These are just a bunch of working second-hand(maybe even third-hand) iPhones. Nothing more. If Amazon can call these refurbished, so can any other sellers.
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Should You Buy a Super Cheap Refurbished iPhone From Amazon?
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If you buy products from a company that underpays and stresses employee, then yes, it is wrong.
Amazon plans seems to be gobble up everyone else's lunch, looks like it, go for global monopolistic gold.
So rather that see Amazon win the world, will use swappie just to keep the market buoyant and choices alive - hoping over time they move to other apple devices like iPads and maybe even laptops, but I guess the volume of used iPhone is massive so it's the obvious market.
Already bought 2 phones from swappie and now waiting on 3rd.
High quality service - Condition: GOOD equals my 5+ year old iPhone, condition" very good is more condition LIKE NEW and I can only imagine LIKE NEW is like a time machine iPhone that has never been used and stored high in it's box on a shelf.
NGX10 will get you €10 off and you can search other voucher online but they all seem to give €10, keep an eye out for sales and drops too. No I do not work for them, just a happy customer who used it as a solution to avoid PWN issues and also give other family members a budget option to get to a more up-to-date iPHone model without the huge cost of new.
Every phone I've bought the last 10+ years has been used. I'm happy enough with them.
I decided to go with Amazon Renewed this time (Verizon was the reseller). The iPhone XS didn't pass the 3 foot scratch test. I had (still have) the option of returning it. I put on a tempered glass screen protector and can't see any scratches from any distance or angle.
Since I'll be using these protectors and a case all the time anyways. I didn't see any reason to return it. As it looks perfect now.
Normally I have one seller I always go to on eBay. As they normally have good prices and provide detailed pictures. This time I didn't as the Amazon Renewed price was so cheap. I figured since the seller was Verizon. I may as well give it a shot.
I was considering an Apple Refurbished. But a refurbished iPhone XR 64GB was way more than an iPhone XS 128GB. I also really wanted the OLED and dual camera. The iPhone SE with it's low PPI screen, huge bezel and home button was a no go for me. Not after using a Pixel 3 for the last year.
I know some people are perfectionist. I'm not. I keep my stuff clean and in good shape. But a phone is going to get a little beat up. When your hobbies include a lot of woodworking, gardening, mechanical and home improvement.
I decided to go with Amazon Renewed this time (Verizon was the reseller). The iPhone XS didn't pass the 3 foot scratch test. I had (still have) the option of returning it. I put on a tempered glass screen protector and can't see any scratches from any distance or angle.
Since I'll be using these protectors and a case all the time anyways. I didn't see any reason to return it. As it looks perfect now.
Normally I have one seller I always go to on eBay. As they normally have good prices and provide detailed pictures. This time I didn't as the Amazon Renewed price was so cheap. I figured since the seller was Verizon. I may as well give it a shot.
I was considering an Apple Refurbished. But a refurbished iPhone XR 64GB was way more than an iPhone XS 128GB. I also really wanted the OLED and dual camera. The iPhone SE with it's low PPI screen, huge bezel and home button was a no go for me. Not after using a Pixel 3 for the last year.
I know some people are perfectionist. I'm not. I keep my stuff clean and in good shape. But a phone is going to get a little beat up. When your hobbies include a lot of woodworking, gardening, mechanical and home improvement.
Tried it once and never tried again. Ordered a "renewed" Xs. Received and took off screen protector right away finding a big gash in the middle of the screen. Amazon got involved and made the 3rd party give me my money back ASAP.
I’m typing this on an iPhone XS I purchased from Amazon Refurb for $326. It’s in very good cosmetic condition despite not being “premium”— just some tiny, tiny scratches on the stainless steel band— with the only real flaw being 87% battery remaining. It came with an aftermarket 2.1 amp charger, so that’s nice. Still, I plan to return it, as the phone itself is awful— coming from a first gen SE, it’s too big, too heavy, too slippery, Face ID sucks, and I hate not being able to see the battery % without swiping. I’ll probably go back to the SE until Apple releases a 13 Mini with an in-screen fingerprint reader.
Wow, that’s very interesting! That could serve as a very cheap dev kit! And it has plenty of CPU/GPU power for baseline performance.
I’ve purchased a series 4 Apple Watch, iPhone 11 and an iPad Pro from the Amazon Renewed program and all three were flawless. That said I put all three through their paces, looking for any sort of issue with screen, battery, speakers or cameras first before the return window closed just to be sure.
while it’s possible to get a dud, this is still a much safer route than say buying a used item from a stranger, as those generally don’t come with a return option.
My advice to friends and coworkers is to be sure you scrutinize the thing, and not hesitate to return it if you’re not completely satisfied with it for any reason.
while it’s possible to get a dud, this is still a much safer route than say buying a used item from a stranger, as those generally don’t come with a return option.
My advice to friends and coworkers is to be sure you scrutinize the thing, and not hesitate to return it if you’re not completely satisfied with it for any reason.
A bit off topic but we have been lookin into new iPhones. Can someone in the US recommend the best way to go about fixing a cracked iPhone XS max screen? My wife dropped her phone and shattered the screen. It still works but needs to be fixed. Best Buy quoted us over $300 just to replace screen. Is that the cheapest/best way?
Have you considered the 2nd Gen SE?
It is an improvement over your 1st Gen in every way but doesn’t suffer from the drawbacks you mentioned with the XS. You can get them for stupid cheap right now, even brand new. I got a 128 gig model from Walmart for 249 last august and used it as my daily driver after selling my 11 Pro right up until the 12 was released. Only complaint was the step down in camera compared to the 11, but otherwise I loved the size and the Touch ID.
If you're competent in electronics repair, you can get a reasonably priced 3rd party screen and replace it yourself. The instructions that comes with these replacements screens are detailed, step by step. That's the cheapest route. I've replaced several iPhone display myself. Easy as π.
If you insist on Apple's screen, I don't see any choice but to take it to an Apple store and take it in the rear. I wouldn't trust anyone but Apple to replace your screen with an Apple screen.
I might give it a go. Honestly, I expect it is still too big— I had a 6S as a work phone back in the day and hated it for its size. Bought this XS figuring I’d just need more time to get used to it, but nope, still awful, and surprisingly heavy. And the curved sides means it’s too slippery to grip well.
I also can’t seem to find any good deals right now. If I could get a 64GB SE2 for $200, I’d probably go for it.
You do realize the SE2 is pretty much exactly the same as the 6Ss you hated in everything except processing power right?
amazon refurb is alright
i bought refurbed 2 laptops and 2 phones plus a couple other items refurbed
kept them all
though do double check before checking out
i bought refurbed 2 laptops and 2 phones plus a couple other items refurbed
kept them all
though do double check before checking out
Given Amazon's excellent refund policy, I would not have any issues buying a refurbished device from them.
If the device does not meet your expectations, return it and get your money back.
If the device does not meet your expectations, return it and get your money back.
“Apple is extremely nit picky about returns...”
Uh, what? I’ve returned a ton of things to Apple over the years, and never once have they said anything other than a variation of, “Sorry it didn‘t work out for you. You should see the refunded amount on your card in a few days.”
And they’ve also always been awesome about warranty/repair/exchange stuff. I have tons of stories, but here’s a few. Once, they replaced an completely destroyed iPad I backed my car over for free. They swapped my 10 month old, 2018 MacBook Air to a brand new, 2019 model of a different color because I was having webcam issues. They replaced an 18 month old leather loop for free when one side stopped connecting to the watch. ****, they even sent me a free Homepod because my Powerbeats Pro kept having charging issues and got lost at the their repair depot for a month.
I’m not directing this at you, because I don’t know you. You may have had bad experiences with Apple. But over the years, I’ve noticed that the people who bitch the most about getting screwed by customer service are people who treat customer service like dirt.
If you do the opposite, your chances of getting the outcome you want go up significantly. Be friendly, be polite, and help guide them towards the outcome you want. Don‘t just go in to the store with a frown and slam your MacBook Pro down and shout, “this isn’t working right! So fix!”
Don’t regale them with tales of all the Apple stuff you‘ve bought over the years. They don’t give a ****, and they probably never heard of half of it. An Apple store employee recently asked me what Apple Watch band I was wearing; I told him the classic buckle and he had no clue what that was.
Don’t be demanding. And if you don’t get what you want, don’t make a scene. And for the love of god, don’t threaten to call the Better Business Bureau — they’re a company that basically allows you to buy your businesses “score,” are not affiliated with the government in any capacity, and have zero power to change anything.
Stay cool, say thanks for trying, and then go home and think of a different strategy. That iPad I got replaced for free? That happened at the second Apple store I took it to. I was driving to TX, and the first place told me I’d have to pay for a brand new one. I said no thank you, and went along my way. When I got to TX, I took it to my local store, explained the situation again, and they swapped it for free.
And if an Apple employee actually does treat you like trash, despite you being nice the whole time, and you feel like you got a raw deal, call up customer support and let them know what happened. They just might fix the situation.
Kill em’ with kindness, ya know?
Actually, holding baseless opinions and expressing them as if the mere act of voicing that opinion made it fact, is one the cancers of society.
Personally, I'm glad we have Amazon, They've saved my bacon on many occasions and given me access to products and services I wouldn't otherwise have, being out here in the middle of nowhere. They're not perfect (Who is? What company is?) but nobody has ever claimed they are. I shall continue to buy through them, thanks very much.
Yes, that's why I said I expect I wouldn't like it either.
My ideal phone is an SE1 body with full screen display, modern internals, and an in-screen fingerprint sensor. Hopefully iPhone 13 Mini gets closer to this ideal, but I expect it'll still be too large and have a camera bump.
I wouldn't even be upgrading if it weren't for the fact I replaced the battery in the SE1 and broke some of the screen-glue in the process, so now part of the display is yellowed. That, and I really want the ability to write to unpowered NFC tags. Otherwise I'd keep that phone forever.
Mike Richardson
macrumors regular
I bought an iPhone 5c refurbished from GameStop several years ago. Never had any problems. I still have it and it still works, too. (Although it was sold to me as a "T-Mobile" model, it's really an unlocked A1456 Sprint model that supports extra bands, and therefore works equally well on any US network.)
A SE1 body with the SE2 internals at SE2 price would have been perfect .. even without an edge to edge screen it would have been a perfect phone for many.
But I honestly:
1. I cannot see Apple reducing the size of the display any further.
2. Unless camera tech changes significantly there will still be a camera bump.
3. The Mini design will remain an expensive "premium" phone for many years (unless discontinued).
You might get lucky on a fingerprint sensor on a new Mini.
If you had any idea of how bad Amazon is for the environment, you might agree with me instead.
Also, the idea is that we need to stop buying as much as we do. It's just not sustainable.
Interesting. Need a new iPhone. If I buy it from Apple, wireless provider, Target or Amazon, still only one phone purchased. Shifting purchases already decided upon to Amazon does not increase the number of purchases. No matter where one chooses to spend their monies.
For instance, you could get a refurbished one. That has a positive impact on the environment too.
Also, keeping those electronics longer. Many change often for change sake. Still using my iPhone 7.