Dangers of Buying a Refurbished Cell Phone: Beware the Attractive Price

Refurbished cell phones may seem like a great deal for consumers and especially for re-sellers, but there are many pitfalls as opposed to buying new. The first thing a buyer must consider is that the reason a cell phone is refurbished is usually because there was something wrong with it in the first place. While sometimes the only flaw is purely cosmetic, refurbish companies fix up phones in bulk and keep poor records, so generally the buyer will not be able to find out what was wrong with the cell phone originally.

Warranties on refurbished cell phones are another huge consideration to the purchaser. Most refurbish companies that are reputable have warranties on their products, but they are short and limited in comparison to most new phone warranties. This is critical because phones can oftentimes have loose connections or faulty screens that can be temporarily fixed when placing them back in the shell or housing, but one accidental drop or shift and it is back to being junk.

Also with refurbished cell phones, a buyer must keep in mind that generally they are purchasing older technology. The phones are usually a year or two old by the time they are scrapped to be refurbished and may not have all the bells and whistles that a brand new model would. Years ago when the market switched to digital services, the refurbished market was flooded with analog-only cell phones that unfortunately because obsolete with most cell phone service providers quickly. The same has become true today with non-Bluetooth cells populating the refurbish market now that are unable to provide the popular feature. Be wary of phones that are very new to the market that are refurbished as well, not because of the quality of the refurbish job, but the quality of the phone model itself. Models that are less than 3 months old that have been scrapped by a consumer for refurbish are usually not user-friendly, perhaps have glitches or some other unwanted feature that made the consumer get a new cell phone so quickly.

Especially with re-sellers that are buying multiple phones from a refurbished cell phone wholesaler, a look at the companies reputation or talking with others that have purchased from the same source is helpful. Some refurbish companies go to great lengths to restore phones to original condition, while others take many shortcuts that result in a great percentage of faulty phones. Buying refurbished cell phones is often a better thing to do face-to-face than over the internet. A great deal of companies that sell online make it hard to return or fix a problem and it is usually costly to the purchaser who is usually responsible for the shipping both ways. When purchasing face-to-face, a buyer can also check out the quality of the cosmetic refurbish as well. Some companies only refurbish cell phones to a B-grade cosmetically, meaning there could be slight nicks in the housing or light scratches on the screen.

A buyer must also be aware with what comes with the refurbish that they are purchasing. Some refurbishes are "phone only", meaning they do not come with any charger or extras that are oftentimes included when buying new. After the accessories are purchased aftermarket, the refurbished phone price is usually the same or higher than purchasing a new phone.