Buy an open box OEM?

[mickeddie]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102698R

The price is nice, but it's OEM and open box and I won't be building my system for another month so it will be sitting in my basement. I know Saphire has a 2 year warranty, though...

Thoughts/comments??

 

[pauldh]

No don't do that! The same card brand new is only $199. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102007

The open box has been returned for some reason and you get a 15 day warranty. By the time you build/test it, the warranty would be gone. 8O

I just doubt Sapphire would honor a warranty on a refurb (if they know).

 

[jkay69]

I agree...

I've dabbled with Open Box products before but each time I ended up feeling a little ripped off and realising that for the little money I saved, I gave up so much more in warranty and peice of mind, not to mention how wildly different each store counts the words Open Box!!!

The worst I found was a Motherboard that arrived in a box with the letters 'FALTY' in large black marker across the front, to make matters worse, half the stuff was missing including the Metal Back Plate, drivers, and most of the cables...There was one driver Discette but it was smeared with what could only be described as fried egg...not good at all. I got my refund but ended up out of pocket on the return postage...that was the last time I ever did the Open Box thang...

JKay6969

 

[jkay69]

Also I would never buy such a volatile part as a Video Card until it was required...Prices of these fluctuate too much to be risking buying it and sitting it on a shelf...

It's Bad enough when u buy a Vid Card and the price drops within the week, like when I bought my Gainward BLISS 7900GT 512MB Golden Sample for 275 GBP and the next week it was in most of the online retailers for 255 GBP, it's only 20 quid but it's still a kick in the nads. Better in my pocket, or spent on perhaps a slightly better card...

On saying that I do love the card, it runs very sweet and is reasonably quiet...Although the 20 quid saving could have gone towards my Zalman VF900-CU, making it even closer to silent...

JKay6969

 

[pauldh]

I actually used to buy alot of Newegg refurbs, back when they wer called refurbs and came at a big discount. I have bought very few in the past 1-2 years though as the savings is alot less. Besides that, I only bought cheap cards not higher end ones. And of my last 4 "open box" cards, 2 have been bad. Needless to say, I am done with newegg open box. I'd also never buy a crucial refurb as they screwed me over giving store credit on an extrememly faulty 9700 pro that never should have been sold. Refurbs directly from ATI are a different story. I have bought 4 now, all with 1-3 year warranties and zero issues so far.

I'd only buy that X1800XT refurb if it were under $150. That would allow a $50 discount for return shipping fees and lack of accessories and warranty. Plus if it's bad you lose that original $6 shipping too. Refurbs used to be shipped free.

 

[jkay69]

I guess 'Open Box' sounds nicer ;-)

Refurb is a more accurate description though, and gives you a better understanding of what you are buying into.

'Open Box' conjoures up the thought of a brand new product that some fool has opened up in error and therefore can't be sold 'as new', hence why it's only a little cheaper than new...

In reality 'Open Box' could mean anything from sold and returned faulty and now is offered at a small discount to you in the faulty state with most or all of the manuals, software and cables missing...all the way up to box opened and component used to test a system with nothing at all wrong with the component or it's packaging...a bargain.

The risk is indeed higher, with the savings far lower...What a differance a phrase makes ;-)

JKay6969

 

[mickeddie]

I bought a Viewsonic VX922 monitor from Newegg as Open Box for $65 less than retail, and I thought that someone just opened the box. I never thought of Open Box as being refurb. It was packed as though it was never used...in all of the wrapping, the cables tied together, etc.

 

[jkay69]

You were indeed lucky, you have indeed received what would seem to be an 'Open Box' bargain.

Here is a quote from the Newegg site regarding it's 'Open Box' Products;

Important: Please read the following before you proceed

Newegg.com does not test any product, including open box items. Open Box components are therefore only tested by the original manufacturer. Due to the varying quality of manufacturer testing, YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING OPEN BOX PRODUCTS. OPEN BOX products contain components that have previously been owned by other clients and returned to Newegg.com. These products are sold considerably under cost.

Newegg.com guarantees all open box products for 15 days. CPUs, however, must be returned within 7 days for refund. All open box merchandise should be considered OEM "barebone" parts. Barebone means Newegg.com can only guarantee the item by itself, no other accessories. Despite what the product's description indicates, open box merchandise may not include all of the accessories mentioned on our website or the manufacturers. Newegg.com is therefore limited to the barebone part of the item itself. Please do not be upset or surprised if a open box product does not contain any cables, manual, software, drivers, fan, et al. Newegg.com will not send you any missing accessories, even if it is an essential part.

Newegg.com certainly does not like to discourage sales, but only experienced pc enthusiasts should consider open box items that know how to deal with possibly missing accessories. Please only purchase open box products if you are willing to resolve defects and/or know how to obtain missing accessories.

Open Box items are not for dealers. We therefore reserve the right to cancel any applicable orders which may violate this warning. We are simply discouraging those who want to take advantage of this program as it is aimed towards the end user.

Open Box products do have considerable higher return rate than brand new items. If you are just looking to get a good deal, please only buy new products.

YOU ARE TAKING A RISK BUYING OPEN BOX PRODUCTS.

End Quote

So it would seem the phrase 'Open Box' hides 5 paragraphs worth of disclaimers ;-)

IMHO 'Refurbished' seems a much more appropriate word.

So Kids, post your horror stories or even your bargain stories below and then perhaps we can all decide if the risk is truly worth it or not... ;-)

JKay6969

 

[mickeddie]

Sounds like I got VERY lucky!! My monitor is great...it just has one stuck pixel and it is in the lower right corner so I never see it.

I find it hard to believe someone would return a monitor for 1 pixel. And it still has the viewsonic warranty.

 

[covertash]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102698R

The price is nice, but it's OEM and open box and I won't be building my system for another month so it will be sitting in my basement. I know Saphire has a 2 year warranty, though...

Thoughts/comments??

Am I missing something here? The link you provided points to a retail card, not open box nor OEM.

It's the exact same card I bought a few days ago. Can't wait to get it running in my machine soon!

 

[jkay69]

If you have bought this exact card from this exact link for this exact price I'm sorry to say it is 'Open Box'

Open the link and look along the top of the actual advert...

> Open Box > Video Cards & Video Devices > Video Cards > Sapphire Technology Limited > Item #: N82E16814102698

This means it is Open Box, it is a video card, it's also from Spphire Technology Limited and the item #: is N82E16814102698...

This is DEFINATELY 'Open Box' so in answer to your question...yes you are missing something here ;-) lol

Enjoy your card and good luck,

JKay6969

 

[pauldh]

LOL, the open box must be gone and they changed the link to point to the new one. When I clicked it, it was to the open box just as the OP says. Anyway, if you notice the "R" at the end of his link, that stands for refurb, take off the R and it's the new version (which now shows up when you click his link) By the way, I have that same retail box card you bought. had it for a while, it's been great. I paid $260 something after a $20 rebate.

 

[covertash]

If you have bought this exact card from this exact link for this exact price I'm sorry to say it is 'Open Box'

Open the link and look along the top of the actual advert...

> Open Box > Video Cards & Video Devices > Video Cards > Sapphire Technology Limited > Item #: N82E16814102698

This means it is Open Box, it is a video card, it's also from Spphire Technology Limited and the item #: is N82E16814102698...

This is DEFINATELY 'Open Box' so in answer to your question...yes you are missing something here ;-) lol

Enjoy your card and good luck,

JKay6969

HUH?!?!?!

I am definitely lost. After the top heading, I see this:

SAPPHIRE 100154L Radeon X1800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Doesn't that mean it is retail?

I mean the retail box is pictured too under the images of the card. If I'm wrong, I just pray that it works!

 

[Vinny]

Wait.. so refurbished cards only show up with an R at the end of the link? They don't tell you in the title like they do with Open Box items?

 

[pauldh]

See post above. His had an R at the end, yours did not. His link now points to yours. But have no fear, for $202, you got the brand new retial. His original link directed to a $185ish oem(card only) open box refurb version of your card.

 

[pauldh]

No, they now call all their refurbs "open box" and have it in the description. But if you notice, the product numbers for the open box all end in an R just as what they used to call the "refurbished" cards.

Trust me, newegg and even manufacturers like Antec know that the product number ending in "R" on the receipt means refurb.

 

[covertash]

Whew! :lol:

I can't wait till I get it! Thursday seems sooooooo long from now!

 

[pauldh]

Sit, relax, think happy thoughts, count to 20 and get that heartrate back down. :lol:

 

[covertash]

LOL!

<Takes deep breath>Woosah!<Complete exhale>

 

[ShadowdogKGB]

meh. Newegg's refurbed ain't what it used to be. Back when they only charged $1.00 for shipping no matter what it was, now that was the shiznit! I used to buy a lot of stuff then. Now they charge normal shipping rates, which you can't blame them but DAMN. That $1.00 shipping was NICE.

I've noticed the prices have gone up as well. Hell, some of the open boxes are more than the retail versions. Pfft!

I still check it from time to time but not as much. There's still some good deals though.

 

[pauldh]

Way back before $1 shipping was free shipping and amazing prices. I must have bought 10 refurbished Ti4200's, many other cards like R8500le's, 10 mobos, a couple cpus, cd burners, memory, and probably 20 ATX cases. Antec refurbished cases were so cheap at one time, they were litterally as cheap or cheaper than the power supply alone, and shipped free. Often they looked brand new, others had small cosmetic problems or missing parts. 2-3 had cracked bezels. But for $29 shipped free for an SLK2600 case and 300w Antec PSU, how could you lose. another favorite was the SLK 3700's for $39 shipped free with a 350W Antec PSU. Back then a power gaming machine could use that PSU.

Funny thing is, it was nothing like today where refurbs stay in stock. Back then the best deals were gone within minutes of being posted. A buddy and I used to IM each other with the phrase "refurbs up" as soon as one of us found they had been posted. And we would check every few minutes each late afternoon to see if they were up as they posted them all at once. It was a frenzy I tell ya. We would litterally add 4-5 items to the cart and checkout in under 1 minute. Usually half your items were sold before you could check out. If you dilly-dallied for too long, every one of your items would be gone when you try to check out. i had times I added every antec case to my cart, and checked out. Most I got was 4 at one time. anyway, within 10 minutes the dust settled and we would PM each other sharing the links to the (then out of stock) bargains we got. We were both building alot of systems back then and this was a daily attempt to get the best deals. I can't even tell you how much fun it was trying for those deals and also getting and inspecting the items when they arrived.

Not sure if this makes sense to you as it's so much a part of my Newegg past and fun it's one of those "you had to be there" type things. It was an addiction but if you could use the parts, it was simply well worth the hassle to try and grab them. Anyway, this should explain to anyone why I think current open box deals are just plain pathetic in comparison.