subject: Questions to Ask Before Buying a Refurbished Notebook [print this page] You should be careful when making any electronics purchase, and this is especially true when buying a refurbished notebook. You want to make sure that you are investing your money in a quality product, and that owning your new laptop will be a hassle-free experience. But what can you to do ensure this? Here are 5 important questions you should ask any retailer or e-tailer when making this purchase.
1. What is the return policy? If something does go wrong with your computer, you want to know that the seller offers a good return policy. Can you get your money back, or are you limited to an exchange for another model? How many days do you have to return it? Most sellers offer a 30 day return policy, but occasionally you will find a 45, 60, or even 90 day policy. And if you bought the computer online, is it free to ship it back? Hopefully your computer runs smooth and error-free, but if it does not, the last thing you want to experience is a difficult return process.
2. Does it come with a warranty? Return policies are great when an incident happens within the first 30 or so days of owning the computer, but what happens when it breaks down 5 months later? The answer to that question if you do not have a warranty is that you will be paying for repairs out of your own pocket. Every seller has their own policy regarding warranties, and you may find that you have a better chance of getting a warranty when buying direct from a manufacturer. Be sure to research the availability and length of a warranty before buying. It may be worth paying a little extra upfront to avoid the headache and expense of taking care of repair issues yourself.
3. How does the price compare to a new model? Let's be honest, the main appeal of buying a refurbished notebook is that you can save a pretty good chunk of change. But once you start comparison shopping models across different sites, you may find that new models are not that much more expensive than their reconditioned counterparts. This is especially true around back-to-school and holiday seasons, where retailers and manufacturers trot out their very best deals in order to stand out from the competition. Plus, if when asking the aforementioned questions you find that the seller you're looking at doesn't offer a warranty or a good return policy, then it will be worth spending a little extra money for a new one that has that coverage. At the end of the day, it's all about finding the best value for your money, and with that in mind you should always be certain to spend time comparison shopping to verify you're getting a great deal.
4. Who has performed the reconditioning? This is an important distinction to raise any time you are buying from an individual or from a less reputable seller. If you're searching the web for a refurbished notebook, you are sure to run into some smaller e-tailers that you may not be all that familiar with. they may be performing their own reconditioning on used models, and it may not be as rigorous as that performed by a manufacturer or a larger seller. So be sure to check out who is certifying the computer and what steps it goes through in the process.
5. Do you need your laptop customized? At this point, customers have come to expect to have the ability to customize their pc when they buy it. From colors to processors to RAM and everything in-between, tailoring each aspect of a pc to your own specific wants and needs is a common expectation. But when buying a refurbished notebook will not afford you that opportunity. Your selection will be limited to whatever reconditioned computers are available at any given time. That said, you can search inventory to find one that aligns with your desired specs, and you may come pretty close to getting what you are looking for. But you should know going in that you won't be able to design your dream laptop.
Don't make a mistake on such an important investment; ask yourself and the seller the 5 questions listed above, and both the process of buying and the process of owning your new pc will go smoothly.
Questions to Ask Before Buying a Refurbished Notebook
