BebuLamar

I knew a company in Dallas got raid and a lot of its employees go arrested for being illegal aliens. The company mainly does "Refurbished" for Samsung. I don't know about Nikon or Canon but I don't think they got inspected as well as many people think they are.
Most refurbished are return from those who just buy them to try out (there are a lot of advice here on the UHH about just buying cameras to find out if you like it). Those really have no problems. Some were loan to reviewers etc.. and those may have high shutter count but shouldn't have any problem.
Some with hard to find problem, that is you only see the problem when you try to do a certain thing. Those I think still have the problem.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Exactly. I've done the in-person selling to KEH as well as returned enough defective equipment the KEH to know they only do a cursory visual inspection, look-up the bluebook value, give it a stock number, and that's the end of it. Let the next customer do the in-depth inspection if there is a problem to be discovered beyond looking at it. "Refurbished" is not "Reconditioned" and definitely not "Repaired".

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I have bought Nikon refurbs from their Website a couple of times. Both cameras worked and looked as new. They are still working after several years. No complaints here!

Jrkarra Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I bought d7100 from MPB website almost a year ago. Though the price is a bit high, but the price is worthy.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

saskern

I received my refurbished Nikon Z5 with Nikkor Z 24-200 mm lens from Nikon USA 3 days ago.
I was a little bit concerned about quality because people complained on forums. Package was horrible and looked like someone filled up a shopping cart in supermarket but camera and lens were brand new. After taking 3 testing pictures I checked shutter counter online and got 4 shots. The camera, lens are and image quality are very good.

fantom Loc: Colorado

I have always had good luck with refurbished items ie cameras, lenses.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

GOOD:

"Factory refurbished" means that the camera has been gone over and checked by a trained technician... This is very likely more thorough than quality control inspected it when it was brand new.

You might save a few $ buying refurbished.

BAD (maybe):

Unless they've changed it recently, Nikon's refurbished only get a 90 day warranty, like used gear. I didn't find any info on their site whether Nikon offers an extended warranty on refurbs. For comparison, Canon warrants their refurbs same as new: a full year, with option to buy a longer 2 year or 3 year warranty at some added cost. EDIT: In fact, I just looked at MPB, KEH, Adorama, B&H and they're all now offering 180 day warranties on used gear that's in good working condition, not too old. They also offer extended warranties to purchase, if wanted.

How big are the savings? Depends upon the product. A refurbished D850 is only discounted $200 off it's $3000 list price (6.66% discount). Canon isn't much better. A refurbished 5D Mark IV is only $270 less than buying new for $2700 (10% discount). A popular, high end lens like the RF 85mm f/1.2L isn't any better... same 10% discount. There are sales on items at times... Earlier this year I bought a Canon refurbished lens on sale for 40% off the price for new. Apparently they had a glut of that particular lens and needed to clear them out. A good thing with that lens was that the only difference from new was that it came in a plain brown box, rather than the fancier printed one Canon normally packages their lenses in.

Is it in stock? The Nikon website doesn't appear to show availability. Maybe they tell you in the checkout process if there will be a delay?

The Canon refurbished pages specify when things are out of stock. Unfortunately, though, they don't have a stock alert feature. It would be great if I could enter my email and have them notify me when things come in stock! You can't even go ahead and place an order for things that are out of stock on Canon's site. So you have to check the site regularly to try to catch stuff when it comes in stock. I missed the opportunity buy a 5DS-R for around $1000 (new it sold for around $3500. Recent close-out pricing for new is $1500, but they've been on backorder for months. Used are selling for $1300 to $1600 depending upon condition and "mileage".)

How long does it take to ship? The Canon lens I bought earlier this year took over two weeks to arrive. I have no idea why. I live in the same city as Canon's big west coast facility, but apparently the lens was shipped from Virginia. Actual shipping time was only a few days (ground shipping was free). The delay seemed to be close to two weeks waiting for the order to be fulfilled at the warehouse! Maybe they were just so busy or have staff shortages now.

Be cautious about "retailer/store/seller refurbished" items. It used to be that manufacturers offered their factory refurbished through their authorized dealers, especially the largest, highest volume stores like B&H, Adorama, etc. Canon was the first to take all their refurbished sales back and exclusively offer them direct via the company's regional websites. Nikon followed suit a couple years later and apparently some other manufacturers have started to do the same.

Still we sometimes see "store refurbs" offered by retailers... To me that just means it's a used item they've dusted off and checked for proper function as best they can without benefit of the factory training, diagnostics and tools. This might be okay if a used item was in pretty good shape, such as a demo unit that's seen little real use and never left the store. But it may be a problem if it was a trade-in item and is not the same as "factory refurbished".

If a "store refurbished" item needed repairs, were they done properly and with a new part? A used part? A third party part, duct tape and Gorilla Glue? Nikon won't sell anyone most repair parts... only minor stuff like rubber grips and replacement battery doors for select models are available to buy. Canon will sell anyone any part they have in stock. All you need is a part number and your credit card. They'll even help you determine the part number, if you can't find a parts catalog online.

Finally, refurbs aren't always the best deal. Several years ago I was all set to pull the trigger on a couple Canon DSLR refurbs, hoping to save a little $. At the last moment I decided to check some of the big retailers and found that between sale prices, rebates and retailer "bundles" (in one case a free printer, in the other a free external hard drive... both items I was going to be buying soon anyway), plus no sales tax and free shipping... it was MUCH CHEAPER to buy new! This is unusual, but it's easy to check and might be the better deal.

EDIT: Reading my response above you might think I'm dead set against refurbs. Actually, that's not the case. I've bought refurbs a number of times over the years, never had any problems with them and saved some money. You really have to research the specific item(s) you're seeking, carefully weigh the pluses and minuses, then decide for yourself if the refurbished savings are worth it to you.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

please delete... accidental duplicate

BebuLamar

Many people said the same thing but I doubt very much that is the case. Most of the refurbished cameras didn't have problem to begin with but I believe the one with problem is still with problem.

anotherview Loc: California

Agree: "'Factory refurbished' means that the camera has been gone over and checked by a trained technician... This is very likely more thorough than quality control inspected it when it was brand new."

National Park

I bought a refurbished Nikon D5300 more than three years ago, use it almost every day, and have not had a single problem with it. !

Alphabravo2020

The D7100/D7200 must have been a popular camera for Nikons "Renewed" program. I also picked one up with very low actuations and it has been a work horse.

Alphabravo2020

This also seems like guessing and fishing, however, I don't really think it is far off the mark. It still begs the question why a like-new camera body would have over 600K actuations. It makes me want to crack it open and look at it under a microscope 🔬 😅

BTW, that article link ChgCanon is dead for me.