Clip+ on ebay: new vs refurbished

[rhsyen]

Hi there ABI forums!

I recently sold my iPod Touch and have been thinking about replacing it with a Sansa Clip+. I'm in New Zealand, and there aren't any here locally - my two best choices seem to be buying it from Amazon or buying it from Ebay.

Shipping included, buying from Amazon will cost me about $70 for a 4GB model, whereas some ebay auctions are much cheaper than that.

My question is, are the "manufacturer refurbished" models (such as this one) on ebay risky? I'd rather get a new one but the price difference is quite noticeable, and the listing says it's as if brand new.

Thanks!

[bikertrash]

The seller has over a hundred thousand interactions and a 99.5% positive rating, I'd take a chance at that price over 70 bucks. Its a shame that Sansa's are so expensive down under, here stateside 4 gig Zips are starting to drop below 40 bucks. If you know anyone from the states that are making a trip, have them grab one for you.

[rhsyen]

Good point. It isn't so much the seller that I'm worried about though - its whether a refurbished model is as good as a brand new one or not. I've never bought something refurbished so I can't really call on past experience.

[WalkGood]

I bought 3 refurbished v1 Clips a few years back, IIRC 2 from Buy.com and I can’t recall the vendor on the third. That said, they all still work fine and I’m surprised how well their batteries have held up. This is not to say that all refurbs are the way to go, I wasn’t concerned about buying them because they had a 3 week return warranty and I tested them well when first received. Today I mostly use my new Clip Zip because of the expansion slot allows me to keep more tunes on it. But if I’m going canoeing, to the beach or anywhere risky I’ll still use one of the refurbs.

bikertrash does make a good point if you know anyone going state side or if you have a friend that could buy one and ship to you marked as gift to reduce any import tax. This way you could get a larger size as the 8GB go for around $55 and even around $45 on sale, just a thought.

[Tapeworm]

Originally Posted by rhsyen

My question is, are the "manufacturer refurbished" models (such as this one) on ebay risky? I'd rather get a new one but the price difference is quite noticeable, and the listing says it's as if brand new.

Just my own opinion (and I know there are many that disagree), but I won't buy hardly anything "re-furbished", especially electronics. For the small difference one pays to buy brand-new, getting a mfg. warranty to me is worth the extra $$.

I don't want to buy someone else's problem/return. Yes, there are many instances where perfectly good players are returned due to ignorance on how they work, etc. but how do you know you're going to get one of these?

In this particular case, SanDisk does not do any re-furbing. So the "manufacturer refurbished" claim is mis-leading. Same if you see "factory refurbished". Yes, they are re-furbed in a factory, and maybe by a manufacturer (or subsidiary compnay), but it is not the original manufacturer.

That said, I know of many who have bought re-rurbs and are quite happy and satisfied with their product and decision. I say great and more power to them. But it is a gamble, and as Clint Eastwood so smugly said in Dirty Harry, " Do you feel lucky?"

[rhsyen]

Interesting! It's odd then that so many listings say something like "Refurbished by Sandisk".

Anyway I've browsed a few of those top sellers' ratings and looked at the ones relating to refurbished clip+'s and haven't found anything really negative. I just bought a refurbished clip+ for 45 NZD, which compared to $63 for the same 2GB model on Amazon seems like a good deal to me. Hopefully it lasts, though based on the reputation of the clip+ it doesn't seem like I need to worry too much about that.


Thanks for the help! I'll rockbox it after I make sure it works well :P

[mamamia88]

I paid about $20 for a refurbished one awhile back and am supriesed it's still working. I wasn't expecting it to last this long but for $20 i took a chance