Is It A Good Idea To Buy Refurbished?

jason2583 · 11-16-2006, 02:30 PM

I saw a used treo 650 on Ebay. It said that it was completely refurbished. Would it be a good idea? What are the downfalls of a refurbished smart-phones? Should i just buy a regular used smart-phone?

plunker · 11-16-2006, 08:42 PM

Dangerous groung here. If I did that I would demand a 30 day money back thing in writing.

HeroIgnored · 11-18-2006, 02:13 PM

Buying refurbished, especially on ebay, is always tricky. The key thing is: Communication and research. Ask the seller what their return policy is, or if they even have one. See if warranties are available (usually if purchased), and, all in all, just know how the company/seller handles situations where a customer is not satisfied.

The other vital thing to do is to check their feedback. Don't just assume that, since they have 99.9% positive feedback that they are selling you a good product. Read their extended feedback report and find out how many treo 650s were purchased by customers, and how many of those people were satisfied with the product and the service they were given. Sometimes the find commands in your web browser helps a lot **find: 650**

If the seller ignores your questions or is rude, don't even bother. But, if they give good customer service, have good return policies, provide warranties, and have had lots of customers satisfied with the SAME product, then you can rest assured that your smart-phone will be a high quality refurbished one.

kdallen · 11-18-2006, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by HeroIgnored

Buying refurbished, especially on ebay, is always tricky. The key thing is: Communication and research. Ask the seller what their return policy is, or if they even have one. See if warranties are available (usually if purchased), and, all in all, just know how the company/seller handles situations where a customer is not satisfied.

The other vital thing to do is to check their feedback. Don't just assume that, since they have 99.9% positive feedback that they are selling you a good product. Read their extended feedback report and find out how many treo 650s were purchased by customers, and how many of those people were satisfied with the product and the service they were given. Sometimes the find commands in your web browser helps a lot **find: 650**

If the seller ignores your questions or is rude, don't even bother. But, if they give good customer service, have good return policies, provide warranties, and have had lots of customers satisfied with the SAME product, then you can rest assured that your smart-phone will be a high quality refurbished one.

Very solid advice.

pinarman · 11-18-2006, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by jason2583

I saw a used treo 650 on Ebay. It said that it was completely refurbished. Would it be a good idea? What are the downfalls of a refurbished smart-phones? Should i just buy a regular used smart-phone?

I have owned a Treo with Sprint for 2 years. Two months ago I decided to get a Treo 650 for my wife. She is in the medical field and it makes it convenient for accessing medical data without a seperate PDA. I bought a used one off of ebay that did not function properly and was more used (abused) than I expected. I returned it for a refund. I bought from another seller that deals exclusively in refurbished phones and when I recieved the phnoe the "Y" key did not work, other than that the phone was fine. I sent this one back as well and got a replacement from the same seller and this one works fine.
From my experience I would choose a seller that deals exclusively in cell phones. In addition, this second seller did offer a very reasonable extended warranty after the sale through a major reseller. I believe it was $24.95 for 2 years. I opted instead to get the replacement contract through her carrier (Verizon). Even though it will be more expensive in the long run ($5.00 per month) it wont matter what happens to the phone, whether it breaks, gets dropped in the toilet or gets stolen, she gets a new phone no questions asked. That was how I got my free upgrade from my Treo 300 to the 650. The 300 quit and was no longer made, so I got the newest model at the time.
If it matters, I believe the seller I used the second time was oemkings.
Good luck!

dsingleton10 · 07-14-2008, 03:06 PM

I just recently bought a refurbished treo 700w on ebay. It work great and only paid a faction of the retail price. Of course it all depends on the seller too. Look at their approval rating. Also I would recommend buying one from a ebay store seller and not just an individual. With my experience the store are alot more creditable. But like I said before look at their rating. Good luck

Originally Posted by jason2583

I saw a used treo 650 on Ebay. It said that it was completely refurbished. Would it be a good idea? What are the downfalls of a refurbished smart-phones? Should i just buy a regular used smart-phone?

dollface · 07-14-2008, 03:49 PM

I bought my first 650 on ebay but from a private seller who was upgrading to a 755, he had both his and his wife's 650's up for auction. I should have bought them both, they were clean, cared for and my husband is still using that phone now. I would suggest looking for a private seller who might be upgrading after a 2 year (or less) usage and has excellent ebay feedback.

Jekka · 07-19-2008, 09:17 PM

I recently bought a mint condition Treo 650 that was refurbished on eBay. It works great, the only complaint I had about it was a scratch on the screen, but it wasn't deep enough for me to actually see it while I was using the phone. But other than that it works great. I took me about two days and some long hours of reading and shopping, becareful what you buy!