subject: Tips For Selecting Refurbished Laser Printers [print this page] What you need to know about refurbished laser printers.
There are always lots of questions that need to be answered before replacing your old printer in your home office.
If you've decided on the brand of laser printer you want to buy, you still may be wondering about a refurbished vs. a new one, especially if buying a new one is outside your budget limits. Lets say you know which brand of printer you want, Canon for instance, and you know you can't justify the price of the model that would best suit your needs, you might entertain the thought of a refurbished model.
Do you know anything about refurbished printers or other products?
Would buying a refurbished printer be like buying a used one? If I buy one of these, am I just buying a used printer?
You may be wondering why it's offered at a lower price if it still works
You may be thinking of that old saying that buying a used printer is just buying someone elses problems
How do I go about finding one?
How much could you expect to save by buying one of these vs. a new one? What is, normally, a fair price to pay for one in relation to a new one?
Is there some sort of specifications that set up what the term refurbished means?
Let's take a look and see if we can answer some of your basic concerns, ok?
Many of the printers you can buy as refurbished have never been used or have been used very little.
Some printers were merely cancelled by the consumer or were returned to the factory by a consumer for one reason or another.
Because of the different policies of the various factories, you might see these products offered as refurbished because they couldn't be considered as new and therefore you can get some outstanding deals.
Another source of refurbished products is caused by overstocking of products or models that were used as demos.
They also might be the returns from a leasing or rental program.
They also can be ones that saw little use like from a company that used them for temp assignments, etc.
Sometimes a printer might be sent back simply because it had a slight blemish on the exterior which in no way affected the functionality of it.
Many times people don't read the instructions that come with their new printer and therefore think it isn't working so they return it to the store. In this case, the dealer or manufacturer simply follows the instructions to restore the printer to service and sells it as refurbished.
Some customers may return the printer because they have 90 days to return it and a new model came out in the meantime.
Refurbished units are often no more than these types of printers that the dealer or manufacturer has received back and checked out but cant sell as new.
No industry standard has been set for naming a printer as refurbished.
You might find a unit that has only been cleaned and mildly tested being put out for sale as refurbished.
This is probably the rarer occasion, but it pays to know the company you are dealing with has a reputation for honesty.
You should be especially careful when dealing with private parties who advertise a printer as refurbished when in actuality it may just be a used printer.
A reputable company will do a thorough check of the printer and repair or replace any defective parts so you should be getting a machine that is more closely related to a brand new one.
