful about a previously loved book). We even avoided used cars in our marriage, stating for a long time that we would always want a car with a full warranty and known owner history.
That is, until we were in a pinch, needed a larger car, and found the used car of our dreams for the right price.
Suddenly, the savings (and the Carfax report) became worth it, and we amended our used vs. new car statement to allowing used cars where we could validate the previous history and reliability of the vehicle.
As for refurbished items like electrics and such...well, we haven't been as willing to test the waters, so to speak. Between not being able to determine the past record of the item, as well as the shortened warranty, we had trouble justifying the purchase of a refurbished item.
I have, however, decided to try a couple refurbished kitchen appliances, and I'll explain my thought-process, the savings, the concerns I have, and will hopefully be able to update my readers to the long-term result in due times.
I have wanted a full-size Ninja Kitchen System 1100 for some time. I had a $30 food processor that bit the dust on its third use, and had been wanting a replacement for a while. We bought a $20 Ninja Express Chop and LOVED it, but I desperately needed something with more than a 2 cup capacity. However, when you're working on a budget, spending $159.99 just willy-nilly for a food processing system seemed extreme.
My lovely hubby had some spending money set aside, and he willingly purchased a refurbished Ninja Kitchen System 1100 for me for $69.00 at Big Lots. The price was over 50% off of retail, and beyond missing a dough paddle (which we don't need because we mix our dough with the Kitchenaid mixer), it seems to work just fine. As an added bonus, because it is a system of many interworking parts, Ninja offers easy replacement for even the motor, if we end up desperate if something quits on us. So, due to the low cost and easy access to replacement parts, that seemed to justify the purchase, and also the shorter warranty.
When our state tax refund arrived, I ordered a Cuisinart convection toaster oven/broiler, which was a refurbished unit as well. I have yet to receive it, but I felt safe enough doing it because it was through Wal-mart, who offered an extended warranty for it for $6.00. Considering the retail price was originally $175.00, and I paid $69.00 for it, plus the $6.00 extended warranty, I still received a great deal being able to snag an oven with all of the features we had been eyeing, at the cost of a cheap one (which we have already, and which we HATE). So, in this case, the low cost of the unit, plus being able to extend the warranty, and at the same time getting as many of the features as we wanted seemed to justify the "refurbished" label. We shall see whether I still say that once the unit arrives.
So, we're trying something new in an effort to save some money and work within our budget, and I'm curious to see how this new shopping strategy pans out. Right now, if these items work well for us, we will have bought over $300 worth of products for about $140-150 dollars, less than the retail for just one of the items. Have you had luck with refurbished items?
My husband and I bought a refurbished printer about two years ago. When we bought it, it was a top of the line HP 3-in-1 wireless printer that we bought for 1/3 the price because it was refurbished.
ReplyDeleteThe wireless feature never worked properly. I'd try to send files to be printed and it would never print. We even tried connecting our laptops to the printer so they were actually wired and it still had problems with not printing the entire document.
Sometimes all of the lights on the printer would just start blinking like crazy and the only way to make it stop was to unplug it from the wall.
Finally, I tried to print off a powerpoint presentation for a class I'm in a few weeks ago, and I selected to have 4 slides printed per page, front and back, and in black and white. The printer decided to print off 2 slides per page and in color. And only the last three slides. It officially had a mind of it's own.
We started monitoring the market for a new printer that evening. We found a couple we liked and eventually saw that one of them went on sale at an electronics store about a hour away (it went from $199.99 to $139.99!). We bought it with cash, brand new with a 3-year warranty. After we got it set up, I tried to print off that same powerpoint with the same options and it worked 100% perfect.
That's the last time I'll buy a refurbished piece of technology. I can't say the same though for kitchen appliances. Since the kitchen appliance market doesn't change as dramatically as technology, I don't see it as much of a risk. I usually look for used things on eBay. Last year, I waited until Black Friday and ordered a new toaster oven from Target.com for a whopping $19.00 (with shipping and everything.) I use it several times a week and it sure beats spending $50+ on one!