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Buying A Refurbished Cell Phone? Read The Facts About It First

Sat, Apr 4, 2009

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Cell Phone Refurbished. The popularity of refurbished cell phones continues to grow among modern day consumers. Refurbished phones are an excellent way to afford a phone that you desire without having to pay more money than you want to. However, if you are looking at buying a refurbished phone, you need to make sure you do a bit of research to ensure you’re getting what you want. Some retailers use the “refurbished” label very liberally and will try to sell you a phone that is of poor quality.

Usually, the best place to get a refurbished cell phone is from a reputable third party dealer or, on some occasions, from the manufacturer themselves. When you find the phone that you want and find a retailer that sells a refurbished model of the phone, make sure you answer some important questions. Is there any way to learn about the history of the phone (unfortunately, there usually is not, but it never hurts to try)? Are there any cosmetic flaws? Does it have the latest software available for the phone? Where was it refurbished (again, look for a reputable company)?

Finally, you should always look to get a warranty on your refurbished phone. Any good vendor will offer some sort of warranty (typically 30-60 days) on the phone to ensure you get a product you are happy with and that is fully functional. If there is no warranty offered, you should strongly consider looking elsewhere as you could easily get stuck with a malfunctioning phone and have no way to return it for a new one.

The most common reasons for electronics based products (IE: cell phones) becoming “refurbished” are:
1. The product was a “return” by the customer that purchased it, which means that they returned the item to the store that they bought it from within 30 days of the purchase date. More often than not, there is literally nothing even wrong with the product; the person who purchased it just ends up not wanting it.
2. The product sat on the store shelf too long and became “overstock”. When this happens, the store will either sell the product for a clearance price, or send the product back to the manufacturer; when the product is sent back to the manufacturer, the manufacturer will, in come cases, label the product “refurbished”, and then sell the “refurbished” product to specific retailers/wholesalers for a greatly reduced price. The funny part about this is the simple fact that the product is still literally brand new, and has never even been opened at all.
3. The product was a “demonstration” or “display model”. When this is the case, the product eventually gets sent back to the manufacturer; the manufacturer then inspects (and repairs, if necessary) the product, and labels it as refurbished.
4. The product was opened. When this is the case, there is nothing wrong with the product, other than it needs to be sent back to the manufacturer to be repackaged, in which case, oddly enough, it is then labeled as “refurbished”.
5. Shipping damage. When this happens, it usually just means that only the box that the product was in got damaged, but if anything other than the product was damaged (accessories, or the actual unit), it is completely fixed or replaced by the manufacturer.
6. There was a defect in the product. This is actually probably the most rare scenario. When a product has defect (or cosmetic damage) it is sent back to the manufacturer for repair, and anything that was broken or defective is replaced with brand new parts; when the process is complete, the product is literally brand new again, and is actually less likely to become defective than the non refurbished products sitting on the shelves of the retail stores; this is due to the fact that refurbished products under go very extensive testing.

Find more information about refurbished cell phones here.

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