Portable Refurbished GPS systems Are Great Deals
Have you ever noticed that there seems to be a huge abundance of refurbished GPS devices for sale, in just about every online retailer that you can find? This makes total sense, finding quality GPS devices, especially those that you can use in your car, for a low price is definitely something that consumers want.
Why are there so many cheap refurbished GPS out on the market right now? Well, that brings us to the important points of WHY so many GPS devices (along with any electronic devices in general) end up being labeled as “refurbished”. Interestingly enough, some units are marked as refurbished even though they have never even been opened. The most common reasons for electronics based products (IE: GPS devices) becoming “refurbished” are:
1. For one reason or another the product was sent back to the place of purchase, which means that they returned the item to the store that they bought it from within 30 days of the purchase date. In some circumstances the reason behind this return has nothing to do with the functionality or quality of the product; sometimes people just don’t want the product that they bought.
2. A product could find itself “over stocked” and the company could be looking for ways to unload inventory. Here a store could simply mark down the product since it was opened and put it back out for customers to purchase, or ship the GPS back to TomTom, Garmin, or Magellan; once the company that made the product get it, the manufacturer will, in come cases, label the product “refurbished”, and then put the units back out on the market at a marked down price. There is a small chance that the product has not even been opened.
3. Another reason could be that the product was the one on display in the store. Display models almost always get sent back to the unit maker; the factory then inspects the product, makes any necessary changes, and ships it back out under the refurbished label.
4. The original owner of the product opened it but returned it because they didn’t like it. If this happens and the store doesn’t want to deal with the unit themselves they send it back to the manufacturer who reseals it and labels it refurbished.
5. Shipping damage. When this happens, it usually just means that only the box that the product was in got damaged, but if anything other than the product was damaged (accessories, or the actual unit), it is completely fixed or replaced by the manufacturer.
6. And finally, a reason for a product to be labeled refurbished is that there was an actual defect in the unit. This is can be a rare scenario. When a product has a defect or cosmetic damage it is sent back to the manufacturer for repair, and anything that was broken or defective is replaced with brand new parts; whn all this is over the product is going to work just like it was new, and some might say it is now actually less likely to become defective than the non refurbished products sitting on the shelves of WalMart; this is due to the fact that refurbished products under go very extensive testing.
As you can see, the reasons for a GPS to be refurbished are varied. There may still be some bad apples in the barrell, but probably not more than if they were all “new” devices.
- Tags: cheap gps, gps, GPS devices, refurbished gps