Refurbished Equipment: I know there are many members that buy refurbished equipment and have had very good success. My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new...

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

I know there are many members that buy refurbished equipment and have had very good success. My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new equipment then why is it only warranted for 90 days instead of of the customary one year or more?
I was about ready to pull the trigger on a refurb Nikon lens on the Nikon site and hesitated when I saw the warranty.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

suntouched wrote:

I know there are many members that buy refurbished equipment and have had very good success. My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new equipment then why is it only warranted for 90 days instead of of the customary one year or more?
I was about ready to pull the trigger on a refurb Nikon lens on the Nikon site and hesitated when I saw the warranty.

I have purchased Nikon refurb lenses with no issues. My sense since the price is lower than new, they draw a line on 90 days. Would I suggest Nikon refurb...YES!

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

A better question would be, "Have you ever had to send in a lens under the one year warranty period" ? I have bought several refurbished bodies with nary an issue...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I would think that the 90 warranty is due to the fact that refurbished doesn't replace everything in the camera. Therefore there is the possibility of something things having more wear than that which might have been replaced. The considerably lower price is also a consideration.

With lenses there isn't as much to worry about as with camera bodies. So, I'd say you'd be pretty safe taking advantage of the lower price.
--Bob

suntouched wrote:

I know there are many members that buy refurbished equipment and have had very good success. My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new equipment then why is it only warranted for 90 days instead of of the customary one year or more?
I was about ready to pull the trigger on a refurb Nikon lens on the Nikon site and hesitated when I saw the warranty.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Plus, any issues a lens may have would more than likely manifest itself within 90 days...

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

suntouched wrote:

I know there are many members that buy refurbished equipment and have had very good success. My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new equipment then why is it only warranted for 90 days instead of of the customary one year or more?
I was about ready to pull the trigger on a refurb Nikon lens on the Nikon site and hesitated when I saw the warranty.

Nikon's warranty on new lenses is actually 5 yrs, not 1.

I have had better success buying used than refurbed.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Canon's refurbished warranty is same as new, 1 year. Retailers may offer different warranty periods, but Canon USA covers the year.

BebuLamar

Gene51 wrote:

Nikon's warranty on new lenses is actually 5 yrs, not 1.

I have had better success buying used than refurbed.

chances are you don't need the warranty but I think the warranty doesn't transfer isn't that right?

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Refurb: lower price = lesser warranty.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

petercbrandt wrote:

Refurb: lower price = lesser warranty.

That is vendor dependent. Canon gives the same warranty on refurb as a new product. And they are apparently Lion proof!

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

PixelStan77 wrote:

I have purchased Nikon refurb lenses with no issues. My sense since the price is lower than new, they draw a line on 90 days. Would I suggest Nikon refurb...YES!

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

BebuLamar

My take on refurbished is this.
1. I don't think it's better than new and they can be as good as new but some are not.
2. I don't think they inspect it as thoroughly as a camera just come off production line.
3. The shorter warranty is the matter of cost savings. If you sell many cameras there is always the chance of bad ones that need warranty service. Shorten the time there would be fewer warranty claim.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I beg to differ. I think any camera/lens can have issues, whether new used or a refurb. As for your 2nd point, cameras coming off an assembly line are not all individually inspected as that would not be very time & cost effective but the smaller number of refurb units makes them more likely to be tested more thoroughly. As for your 3rd point, as I said before, any issues normally crop up within that 90 day window as long as the item is used.. I'd like to see how many warrantee claims there actually are and when within the warranty they fell. As for your statement before concerning used items, no, warranties are not transferable.

BebuLamar wrote:

My take on refurbished is this.
1. I don't think it's better than new and they can be as good as new but some are not.
2. I don't think they inspect it as thoroughly as a camera just come off production line.
3. The shorter warranty is the matter of cost savings. If you sell many cameras there is always the chance of bad ones that need warranty service. Shorten the time there would be fewer warranty claim.

swartfort Loc: Evansville, IN

My question to you is if refurbished is equal to or better than new equipment then why is it only warranted for 90 days instead of of the customary one year or more?

There are vendors out there that offer Nikon Refurbished and INCLUDE an in house 1 year warranty as part of the purchase. Cameta Camera comes to mind, but I think there are others.

In the realm of used, I believe Roberts camera (I think there are others) offers a 1 year warranty on used lenses and some of their used bodies.

I have a tight GAS budget, and when the time comes, I plan on REFURBED!!

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Thank you for your replies. The lens in question is a very expensive (to me anyway) Nikon 300 mm f4 PF lens. It is discounted about 10%. I did not see any options for extending the 90 day warranty. When I weigh a 10% discount against a full and/ or extended warranty it comes out short in my mind. Recently I had a two year old Leica Panasonic 100-400 mm lens fail (1800.00) due to failure of the lens seals. I ended up salvaging that lens on Ebay. That episode has made me very careful now.
I will continue to look for the same lens but at different vendors as suggested- Roberts, Camera etc.
Appreciate your time.