Would you pay HIGHER THAN REFURB price for used gear?

BlakeC wrote in post #17969308
EXACTLY my point. I'm not saying it means they were broken. You just don't know..

But we do know, unless you are saying Canon lied.

travisvwright wrote in post #17969312
But we do know, unless you are saying Canon lied.

I would say that the rep is trying to put him at ease and saying that it is most likely a new-returned item.

This is from their own site "Refurbished Products
Products are returned to Canon for a variety of reasons, including overstock balancing, miscellaneous returns from retailers, suspected mis-operation, and minor damage to the box."

My refurb 24-105 lens looks and feels/operates like a new lens. Everything is tight and shiny. This is the first refurbished lens I've purchased.

I did buy and later sell a 60D refurb. I don't really know what the new owner thought as we were negotiating. I priced it right from the start so perhaps it didn't matter.

BlakeC wrote in post #17969318
I would say that the rep is trying to put him at ease and saying that it is most likely a new-returned item.

This is from their own site "Refurbished Products
Products are returned to Canon for a variety of reasons, including overstock balancing, miscellaneous returns from retailers, suspected mis-operation, and minor damage to the box."

That's what it says, but I really doubt that there are many new-returned items involved. I'm pretty sure that local merchants sell cameras and lenses that have been previously handled, possibly many times, and probably include returns. Return policies require that items be as-new. The boxes are not sealed, so you don't know.

I got my 6D from Canon Refurb and I swear the thing had never been touched by a human. It was basically the exact same as buying brand new. It just came in a Powershot box!

Tom,

Here's a question for you..... say you own a refurbished product and are going to sell it after using it for a period of time. Do you disclose the fact that you purchased it as a refurb?

I know I would.

And.... if you purchased a used lens or camera body and you could tell from the bottom of the camera or the lens that it was a refurb but that had not been disclosed, would that bother you?

I don't know why exactly... but that would not be cool with me.

Phoenixkh wrote in post #17969619
Tom,

Here's a question for you..... say you own a refurbished product and are going to sell it after using it for a period of time. Do you disclose the fact that you purchased it as a refurb?

I know I would.

And.... if you purchased a used lens or camera body and you could tell from the bottom of the camera or the lens that it was a refurb but that had not been disclosed, would that bother you?

I don't know why exactly... but that would not be cool with me.

Very interesting question. I would certainly disclose if asked, "Are you the original owner?". Once an item is used AFTER being refurbished (that means a lot of different things), it is USED. I don't distinguish, but I realize now that some folks do.

Oddly, yes, I think I would have a little, "HEY!" reaction to discover something I thought was 'used' was both refurbished AND used. Again, I've purchased most of what I have either used or refurbished. I've never had a problem with any of it. Well, I do seem to be having some difficulty selling my Tamron 24-70 VC. That is another thread, though.

You have to disclose it, otherwise it's misleading; serial numbers tell all. I would hate to have purchased "used" gear then later on sell it only for the potential buyer to discover it's as a refurb and back out/ offer a marginally lower price.

I buy a Canon refurb and it comes with a one year warranty. I charge it on my Amex and get double the manufacturer's warranty. So refurbs are more valuable to me than used.

A follow-up, of sorts. I priced my 70D like I wanted to actually sell it. I threw in some low-dollar accessories I wasn't using any way (18-55 STM purchased just to make a kit of the 70D when selling, and a 270EX II). My 70D & kit sold the next day. My first offer was for full asking price. The 70Ds that were on the board when I listed mine are still there.

Price matters. For the most part, pricing a used item ABOVE refurbished price is good way to insure you won't sell it.

Out of 7 camera bodies I have bought from Canon in the past, all had less than 200 shots on them, except for 1 7D that had 19K. Those had no marks anywhere on the body, accessories still wrapped, etc. I am very comfortable stating that what I received was no different than from new, but at a savings and most of those with a 12mo warranty (and in some cases other goodies, like a Canon camera bag, memory cards, etc).

Also, they offer a 14 day return policy, so if there is a deal on their refurb store, I will always consider that over anything used just due to the warranty and return policy available should I not like what I received.

The 14-day return policy is most excellent. I returned a 50 1.8 II just because it focused like every other 50 1.8 II I've ever tried. I thought maybe a refurb would be better. I returned a 70-200 f/4 for the IS version. In both cases, Canon refunded EVERYTHING, and paid for shipping both ways.

I've purchased at least 3 bodies, and perhaps 10 lenses from Canon refurbished. I've never had a problem with any of them. The savings on all of that most likely covered the entire cost of my new-from-BestBuy 6D (sale price was $50 lower than Canon refurb).

Bassat wrote in post #17969177
As a side note, the 60D refurb I bought from Canon had < 100 shots on it. The 70D had 1800. I don't know what, if anything, that implies. I can't remember how many shots were on my 6D. I sold my refurbished 450D to a buddy. He is still using it. I've never had a problem with refurbished bodies.

BlakeC wrote in post #17969259
Your 60D actually has more than 100 on. Most likely several thousand but your shutter count won't tell you that. read my previous post.

Blake,

How do you know how many shutter actuations someone else's camera had on it at the time of refurb purchase? Or are you just supposing, or guessing, that it had several thousand clicks on it because that is how many clicks other refurb cameras have had?

.

The conspiracy theorists amongst us.... Canon is going out of their way to deceive the customer base by taking used cameras, putting in new parts, and then resetting everything so that nobody is the wiser!

I believe the more reasonable situation is that customers buy camera equipment every single day, try it out for a few days and realize it just isnt' for them, or they don't know how to use it, and they return it to the store. Depending on their reasons given for why they are returning it, that stock either gets sold as "Open Box" at the store, or is sent back to Canon. Canon will do a once over on the camera, and then list it on the refurbished store, because that is the only outlet they have available, they don't have a "Used Equipment" store.

This is my experience across a myriad of purchases over the years with Canon, also I have some insider info at our local Best Buys as well on what happens to customer returns, so I am just simply putting 1 and 1 together to get 2.

I bought my first 60D brand-spanking-new at BestBuy. I got home, unboxed it, and found a large dust speck inside the viewfinder. I took it back to BestBuy for a refund the same day. THAT camera went back to Canon, was cleaned up, perhaps tested, and sold as a refurb. Thousands of shots? Highly unlikely.