Amazon Renewed Explained: Are These Refurbished Items Still Worth Buying?

When it comes to buying electronics online, deal hunting can yield used items. This can get dice when there are different labels explaining their condition. Understanding exactly what you're buying requires a clear picture of the differences between new, used, open box returns, refurbished, and the many rough synonyms of refurbished like "renewed" and reconditioned." That's before you get into secondary criteria like if the vendor has unique definitions, if they're an authorized reseller of the brand in question, and what kind of warranty comes with the products, if any, whether from the manufacturer, vendor, and/or a third party.

Amazon, with a catalogue of new products, authorized reseller products, and a massive network of third-party sellers, has its own certified refurbished product line: Amazon Renewed. Some overarching terms that apply to all Renewed products, but some sellers, like Amazon when dealing in their own branded products, exceed those minimum expectations with longer warranties and better support in general. There are benefits to this, but "Renewed" doesn't mean the same thing for each seller; only the minimum standards do. This means that these products can range from glorified returns with limited support to good as new but discounted. Let's take a look at what it guarantees, how it vets sellers, and when those sellers go above and beyond.

According to the landing page for the Amazon Renewed store and Amazon's support page, there are standards that a seller must meet so as to be certified for the program. The big one is that everything comes with an Amazon Renewed Guarantee of at least 90 days. Under those guidelines, "if you are unsatisfied with your purchase (including the product not working as expected), return the product within 90 days of receipt of your original purchase (or within 1 year of receipt of a Renewed Premium or Renewed Automotive product)." The exception comes with Amazon-branded products like Kindle, Fire, and Echo devices: Those have the same one-year warranty as if they were brand new.

The same 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee also applies to Amazon's different but related Pre-Owned Certified program. Amazon describes these as "inspected, cleaned and (if applicable) repaired to excellent functional standards." In other words, these are closer to refurbished, and Amazon even uses the word "refurbishing" further down its frequently asked questions page for the program. But the Amazon Renewed items are closer to open box returns. To qualify as Certified Pre-Owned, an item must have a battery greater than 80% of its lifespan if applicable, have genuine manufacturer's parts if it's been repaired, and not be a discontinued model.

For renewed devices shipped and sold by Amazon, as Amazon-branded devices with full warranties, there isn't much to be concerned about. However, given the sheer size of Amazon's network of third-party sellers, it becomes easy to wonder about how exactly Amazon certifies them as being eligible for the Amazon Renewed program. Thankfully, the Amazon Programs page for Amazon Renewed lays out all of the necessary qualifications that a seller must have, which primarily focuses on the seller's financial commitment to the program.

In the 90 days (180 days for "Home, Tools, or Lawn & Garden, Kitchen") before the date you apply for Amazon Renewed, you must be able to provide at least $50,000 worth of invoices showing you've purchased qualifying electronics to sell. If you're already an Amazon seller, your defect rate during those trailing 90 days must be 0.8 percent or less. If the items you're selling won't have a manufacturer's warranty, you also need to put together a sample of how you'll be packaging the product(s) and send in at least eight photographs showing it off. Finally, you must agree to follow the Amazon Renewed Guarantee and take responsibility for the claims made under it. Also, if you're selling Apple products, you need to provide invoices from the trailing 90 days showing a whopping $2.5 million or more in purchases of those products to qualify to be listed under the Apple category on Amazon.

Are Amazon Renewed products are worth buying? Well, that depends on the product and your expectations. When it's Amazon itself selling Amazon-branded "Certified Refurbished" products the answer's yes. You're getting an identical warranty to new for a lower price. There's one caveat, though: The discount for an Amazon Certified Refurbished product is a lot more minimal than you might expect for refurbished electronics. The refurbished base Kindle, for example, is $89.99, just $10 less than a new one, while a refurbished Kindle Paperwhite is $134.99, just $15 less than new. If you're at all skittish about the distinction, then you may have more peace of mind buying new.

As for everything else: How much money are you looking to save. and what do you consider a trade-off for having a shorter warranty or guarantee period? The fact that eBay has its own Certified Refurbished program similar (but not identical; the purchase order minimum is less clear cut) requirements to Amazon's and a longer warranty than Amazon's complicates things. For its Certified Refurbished products, eBay partners with Allstate Protection Plans (formerly SquareTrade) to include either a one year (for most products) or two-year (if the item was refurbished by the manufacturer or an authorized reseller) warranty. If the Amazon and eBay prices are comparable, you're probably better off with the latter, so you should probably look there first and only consider Amazon at a significantly lower price.