Would you buy open box?

D

davidm71

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
1,568
Hi,

Was wondering if any of you purchase open box items? Reason I ask is I found a hot deal on an MSI MPG27CQ monitor sold on Amazon by a 3rd party seller as 'Used, Like New' condition. Asking price $350 standard shipping. Seems like a good deal. Normally goes for like $460- $500 bran new and so I went for it and purchased it last night. Today I asked the seller a few questions about it such as does it have dead pixels and all its parts and original packaging, and after they answered my question they tried to convince me to cancel the order because maybe open box purchase isn't best for me...

So far though hasn't been shipped yet. They said its going out tomorrow but I don't know. Seems like they don't want to part with it..

Thanks
 
I've bought an open box Huawei Watch before from a 3rd party Amazon seller. Came in the original packaging and was in brand new condition. Saved well over 100 compared to new.
 
I buy refurb/open box items all the time on amazon/ebay. The biggest thing is to look at seller feedback, is this an item that can be like a lemon car, and read the fine print on their description/return policy. In particular who pays return shipping etc. I would recommend sticking to shipped by amazon items as amazon handles the return then so its very easy. Ebay I stick more so to big time sellers like newegg etc.
 
Depends on how important the warranty is to you, and at what discount you would consider giving up that warranty.
 
I've bought open box non-computer items before and not had any issues.

Did the person answer and say there are no dead pixels or other visual defect? If there are none, then I don't see an issue with a "like new" open box monitor.

I wouldn't care about original packaging... often open box doesn't come with it, and the packaging isn't needed. If the power chord is missing that's easy enough to replace.
 
The guy said no dead pixels. Was a return. Just pissed me off why they tried to convince me to walk away. Price was very good. Maybe too good.
 
I buy open-box things but doesn't mean I buy just anything open-box. I decide each case by case.

Double check seller's return policy. If they have a decent return policy, then your only gamble is time and the cost of shipping it back.
 
I would never order open box items on the internet. But purchased them in walk in stores where I can immediately check if it's damaged in any way or not.
 
davidm71 said:
The guy said no dead pixels. Was a return. Just pissed me off why they tried to convince me to walk away. Price was very good. Maybe too good.
Click to expand...

This is probably because the questions you are asking rubs off as being a picky buyer. As long as you don't expect it to be in brand new, pristine condition then you'll be happy. Sometimes open box items doesn't include all the accessories, might have physical wear/damage that wouldn't necessarily hinder it's capabilities. Basically, buy open box and treat it as you would buying a used item from an individual. Getting an open box that's as good as brand new isn't totally rare, but it doesn't happen all the time either.
 
I've generally had good luck with open box purchases in my life. They're usually chalked up to a mistake of some sort where someone unboxed and unpackaged something.
The seller would rather get a little less money than an immediate refund request upon discovery. Obviously it could be something else (floor model, etc.) but I've never run across anything nefarious. The seller is being honest by even telling you in most instances. If there is damage (or scratches, dead pixels, a manufacturing defect, etc.) they tend to own it.

At least unless they're saying no refunds. In that instance - no way, Jose.
 
My first PC monitor was an open box Diamond Mitsubishi Pro 900u, half off, worked great for many years, til I went to dual LCDs.
Bought two refurbed Sansa Clips 2GB MP3 players, both crapped out because of the batteries.
 
I mean the price was really good for an open box MSI MPG27CQ at $350. Makes me wonder if someone made a mistake and thats why they're stalling.

All I asked if it was a floor model and if it had dead pixels. Reasonable questions.

Now I'm getting annoyed.
 
Only if it's an in-store deal with return availability. Fuck dealing with online sites and shipping back a busted product.
 
I live an open box lifestyle.
Living that lifestyle has provided me with the means to live a much higher quality life than I likely deserve, and no one around me realizes it's all a lie, none of these products were purchased for retail, I am way more broke than either I or my house appears.
I honestly can't think of anything I buy brand new untouched other than socks and underwear.
I paid 30 percent less for my computer than I should have, the only non open box part in there is the mobo and I bought it because Asrock discontinued it so it was open box priced. Only problem I had was with an open box hard drive or two over the many years. Hard drives seem to randomly shit the bed regardless of purchase status, in my experience.
 
Having owned a returns processing company years back I can say this much. Fully 90% of items returned to stores are perfectly fine. Buyers remorse, stupid end user (cannot figure out how to use it or complicated), in the case of computers they get it home, immediately go online and get a ton of spyware, viruses, toolbars, etc because they do not understand that antivirus software and security updates are actually useful. The other 10% are truly defective, ghetto rentals (someone buys a vacuum to clean out their apartment they are moving out of to get their deposit then return the vac for a refund), online or defective item theft - rather then go through the warranty process they go to some random store locally and buy the same thing, put their bad one in the box and return it (this is theft and illegal) and just plain broken things.

On eBay - they ALWAYS side with buyers now. Have a problem with something, even if the seller states AS-IS, does not matter. Open a case on eBay and they will even send you a return shipping label. As soon as it gets scanned eBay forces the refund to you. The return shipping thing does bug me though. People complain about having to pay return shipping if they get something that is legitimately defective. Next time you buy something across town at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc and you get it home and determine it to be defective, when you get to the store demand that they also pay for the gas you have to use in your car to return it.... Same thing.
 
  • Buyers remorse, stupid end user (cannot figure out how to use it or complicated)
  • If parents bought it for their kids, they return it because they got bad grades
This happen many times while I was working retail (Best Buy) in college. Someone bought a top of the line MacBook Pro and returned it 3 days later because they didn't know how to right click on the track pad.

:happy:

It was later restocked $600 off.
 
So I finally got the monitor delivered. The packaging and stryofoam was a little beat up. The monitor was in almost 99 % good health with the exception of some loose screws in the VESA mounting area that I tightened up no problem. Otherwise I'm pretty happy.
I get two free games from MSI to boot and probably would buy open box again if I had to. Thanks.
 
I only buy openbox at a major discount with a DOA warranty minimum. It can't be broken when it arrives.
 
As others have said, for me it's case by case, and most are in person, I don't like ordering them online unless they are super good return and no restocking fee. It also has to be a big discount.

Like this I got from Microcenter, I saw it on their website, thought it was going to be a really fucked up floor model for the price, but pick up only, so I can look at it before actually being charged for it, so I place the order and headed to the store. I get there and ask for pickup of my order and the guy walks up with a normal Dell brown box, thinking it was listed wrong and was just a cheap opened lowend Dell....I open the box and there is a brand new Alienware, plastic still on the lid and screen, all cables etc still there, just missing original box.

IoXeqIDh.jpg


JsVivheh.jpg
 
Thats a steal! Wow.

Well I'm happy. Got a MSI MPG27CQ almost new (I cant tell besides the box), with Just Cause 4 and Assasins Creed Odessy game codes for $350 shipped. Used Amazon points for final price of $315. Not bad deal.
 
Hell with Amazon we buy new and get open box items pretty darn regularly lol. That place is a mess.

I normally only choose to buy open box locally and with a decent return policy like the microcenter example above. I have bought numerous open box mobos from them and can verify there is an IO plate when I go to pick it up.
 
I wouldn't buy a open box unless I could physically put my hands on it and have a look. I had bad luck with microcenter's open boxes. Two motherboards I went too look at had bent pins in the socket. Had no accessories and random MB standoffs rolling around in the antistatic bag with the MB. Monitors are one of those really hit or miss things. The odds are they were returned cause of dead pixel, blb or other common defects. Retailers normally ignore those types of defects and keep trying to resell them til finally get someone that doesn't care or doesn't know better.
 
vegeta535 said:
I wouldn't buy a open box unless I could physically put my hands on it and have a look. I had bad luck with microcenter's open boxes. Two motherboards I went too look at had bent pins in the socket. Had no accessories and random MB standoffs rolling around in the antistatic bag with the MB. Monitors are one of those really hit or miss things. The odds are they were returned cause of dead pixel, blb or other common defects. Retailers normally ignore those types of defects and keep trying to resell them til finally get someone that doesn't care or doesn't know better.
Click to expand...

I had ordered a number of the 8TB WB externals from BB (all new), went and picked up, got home and noticed one looked sealed weird, opened it up and sure as shit, there was a 1TB Seagate inside. Can't even be sure with new looking stuff anymore, but that is on BB for listing it as new when it was a return.
 
davidm71 said:
Hi,

Was wondering if any of you purchase open box items? Reason I ask is I found a hot deal on an MSI MPG27CQ monitor sold on Amazon by a 3rd party seller as 'Used, Like New' condition. Asking price $350 standard shipping. Seems like a good deal. Normally goes for like $460- $500 bran new and so I went for it and purchased it last night. Today I asked the seller a few questions about it............

So far though hasn't been shipped yet. They said its going out tomorrow but I don't know. Seems like they don't want to part with it..

Thanks
Click to expand...
I think it's more likely they just don't want to sell it to you..... the time to ask questions is not after you've already committed to buy the item it's before...... they probably think you're going to be a problem
 
Crosshairs said:
I think it's more likely they just don't want to sell it to you..... the time to ask questions is not after you've already committed to buy the item it's before...... they probably think you're going to be a problem
Click to expand...

No not going to be a problem. Happy with purchase.
 
davidm71 said:
No not going to be a problem. Happy with purchase.
Click to expand...


I'm glad it worked out.....I got a deal on an open box Dell monitor from Amazon a while back....it was virtually brand new at half the price.....sometimes its worth the risk...
 
Now I found two dead pixels.. Still not a biggy. Not that noticable while gaming.

Fwiw Excaliber PC gave me $65 dollars back when I mentioned it. Didn't even ask for it!
 
I bought a 34" Alienware ultra wide monitor off Newegg about 2 months ago and it turns out the damn thing was basically unused. Got a return invoice from an eBay buyer telling Newegg he accidently ordered wrong item. Not sure if newegg was supposed to leave that in the box. Cables and everything seemed factory packaged. Registered and Dell saying manufacturer warranty till 2021. Maybe luck??
I have gotten a Z97 completely dead from Newegg also, which they refunded me a few years back. Guess it's hit and miss, at least in my experience.
 
I bought a used EVGA Supernova 1600 T2 80 Titanium psu for $98 I got it this month on Ebay. The guy only had it for 5 months that's it and it work fine.
 

Attachments

  • 20190315_150300.jpg
    20190315_150300.jpg
    221.1 KB · Views: 0
CypherX said:
I bought a used EVGA Supernova 1600 T2 80 Titanium psu for $98 I got it this month on Ebay. The guy only had it for 5 months that's it and it work fine.
Click to expand...

My friend just got one also last week on Ebay, same model, same price. I bought a 1300G2 for $85 shipped but have yet to receive it. Once I do I'll test it and see. The 1000 G2 I have in my current build I actually purchased off of Ebay over a year ago and its still running like a champ.

Damn, I wish I would have scored that deal xD....
 
I've done open box sales if the return policy is good on it. I've gotten an open box as new from Amazon as well. :( without the discount
 
I do open box regularly, but only from places that stand behind it like CDW, Provantage, Best Buy, etc. The marketplaces like amazon and ebay are too shady for my tastes on open-box stuff (used is a different story).

So far I've picked up drives for 1/4 of what they should have been, UPSes for the cost of just the batteries (and with the factory 3yr warranty still intact), EVGA power supplies for half of what even EVGA dumps them for on their own b-stock, and more--all with full warranties and return policies. Have I gotten burned? Yeah, just once and I'm still working on that issue with CDW. But even if I have to eat that one, I've still come out miles ahead via open box.
 
Got an open box display model msi laptop at Walmart for $199. Has some screen burn and hard drive smart info shows its been on 24/7 for like 9 months, but it's a 8750h 1050ti laptop. Registered with msi using my receipt so have a year of warranty.
 
Bought an open box 9700K for $340 from Microcenter but because I wanted to play it safe bought a 2 year warranty for $50. Could have just bought it bran new. May just return it.
 
last open box item i bought was about 12 years ago. it was a samsung 24" 245BW monitor. i think it was future shop. i decided to go ahead as they allowed return if i wasn't happy, no questions asked.

i'm using that same monitor to type this. no regrets on that purchase.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top