True, I personally bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max from eBay certified refurbished (excellent condition) and I couldn’t tell the difference from a new one. Battery health was at 100% as well.
I know what you mean. Personally my experience has been great with the excellent and refurbished categories, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the lower tiers especially "good" based on the description. Curious how big the range really is and how common the condition they received really is.
Yea was thinking just that. Those phones are no doubt cherry picked, so the bottom tier with 'only' a couple scratches might be gouge's to a normal shopper
I've been buying refurbished electronics for a couple of years, and the only time i had problems i contacted customer support and immediately got another device (though it wasn't via ebay). But i still dont think this is representative of the diversity a model of "good" quality would have. That's the biggest problem, they best good phone is gonna be an absolute bargain but if you get a bad "good" device then you start to see where the cost saving comes in. It seems like such horrendous timing to release this after the secret shopping sponsons video on the main channel too. oh well.
personally had good experience with ebay refurbished, got the £750 xiaomi mi 11 for £250 as "very good" refurbished, no scratches, all accesories included, even the condom case had no yellowing and was in the packet, phone felt so clean that I didn't even want to wipe it
You guys should have checked the cycle count in the batteries. That would help determine how much that 22% discount on an "EXCELENT" device relates to just wear on the bats.
@@sven957 Yeah I really wish part of it was "we ordered these ourselves anonymously" kinda like they do for secret shopper. I personally tend to buy refurb electronics and maybe a gen or two behind especially for things like audio receivers where the tech doesn't really move very quickly. Like the site I normally use has a Yamaha factory refurbished 7.2 receiver for 250 bucks when it retailed for 550ish, it's a couple years old but still has basically every feature you could want. I have a higher end one (like 2-3x the price even refurbished) and the only features it looks like it's missing is slightly fewer inputs (still has 4xHDMI) but pretty lackluster legacy inputs only a couple RCAs and doesn't have a dedicated Phono input.
tbh, most of the time refurbished phones are like new, without the 'new' feeling. if youre willing to sacrifice the feeling of a new phone then go ahead, its still basically the same quality
I bought a refurbished oneplus nord N200 for 135 Canadian, it had free shipping came with a fast charger and USBC cable. Phone is basically like new save for some minor cosmetic marks from where the last owner had a case protecting the phone. The battery was at 95% health, and it was a rocking deal for a used phone.
@@SomethingSimpler Usually the seller will specifically mention the degree of refurbishment. If it says something like "Grade B Refurbished" it was probably just cleaned up with a wet wipe and thrown into a generic box with a 3rd party crappy Chinese charger. If it says "Grade A" or "Excellent/Very Good", they most likely manually replaced the battery (which would result in loss of IP rating if it has one BTW), if the screen has bad burn-in they will also replace that as well.
i worked at best buy as a manager for best buy mobile, and refurb is hit or miss. i’ve seen refurb phones that were covered in scratches and loose charger ports, and some that looked like new. ironically all refurb come with a charger unlike new lol. your best bet is to get an open box phone in store (never order open box online.) if it’s open box in store, the previous owner only had it for maybe a week or two max and as long as you verify it’s not carrier locked, they’re usually a good deal
Im a big promoter of buying used and refurbished, I'm glad you made this video. I think a lot of people are worried that they're buying a used or worn down product, when sometimes it really can be just someone who opened the phone, didn't like it, and returned it.
It must have been provided for them to have an example of each level. That doesn't take away from the products and their service, just always look for more reviews, comments, maybe somebody else will have this topic in their channel, and buy at your own discretion.
@@GH0STST4RSCR34M they said that this is sponsored by ebay so it's much more fair to assume that ebay sent them the phones for free as part of the sponsorship
I bought my Pixel 4a used from Swappa about 2 years ago. Still going strong today. I'll probably get a newer Pixel by the end of the year. It's like buying a car... buy a good lightly used one and let someone else take the depreciation hit.
Yes, this. Everyone has different preferences of course, but I could never bring myself to buy my car brand new if I could help it. If I do buy new, I intend to hang onto it for a very long time (even then, often the same for used, honestly)
The thing that has bit me quite hard in the past with a refurbished phone was not external damage. It was a pathetic battery life, as well as general crashing. It's a little disappointing that these phones weren't even turned on in this review, but it's good to note that you did mention it went through labs testing. Maybe things have improved now (or I got unlucky).
Bought a note 20 ultra on swappa and had this problem. Luckily the trade in value was insane from samsung so I used it to get an s22 ultra on the cheap.
I'd also just do a quick search around (particularly with laptops). As they mentioned briefly, the msrp isn't always what a phone is going for, particularly as more time passes by. For instance, I believe the Pixel 6a is going for around $350 (usd) on google's on store at the time of this video. But that being said it is still like ~30% off, I'd consider that well worth a tiny scratch.
You can get it as low as $300 US (~$400 Canadian) if you don't buy it on Google's store, so the refurbished one is only ~18% cheaper. Since it's not a top tier ("certified refurbished") device, it can have up to 20% decreased battery life and it doesn't come with any warranty for the battery. So you're saving C$70 by buying a refurbished phone, but you might need to spend that on a replacement battery later on.
@@alecjahn yeah, I've also seen it on sale new at Target at one point for $250 USD. Which is pretty much on par with the $330 Canadian for that refurbished one. Looking around at the options is pretty important.
@@hitnovakThe 6a was available $250 about 4 months back at Best buy (US unlocked). Converting, it'll be 332 CAD. So ya.. not a good deal. The 12 Pro max also is just barely a decent deal since it'll be a 3 Yr old phone in 1 month. Flip is a damn good deal mostly coz of the extra year of warranty. In fact, just because of that it's better to buy the certified refurbished than New one's.
@@ToppyTree Fam, I'm actually impressed. Because most sponsors don't have good integration. I'm familiar with Ebay's sponsorship from Drive Tribe, the former cast of Top Gear, Europe.
@@ToppyTree … as any reasonable person should be (disclaimer: am actual eBay employee). FWIW (and you might expect _me_ to say this, but it’s true): I purchased several of my mom’s iPhones and my GF’s iPhones on eBay. It’s just cheaper and you do get buyer protection. I think we did have a battery issue after about a year, but the phone was already 3-4yrs old so it made sense. 🤷♂️
The iPhone XS I’m still using today was an eBay refurb - no probs at all, I killed my first one out of warranty, didn’t need the latest phone at the time (13) so just saved some cash and bought the refurb. Flawless. Have done a battery change since then is all…
In my country, especially in the north, refurbished phones is very common among the middle class or students, since they don’t have enough budget to afford a new, unused phone, so most stores will display those phones and say they’re “like new” or “99%”, even “95%” to attract more consumers who want an iPhone or a Samsung phone to not feel left out in their friend circle.
I bought a refurb LG G8 ThinQ for less than $100 a hot minute ago. There's some mild burn-in and very difficult-to-see "micro scratches" on the back glass, but the battery was obviously replaced (it lasts a surprisingly long time for a 3500mAh in a 4 year old phone, so I'm assuming at some point it was replaced with a new one). Camera curbstomps any modern cheapo budget phone by light years, the "Quad DAC" is actually legit good and not just a gimmick (the weird hand gesture stuff is definitely a gimmick tho lmao) AND it runs Android 12 (for a phone that came out with Android 9 that's shockingly good).
Got s21 ultra from my provider $10/month only problem it had was a slight cosmetic damage on the side barely noticeable and covered by my kickstand case super good value
I bought my current phone 2.5 years ago for only a fraction of the original price, its still great and i never had a complain about the fact it was refurbished
I've always had a stigma against refurbished products versus like-new used, because I'm worried that something which required a refurbishing repair may have other aspects that are damaged too but weren't caught yet due to still temporarily working. But maybe I should adjust this belief?
Some of these refurbished phones were store display items, or used to be rented electronics. The "refurbished" part often just means used, not necessarily repaired
They should do the secret shopper on sponsors for this, Ebay could have sent them the best conditions in the catorgories, a normal buyer could get a 'good refurbished' and be chalk full of scratches
This wouldve been better if they also bought the same phone models but anonymously, and compare the ones they bought and the ones that ebay sent them for the video.
I have gone through eBay refurbs a couple times now and the quality levels “good”, “very good” etc. are way more dramatic than they show here.. Don’t even bother with “good”, you can get lucky with very good, and “excellent” is definitely a better bet… but still a gamble
Gotta criticize here a bit: the bare minimum on a sponsored video should've been anonymously buying the phones and also verifying the actual battery health properly
I would be curious how the battery does on all of these phones, that's the most worrying thing to me when buying not new, I don't care about tiny scratches.
I have had some luck with buying refurbished phones in the past, but have had nothing but pain when buying refurbished/second hand monitors... It has put me off buying anything refurbished again. It's a shame; I'm not keen on adding to landfill, but once you see a stuck or dead pixel, it can never be unseen.
The big concern with second hand phones is the trustworthiness of the seller (that they wont have installed spyware on it, for example), and the amount of software support time left for the given model. As long as those 2 things are ok, refurbs are way cheaper and just as good as buying new.
I thought for sure that the duo would test the phones to ensure that they are in full operating condition. Is that all they're going to do with the phones, check for scratches?
One of the concerns that I have is the digitiser tracking. I've had refurbished products in the past that have had the screen replaced and the tracking of the screen is a bit dodgy and can be extremely frustrating in day to day use. I also had an issue with the screen that was replaced and something was stuck under the screen blocking half the front facing camera and had to go through an RMA process. So I can understand some people being reluctant because the risk of the time or hassle of an RMA. I have bought refurbished from eBay and other outlets but I have not bought from this eBay refurbish program. So maybe that's less of an issue with this, but I would like to see hands on use to check these out not just a hey I don't see scratches! So it's fine. Never know if the speaker or mic is a bit rubbish or the charging port. Also if they give details about what parts have been refurbished on each device when browsing/ purchasing on the website or how transparent they are when it comes to the damage on each device. It's kind of like judging a car by appearance alone. Looks great! How does it run? It looks great so it's fine, you should buy it!
Wouldn't touch eBay with a barge pole in recent years. They have somehow managed to make it unattractive to both sellers and buyers, mostly through mismanagement and failing to modernise.
But what about battery HEALTH? How soon will you be paying more money to have the battery replaced? How long does the battery last between charges compared to new?
I bought a refurbished Carrier Unlocked LG Wing last year. When I switched networks earlier this year, it might have turned out that the device was never unlocked, because it won't communicate on AT&T Mobility, and it's still getting OTA updates from TMUS.
This was such a good concept for a video that I'm disappointed it's an ad A roundup of refurb phones from multiple websites AND secret-shopping the phones would have been great
I bought an excellent condition iPhone 8 plus not too long ago for my daily phone after i lost my iPhone 13 pro, the phone was basically brand new without the iPhone packaging, absolutely no scratches/dings/dents or noticeable wear. Plus if you dont like it most of the time you have 30 days guaranteed to return it. So i think for sure refurbed phones are worth it, plus people can help the environment. So it’s a win win And a warranty
The only thing i afraid to buying used phone or refurbished phone is they can install something in there to steal your information like your bank account or credit card
My last 2 phones have been refurbished via Backmarket. 1 year warranty and I buy the cheapest/most scratched. Always comes in very good condition and I have had zero issues
Warranty doesn't seem to be a worldwide thing... European eBay has the certified refurbished program, however there's no information anywhere (I could find) about warranty... I think the regional aspects should have been mentioned in a sponsored video Country tested : Germany
My older sister bought a new s20 My younger sister got the exact same but refurbished Can asure u there was no difference 😂 even same charging brick and cable I think she saved around ~£200 and only missed out on original the packaging My phone is refurbished too (an s10plus) and it still feels like a new phone to me 😅 So would defo recommend trying out the refurbed phones 👍
Especially if you're buying a Motorola or Sony phone. Nokia offer 3 years, but only Samsung and Pixel have 5. But that time starts from the date that model was first on the market, of course, not from when you buy it
As a frequent eBay refurbished buyer for many a friends and family...this feels like a load of BS. I've had super noticeable scratches and dents. A few with entirely broken features like iPhones without face id, or broken cameras. I wouldn't recommend eBay for slower shipping and annoying swaps. This video idea was neat. I love 2 hosts. But the pacing felt very odd. Felt like a big fake smile the whole time.
What should also be considered if you buy a refurbished phone is parts and aftersales service. Where I'm from, people sell ex-Japanese market phones and reflashed the OS and added an APN (to make sure they can connect to any network, wifi or LTE). And especialle when my phones were broken, they are a godsend because they can sell under $100 and have respectable specs. The problem is parts are difficult to find, I was looking to swap the battery yet battery life didn't improve. It lasted me about 2 years, but then the USB-C port didn't charge and I didn't feel like fixing it (By the time I bought the phone, the phone was alr 4 years old)
my issue with refurbished phones is the quality of replacement parts. when i worked at a consumer electronics store our refurbished iphones from a very big and seen by most people as reputable company had non original replacement parts that were not the same quality. the screens often had shifted colors and didn’t get as bright. that’s terrible imo and who’s to say the camera or battery or speakers are cheap and it’s not as easily noticeable. they were also RMA’d by far the most out of everything we sold. that’s the reason i’m very skeptical about refurbished phones. doesn’t matter how good it looks from the outside
Got an Amazon renewed iPhone 12 Mini in front of me. Looked brand new but battery was at 85% capacity when I got it. I'm really happy with it for the price.
I just bought a refurbished HP Chromebook X2 11 from Amazon. I was immediately blown away by the pristine condition it’s in, damn thing even came with all the original accessories including extra tips for the pen, and I got it with half the price. A tiny gripe is the battery, 95%, though a 11hrs tablet with 5% battery short is more than negligible. It’s not a steal, it’s a rob.
I’ve bought basically all my phones off eBay or Swappa for a while now (other than the 13 mini which I hoped I could somehow keep alive …), and it’s a fantastic way to get a phone. Fully recommended :) (though I don’t use eBay’s refurbished program specifically very often :p)
Well I mean they cherry picked the products for you guys to show off. You should never assume everything is as it seems when a reviewer gets ahold of sponsored product or the company knows they are sending it to get a video made on it
it's been 5 years since i bougt a new phone. i always go for a used last gen phone which is cheap and you dont miss out a lot in features as well honestly buying a new phone nowadays doesn't make sense for me
Well... I guess am not surprised since it's sponsored, but the fact that you don't talk about battery health at all is embarrassing. Like this is the first thing to check when buying a used device with a battery.
Since this video is sponsored by eBay, I'm curious if eBay made sure that the "reviewers" received phones as in top condition as possible. It's very unlikely that they will be sent a phone with a scratched screen or a faulty camera.
i would buy amazon warehouse used products. They have less than 30 days of use and the discounts are often substantially lower than refurbished. They often come with full new product warranty as well
Wow! I bought a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 512GB (good condition) for $600 yesterday. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 512GB (excellent condition) that I got for $500 a few years back. The timing is perfect.
I bought a "excellent" quality refurbished S21 5G, was supposed to be free of cosmetic damage and have at least 80% of battery life. It was scratched up, had the finish worn off in a bunch of places, and the battery life was less than half that would be expected from a new phone. Total ripoff. Never again.
I worked in a store that sold returned and refurbished items, and seeing that I was one of the people checking the items for defects, I never had issues buying them, as I knew what to look out for. Right now I have a refurbished Surface 4, Surface 7 and Surface GO (All running Linux, as I despise windows, but love the hardware), and only the Surface 4 is now showing its age, as the battery will only last a couple of hours. Even my first 4K TV was a returned item, which I got at almost half off, because it had seen a few hundred hours of use.
@@ChodaBoyUSASure, but what's the value in sponsored videos to us viewers? You're only going to get the positives, but no negatives. The only benefit is to the LTT team, who get the money for doing it
@@ChodaBoyUSA to some extent, yes. I think there is usually still some value to us viewers. The tone of this just felt wrong. It sounded like it was scripted by eBay and not LTT or a the very least, had a long list of talking points or edits to the script from an eBay rep.
I'm watching this on an eBay refurbished Pixel 6 pro 512GB that I got for $289 in March. It was "Good", but I lucked out and there was literally no scratches I could see anywhere
The last two phones I bought were from ebay. I got a used fold and it shattered after it vibrated off my motorcycle mount so I bought a galaxy s21ultra to replace it. The s21 cost me only $350.
I bought an A++ grade refurbished Samsung Z Fold 3 over a year ago for £750, and its still perfect to this day. Just have to buy a refurb from a reputable source. It literally looked and felt like a brand new phone.
