Is Buying “Refurbished” Working Out For You?

Hi Sabine,

I’m sorry I’m responding to this post so long after you published it. I have been working so much that I have barely had time to see what day it is sometimes. I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all that you do on this blog and that so much of what you write about hits home. So, Happy New Year !

Your post about buying refurbished items hit home with me since I am constantly looking for ways to save. I have had lots of experience both good and not-so-good with refurbished goods. Overall however, I have saved good money as a result of buying either refurbished, open box or discounted goods.

I have been a loyal Big Lots shopper for years and I’ve learned what to watch out for and understand what really is a value from such stores including the local area Bargain Hunt stores. With food items I’ve found that the price may be lower at discount stores such as Big Lots, however the expiration date may be much closer to ending. Kroger will often have the same items on sale for close to the same or even lower prices with normal expiration dates. Case in point: Big Lots organic black beans $1.00 expires in several months. Kroger organic black beans .99 cents expiring in December, 2019. I have also found that some of the food items at Big Lots are dumped by the manufacturer because of factory mistakes with ingredients or flavors that didn’t sell well.

Other items outside of foods at Big Lots have been good for me. I have bought gardening tools, household items and electronics with success.

My experience with refurbished goods includes two printers, a computer, a camera and a Samsung tablet. I’m sure there are more but I just can’t remember them all. Both printers have had problems while the DSLR camera has been fantastic and the tablet works great. Each of these were greatly reduced in price and were a good value. Both printers were HP and the recent one I bought in September and had to return it for a replacement. That can be a nuisance when it comes to the warranty because the “refurbished warranty” is often different from the normal full price item warranty. In this case I only had a 90 day warranty from the retailer but HP actually decided to give me a replacement although I was past the 90 day retailer warranty. That’s the hook. Refurbished items often have a very limited warranty. With the first HP printer, the scanning and fax function stopped working shortly after I bought it. I didn’t bother returning it as I really only needed the printing function which worked well for six years which is a decent lifespan I suppose.

Today I hit the jackpot at Kroger. I only needed two items but wound up buying much more. Most Kroger stores have a discount bin and the two stores near me often have very good discounted items. The trick is to not get mesmerized by things I don’t really need. However, today I wound up with a 25 oz. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil originally $11.99, reduced to $2.49. I am a pesto fan and they had Delallo 6.5 oz jars originally $6.00 on clearance priced for $1.29, so I bought five. A $4.99 bottle of balsamic vinegar was $.99 and Hodgson Mill brown rice pasta with flax was half off. I also found Nature’s Path organic cereal 50% off, Sun Maid chopped dates 75% off and Starbucks instant Italian roast half off. I like to take those on photo trips since hotel coffee is often bland. In the cereal aisle I have been watching a new organic brand which isn’t selling well. It was reduced a couple of weeks ago but today it was marked at half of the reduced price making a $4.99 item priced at $1.69. I figure that if an item is available that I use often and it is discounted by 50 percent, I’ll buy several for the future.

So that’s my report. There’s a quiz later, LOL.
-Paul