eBay Refurbished Explained: Are Pre-Owned Items Still Worth Buying?

When it comes to hunting for deals on electronics online, once you get past the basic discounts, the next layer to deal with is items that aren't exactly brand new. There are often good values to be had in this realm, but it can often get confusing. That's because, by way of the definitions not being close to standardized, it can be surprisingly difficult to discern the differences between used, open box, scratch and dent, refurbished, and the numerous synonyms of refurbished like "renewed" and reconditioned." In a perfect world this would be pretty straightforward, but in practice, they overlap quite a bit.

Complicating this in the last few years has been some platforms that are heavily driven by their networks of third-party sellers starting programs where they endorse certain sellers as approved refurbishers. Those vendors' customers get across-the-board guarantees enforced on the platform level that aren't there if you buy from a seller not in the program, granting more peace of mind for seller-refurbished tech products than there would normally be. Amazon does this with Amazon Renewed, Walmart has Walmart Restored, and eBay offers eBay Refurbished. At first glance, they may seem like they're all the same, but they're not. There are differences in the seller requirements, but the biggest distinction comes in how much they back the products, with eBay offering a lot more peace of mind than Amazon or Walmart does. Let's take a look at why that is, how eBay Refurbished works, and if it's worth buying from approved refurbished sellers.

Arguably the most interesting thing about the eBay Refurbished program is that it includes a benefit that makes it a lot more attractive to both customers and sellers alike. While Amazon Renewed and Walmart Restored offer a 90-day guarantee on the vast majority of products in their programs, eBay takes a completely different approach. When you buy from a seller in the eBay Refurbished program, you get an extended warranty from Allstate Protection Plans (formerly SquareTrade) bundled into the purchase price.

If the item was refurbished by the manufacturer or an authorized reseller, you get a two-year warranty, and for the rest, those refurbished by your average seller, you get a one-year warranty. Besides the  benefits to the buyer, this arguably removes a lot of friction from the process for the seller, as they don't have to deal with issues that might arise past the first 30 days that Allstate doesn't cover. eBay even pushes the program on the above-linked warranty page as a way to "minimize 'item not as described' returns."

As a consequence of establishing the eBay Refurbished program, eBay has also banned sellers outside of the program from listing any of their products as "refurbished," instead forcing them to list their wares as "used." Among those in the program, meanwhile, there are four condition grades: "Certified" for those eligible for two-year warranties, "Excellent" for like new, "Very Good" for "minimal visible wear," and "Good" for "moderate wear."

As with Amazon, to qualify for participating in eBay Refurbished, a seller must meet certain criteria. For starters, they must be an eBay Top Rated Seller. As defined by eBay, a Top Rated Seller "Must consistently earn 4 or 5 star ratings from eBay buyers for delivering excellent service, shipping quickly, and providing accurate item descriptions" while selling at least $1,000 worth of items in at least 100 transactions each year. All the while, eBay says it consistently reviews sellers with the Top Rated badge to ensure that they're complying with the program requirements. In addition, to qualify for eBay Refurbished, the seller must also have at least 98 percent positive feedback while having a rate of "item not as described" complaints and "item not received" complaints under four and one percent, respectively. 

A seller must also be in overall "good standing" with eBay while providing eBay with "a purchase order or letter of authorization from your manufacturer partners." At least from what's listed publicly, eBay does not stipulate a minimum purchase order value as a show of sufficient financial standing. This stands in contrast to Amazon, which has a higher barrier of entry, requiring invoices showing at least $50,000 in purchases of most qualifying items that you intend to sell. If you intend to sell refurbished Apple products and get them listed in Amazon's main Apple category, that minimum balloons to a whopping $2.5 million in the trailing 90 days before you applied.

Thanks to eBay's partnership with Allstate Protection Plans on all refurbished items, buying from within the program means you're dealing with a much different value proposition from seller-refurbished items sold elsewhere. Even as part of a program like Amazon's or Walmart's, if you want a warranty that's at all comparable to buying used or some brands' in-house refurbished outlets, you have to pay extra. On eBay, it's baked into the sale price. Not only that, but the warranty's from arguably the biggest, most respected name in extended warranties and protection plans, with average ratings above four stars from tens of thousands of reviews on TrustPilot and ResellerRatings. Even if you trust Amazon and Walmart to do right by their 90-day guarantees, there's a much greater peace of mind with eBay Refurbished.

Regardless, it all comes down to what you're getting for the price. Using an unlocked base model Samsung Galaxy S22 as an example, we were able to find refurbs in "excellent" condition starting at $262.99 shipped. On Amazon, the lowest "Amazon Renewed" price in the same condition we could find was $248.95 shipped, while Walmart didn't even have an Galaxy S22 phones in the "Restored" category. So while eBay didn't have the absolute bottom dollar price, its "excellent" condition S22s started just $14.04 higher than Amazon's with a far superior warranty. If you're willing to entertain seller refurbs for the best deal, it seems hard to beat eBay for the best overall value.