I’ve always been a rather frugal fellow. It’s not that money is terribly tight, it’s just that I’d prefer to keep my cash as close to my chest as possible. I’m that guy who’s going to troll thrift stores regardless of how much income he’s pulling in, the fellow who’s always on the lookout for the next deal.
Nothing wrong with that, right? Why pay full price for something when you can shell out a fraction of the cash for something that works just as well?
Of course, there are a number of risks associated with purchasing a product used that you’d never encounter when buying new. How do you know what you’re buying is of suitable quality? How do you know whether or not the person you’re buying from is reputable? These problems are never more pronounced than when buying old electronics. If you’re not careful, you will get burned.
And trust me, it’ll hurt a lot more than buying a poor-quality shirt.
Understand What you’re Buying
Your first task when buying a new piece of tech is to understand exactly what you’re looking for. Knowing the ins and outs of whatever it is you’re buying will make you considerably more effective at spotting a bum deal… much better at working out when you’re being fleeced. By forming an understanding of your target product, you’ll also know what questions to ask prospective sellers.
Basically, do your homework and know exactly what you want. Don’t expect a “salesman” to honestly tell you the in’s and out’s.
Know who you’re Buying From
It can’t hurt to run a bit of a background check on potential sellers. If you’re buying on eBay or a similar website, you’ll be able to tell quite a bit about your seller based on their rating. If you’re buying from a business or retail outlet, troll a few review sites such as Yelp (or just ask around your social networks).
Generally, try to avoid websites such as Craigslist. Although it’s certainly possible to find some downright awesome deals, there’s also no foolproof means of verifying whether or not a posting is legitimate. There are phishing scams and the like which run on Craigslist and it can sometimes to be hard to tell the difference.
Exercise caution.
Test the Product
Just as you’re probably not going to want to buy a car before you test-drive it, it’s not a good idea to purchase any gadgets unless you can try them out. While this isn’t necessarily feasible in the case of online transactions, when you’re buying something in person, you should insist on making sure it works before you finalize the deal.
Know the Terminology
While there are a few additional technical terms you might do well to learn based on what product it is you’re planning to purchase, there are two basic terms you should be familiar with when purchasing a used product from any location:
Refurbished: Basically, an item that has been repaired after being sent back to the manufacturer. A used Xbox, for example, likely suffered a red ring of death and was sent to Microsoft for repair before being re-sold.
Reconditioned: An item that’s simply been used and then fixed-up for resale. More often than not, this will be the item you’ll end up purchasing. A reconditioned item is also most likely to come with a warranty.
Keep the Paperwork
In all cases, once you’ve finalized your purchase, be sure to keep any paperwork you received through the sale. Particularly any papers pertaining to the warranty of the item you just bought. You’ll never know when you might need a receipt.
What other tips can you think of where the purchase of electronics is concerned?
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When purchasing electronics from eBay. Never assume anything. If the listing does not say the device is working, new, etc. don’t expect it to have those qualities. Beware non definitive description like: near mint, like new, nice, excellent. I plugged it in and it lights up, got this at an estate sale. If it doesn’t say it is working properly don’t expect it to be in working condition, even it listed as USED per eBay’s definition of used.
Steve Stone gives good advice. I buy nearly all my electrics from Ebay and most come from Hong Kong/Taiwan or even the Chinese mainland. The stuff I buy is usually computer parts so the people I buy from are small businesses that buy from other small business, etc. Never had a problem yet. What I stay clear of are people posting their own items for sale. In electronics, unless you have seen this person selling multiple items (like an auction buyer of sed PCs for example) then you really take a chance.