Thrifty Living: Purchasing Open Box or Refurbished Items

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One way the savvy shopper can save money is to check out open box or refurbished items.

What are they?

Open Box Items --- Items that are floor models, box was damaged in shipping, a customer opened the box then returned it.

Refurbished items -- These are items that were bought new but returned by the customer for minor defects.   The manufacturer will fix the flaw then resell it at a lower price.

Both of these can be a gateway to saving money on high end items, especially newer models.

Sometimes stores will also sell the items that were featured as floor models as well.

Couple of questions to ask before you buy:

1.  What's the return policy with these purchases?

2.  What's the warranty like?

3.  Why is it in the shape that it's in?

4.  What was the problem with it before it was refurbished?

5.  If I pay cash for it can I get an even bigger discount?

6. How many other returns have you had on this product?

ONLINE SHOPPING --

Most electronic sites have an open box tab or link. Check it out and see what you can find.

So tell me what have you bought under open box or refurbished labels?

I bought my 32 GB 3GS iPhone refurbished from AT&T for $49.  (I'm not kidding that was a one day online sale through AT&T)

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