How to Buy a Used or Refurbished Laptop

I’ve ever been hesitant to bargain thing utilized oregon refurbished – the past happening I privation is to walk thousands of dollars connected a laptop lone to larn that idiosyncratic truly doesn’t cognize however to instrumentality attraction of their things.

But however often bash you bargain thing new, unfastened it, and instrumentality it due to the fact that it wasn’t what you expected? I’ve done that plentifulness of times. Is it truly that utilized if you interaction it for conscionable a moment? Another person’s buyer’s remorse tin easy prevention you hundreds of dollars. Of course, not every laptop volition beryllium “like new,” but laptops person higher refurbishing standards than your mean sub-$20 Amazon gadget.

Is It Worth Buying a Used/Refurbished Laptop?

This is simply a lawsuit of hazard versus reward.

The worst illustration would beryllium this M4 MacBook Air 13 disposable for $849 astatine Amazon. It’s marque new, but you tin bargain the “like new” exemplary for $840. Saving $10 is not worthy the hazard of immoderate information Amazon thinks “like new” is.

A bully illustration would beryllium this Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 16 for $851 astatine Best Buy that originalyl goes for $1,049 – this is successful fantabulous condition, and you prevention $198. That’s rather the discount for a laptop that “works and looks similar new,” according to Best Buy.

So, successful theory, yes: It’s decidedly worthy buying a utilized oregon refurbished laptop. You conscionable request to cognize however to navigate the chaotic judgements and standing systems each vendor has.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop astatine Best Buy

Best Buy has a fewer categories to research successful the refurbished space. You tin take betwixt Open-Box, Refurbished, and Pre-Owned.

Open-Box refers to products that were returned to Best Buy, were mill reset, and past judged to beryllium either Excellent (like new), Good (minor scratches and/or missing items), oregon Fair (major dents and/or missing parts). Refurbished refers to products that were sent backmost to the shaper and repaired and past sent backmost to Best Buy, truthful ideally they’re similar new. Meanwhile, Pre-Owned refers to a laptop that’s been owned for weeks oregon months earlier being returned to Best Buy.

So with Best Buy, if you’re trying to maximize prime portion redeeming money, sprout for the Refurbished and Excellent Open-Box laptops. As I pointed retired earlier, you tin prevention hundreds of dollars conscionable going this route. Under Best Buy’s instrumentality policy, you’ll person 15 days to instrumentality the laptop if it’s not up to snuff.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop astatine Amazon

Amazon has 2 categories: Renewed and Used. The second simply refers to immoderate seller posting a merchandise arsenic used, including Amazon itself. However, Amazon Renewed is simply a programme that handles professionally refurbishing products, either done Amazon oregon third-party refurbishers.

Amazon Renewed dishes retired 4 grades: Premium (like new), Excellent (like caller with much than 80% of archetypal artillery life), Good (light scratches with much than 80% battery), and Acceptable (scratches connected surface and assemblage with much than 80% battery).

If you are buying for refurbished laptops astatine Amazon, I urge going for the Premium people ones. They’re not conscionable amended – they’re the lone ones with a one-year warranty from Amazon. You get lone 90 days with the different grades.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop astatine Newegg

For amended oregon worse, Newegg is simple. There’s Refurbished and Newegg Refreshed. The erstwhile was refurbished by immoderate seller, whereas a Newegg Refreshed merchandise is refurbished by Newegg oregon a vetted supplier.

It’s unclear what you’ll get with the generic Refurbished label, but Newegg Refreshed products diagnostic astatine slightest 80% artillery life, nary dormant pixels, and nary dense harm oregon wear. They’re besides cleaned and repackaged with the archetypal oregon equivalent accessories.

If it isn’t obvious, spell for the Newegg Refreshed laptops. You tin besides instrumentality them wrong 90 days for a afloat refund.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop astatine Walmart

Yes, adjacent Walmart has a refurbished program, called Walmart Restored.

There are 4 grades: Premium (light scratches with astatine slightest 90% of archetypal artillery life), Like New (light scratches with much than 80% battery), Good (slight deterioration and teardrop with much than 80% battery), and Fair (significant deterioration and teardrop with much than 80% battery). It’s precise akin to Amazon’s standards. There’s a 90-day instrumentality argumentation barring Premium products, which connection 30 days of escaped returns and replacements. Premium products are sold specifically from manufacturers oregon manufacturer-authorized sellers, which is wherefore the warranty is different.

There are besides Open Box items, which defines items that are successful fantabulous information with nary signs of use. Then determination are Pre-Owned items, labeled Like New, Good, and Fair. They run similar the aforementioned grades but the artillery beingness modular is dropped to 60%. More importantly, they don’t connection a 90-day instrumentality policy.

You’d beryllium safer going with a Like New laptop from the Walmart Restored class – that mode you get the afloat 90 days.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop astatine Dell and Lenovo

You tin besides bargain refurbished laptops straight from manufacturers similar Dell and Lenovo.

Dell lone has 2 grades: A and B. Simple yet weird. These grades notation to the cosmetic prime of the laptops and assumes that the refurbished products relation similar new. Grade A refurbished products are successful bully cosmetic condition, ranging from pristine to airy scratches. Grade B refurbished products diagnostic scratches, imperfections, oregon discolorations. The neat portion is that these refurbished devices travel with the aforesaid one-year constricted warranty arsenic caller laptops do.

Lenovo doesn’t diagnostic immoderate grades but alternatively labels its laptops arsenic Certified Refurbished. What does that mean? Honestly, I person nary idea. Lenovo’s website answers that question with a comparatively generic reply astir ensuring the merchandise meets “Lenovo’s precocious standards of quality, performance, and reliability.” Similar to Dell, Lenovo offers the aforesaid one-year constricted warranty arsenic its caller laptops, which tin beryllium upgraded to 3 years.

Which Used/Refurbished Laptop Should You Buy?

I urge looking for laptops that person precocious launched, ones that didn’t adjacent get capable clip to gain the deterioration and teardrop you mightiness expect from a utilized laptop. That’ll nett you a bully discount and a like-new device.

I would counsel against purchasing older refurbished laptops. You tin inactive find new aged laptops disposable that simply haven’t tally retired of their banal yet, particularly connected sites similar Newegg. Those laptops volition get important discounts, truthful you don’t request to interest astir redeeming wealth connected that front.

If you privation to cognize which are the champion laptops, the Apple MacBook Air (M4, Early 2025) is presently astatine the apical of our list. And you can technically get a discount connected it astatine Best Buy for $35 disconnected arsenic refurbished. Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t leap for deals similar that, but if you’re pinching pennies implicit a MacBook, past spell for it. Meanwhile, the Asus Zenbook S 16, our champion laptop for work, is $162 disconnected astatine Best Buy successful an Excellent Open-Box.

When Should You Buy New?

You should bargain caller laptops erstwhile the refurbished crippled for the merchandise you're looking for is questionable. If there’s a peculiar accessory oregon authorities that you request the merchandise to beryllium in, past I wouldn’t hazard buying thing used.

Buying utilized inactive astir apt isn’t for me, though. While I tin spot the benefits of buying refurbished products, adjacent ones that were opened for a infinitesimal and past tossed, determination is inactive an inherent risk. All of these grading systems dependable good successful theory, but we don’t really cognize what benignant of investigating goes into ensuring these products are refurbished. Maybe that’s conscionable my mistrust successful the industry, and possibly I’m falling into the trap of spending much to bargain new. But I’d alternatively hold for a sale.

For those stronger of will, I urge buying utilized erstwhile you tin and abusing instrumentality policies to guarantee you’re getting arsenic adjacent to a caller merchandise arsenic you can.

Rami Tabari is simply a contributing writer astatine IGN with implicit 9 years of acquisition successful the tech and gaming industry. You tin find his bylines astatine Laptop Mag and Tom's Guide (and connected a random Predator reappraisal astatine Space.com). When Rami isn't wading done a oversea of the latest gaming tech, he's agonizing implicit the worldbuilding successful his upcoming novella.