SAVE MONEY WITH REFURBISHED DEVICESThere is always a risk involved in buying second-hand gadgets. A safer bet is to use websites selling refurbished goods. The sites offer warranty and carry out thorough checks before putting devices up for sale. Karan Bajaj lists the sites you can check out.

WHAT ARE REFURBISHED DEVICESIn layman terms, refurbished devices are second-hand products that are returned to the manufacturer. The reason for return can be an exchange offer for a newer product, damaged box, demonstration unit or simply returned by the customer after using it for a brief period and finding it wanting. The returned products are then checked for any issues and once they are verified to be free of any defects, they are re-packed and put up for sale as refurbished products. The difference in the price of a new product and a refurbished product can range from a few hundred to several thousand rupees.

To try out how good is a refurbished device, we tried out a few of the services to get an idea. We chose a Nexus 5 from Gobol, HP Laptop from Greendust and a Moto X2 from Karma Recycling to see if it is worth spending the money on a refurbished gadget.

THE REFURBISHED EXPERIENCE

WEBSITES IN INDIA

greendust.comGreendust deals in mobiles, tablets, laptops, desktops, home appliances, kitchen gadgets and even healthcare equipment. You get a 3- day replacement guarantee and depending on the product, a seller warranty of 3 or 6 months.

togofogo.comWhere most offer 3 to 6 months warranty, togofogo offers a 1-year warranty on the refur-bished products. The warranty is provided by their partner WarrantyBazaar. Currently they only offer mobiles, tablets and laptops.

reglobe.inReglobe is a portal that lets you sell your older gadgets. They take laptops, mobiles, desktops, TVs, consoles and even home appliances. Just enter your gadget details, get a quote and if you approve of it, they will pay you cash and pick up the device from your home.

karmarecycling.inCurrently only has smartphones, tablets or laptops on offer. Karma stands out from the others as it has sells refurbished products from an ebay store. This adds an extra sense of security for buyers as the eBay Paisapay factor is involved.

gobol.in Instead of purchasing products from individu-als, Gobol sources products directly from the manufacturer along with brand authorisation. What sets Gobol apart is that they also have brand new unused products available on dis-counts.

reboot.co.inThis is a Microsoft registered refurbisher with a focus on desktops and laptops. They were also the first ones to offer refurbished fitness trackers. They stand out from the rest as they let you customise your desktop purchase with components of your choice.

overcart.comOffering 7-day return and exchange, overcart is one of the few sites that offers brand war-ranty on sold products instead of seller war-ranty. It mainly deals with mobiles, tablets, consoles and accessories.

valuecart.inThis one is a new entrant in the segment and has limited options available at this point. They deal only in refurbished smartphones at the moment and have a mixed collection of devic-es with manufacturer and seller warranty.

surpluss.inSurpluss covers mobiles, tablets, laptops as well as home appliances. Majority of their products are open box products (opened for demo or inspection) so you get brand warranty on them. Plus, they have a dedicated section on certified pre-owned products.

Nexus 5 by GobolWe received the original box and accessories. While the box was not in mint condition, what impressed was the box was sealed shut with stickers that verified inspection of the phone. The phone itself looked as good as a brand new device – there were no visible dents or scratches and the display was also clean. We used the phone for a few days and there was no way one could tell the difference between the refurbished phone and a new one.

HP Laptop by GreendustThe blue coloured unit we received came in its original box with extra foam padding for protection. It was wrapped nicely in plastic and had been wiped clean. We did notice that there were random stickers on the bottom of the laptop – most likely from inspection of the device. However, the top lid and area around the keyboard was clean. Even the battery life of the laptop was as expected from a new laptop and the performance was also great.

Moto X2 by Karma RecyclingThis was the disappointment. The phone came in a large box which had the phone in a bubble wrap while the original box of the phone was kept separately. The phone’s screen had not been cleaned properly and was smudged. There was visible damage to the body of the phone too. While the phone worked great and performed as good as new, one look and anyone could tell thet this is not a new device and has been badly handled.

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28 TechnologyThe Economic Times Wealth, December 7-13, 2015