Buy for less- refurb-online-used etc.

imoldernu

imoldernu

Gone but not forgotten
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
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Peru
The subject is huge... am still learning, and want to learn more. Not only on EBay or Craig's list.

Didja know?
-Walmart sells refurbished stuff?
-You could buy a refurbished guaranteed desktop on-line 4G Ram 3.8GHZ 80gig HD... free shipping for $80?
- HDMI cables for $1.78 or less
-$34.00 camera/GPS/Tablet batteries - for $3 -$5.
-$15.00 wireless phone batteries - for $.75
-$400 vacuums (guaranteed) for $150 or less
-40" LED TV's for $199.
-current- full featured Net 10 phone $10 - 60 days - 300 minutes


I am finally comfortable ordering on-line, and the very few problems I've had have been ironed out to my satisfaction... and then some.

Just ordered (for our emergency use)a tracfone... 1 year, 1200 minutes for $79.95. Probably beter deals, but well worth it for us.

Saving money is a hobby for some of us '"frugals" - :angel: and maybe a point of pride.

Please feel free to add others... or ways you've found to cut prices beyond the 20% to 50% off in retail stores. Yard Sales/Estate Sales/Goodwill/Consignment... and especially anything that was an especially good buy because you did the homework.
 
I've bought several refurbished items on woot.com (DVD player, laptop, etc.) never had any problems.
 
I bought my iPad 1 refurbished and never have had a problem with it. I just bought my GF an IPad. 3 refurbished for Christmas since she has never had one. I get them through Apple just in case. Now if I can just sneak it by without her noticing I will tell her it's a brand new one since it is packaged as new. I can save $100, get her what she wants, and still not be classified as a cheapo!
 
I've bought all my clothing (except underwear and shoes) from Goodwill over the past year. I pay $4.50 for a pair of pants and $ 3 - 4 for a shirt / blouse ($2 for a tank top !). I love everything I've bought and have not had an issue with any item - they've all been clean, no stains, etc. I look at is as me getting a bargain on clothing and Goodwill getting the $ to help the less fortunate. Best definition of "win-win" I can come up !
 
imoldernu said:
The subject is huge... am still learning, and want to learn more. Not only on EBay or Craig's list.

Didja know?
-Walmart sells refurbished stuff?
-You could buy a refurbished guaranteed desktop on-line 4G Ram 3.8GHZ 80gig HD... free shipping for $80?
- HDMI cables for $1.78 or less
-$34.00 camera/GPS/Tablet batteries - for $3 -$5.
-$15.00 wireless phone batteries - for $.75
-$400 vacuums (guaranteed) for $150 or less
-40" LED TV's for $199.
-current- full featured Net 10 phone $10 - 60 days - 300 minutes


I am finally comfortable ordering on-line, and the very few problems I've had have been ironed out to my satisfaction... and then some.

Just ordered (for our emergency use)a tracfone... 1 year, 1200 minutes for $79.95. Probably beter deals, but well worth it for us.

Saving money is a hobby for some of us '"frugals" - :angel: and maybe a point of pride.

Please feel free to add others... or ways you've found to cut prices beyond the 20% to 50% off in retail stores. Yard Sales/Estate Sales/Goodwill/Consignment... and especially anything that was an especially good buy because you did the homework.
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imoldernu,

Are all of these items at Walmart.com...or were you simply providing examples of discounted items you've found online at various sites?

omni
 
I have bought most of what you mentioned online, and frequently buy refurbished if it is available. Never been burned yet. I figure at least the refurb items have gone through quality control 2x instead of just 1 time with a brand new item. :)

Cables, chargers, connectors, adapters, batteries, replacement parts, toner cartridge etc all cheaply available on ebay/amazon/monoprice/chinese direct websites, etc. Not always best quality, but probably 80% the quality, with a dud every once in a while, but it pencils out if you are paying 20% the cost of retail rack rate.

The way technology advances today, it doesn't make a lot of sense to invest in timeless quality when the life span of so many tech items is measured in years not decades. Maybe I spend a buck on a cable for my tech gadget and I have to replace it every year or two for the handful of years I use my tech gadget. By the time I replace the gadget, there will probably be a new connector or cable type anyway, or I might have different connections on the other end of the cable. Luckily I never knew too many years of spending $10 or so for a plain Jane cable at Radio Shack or Walmart, since the internet and ample e-commerce options have been around most of my adult life.
 
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Nodak said:
I've bought several refurbished items on woot.com (DVD player, laptop, etc.) never had any problems.
Click to expand...

don't know about other sites, but am well familiar w/woot. when they say refurbished, many times it means something as simple as a replaced battery to make sure it's new.
 
Don't overlook "scratch 'n' dent" in the bricks and mortar stores. When we were remodeling our house, I had picked out the specific model of refrigerator I wanted, which in our area was only available at Lowe's. I stopped in every few weeks to see if it was on sale. One day I saw one on the scratch 'n' dent aisle for $500 off the regular price (more than a 25% discount). I saw a small (<1") dent in one of the doors and then asked the clerk what else was wrong with it. He said that was it. I have proudly showed off my $500 dent ever since!
 
imoldernu said:
Just ordered (for our emergency use)a tracfone... 1 year, 1200 minutes for $79.95. Probably beter deals, but well worth it for us.
Click to expand...
If this is indeed emergency phone and if you have a spare GSM phone (unlocked or at&t) lying around then you can use Airvoice Wireless, 100 minutes for $10 for 3 months or Spot mobile (for unlocked or t-mobile phone) with 50 minutes for $5 for 3 months. I rarely use my mobile phone so I am using AirVoice wireless. I preferred Airvoice over Spot only because T-mobile network at my place is spotty.

Those who are on Verizon or have Verizon phones, should look into PagePlus Cellular.

And whoever said refurbished, I am in. Both my tablets, iPad and Xoom are refurbished. Never bought laptop refurbished only because I did not see that much price benefit. But I am planning to buy a Verizon phone very soon, refurb, off ebay.
 
We recently all went with AT&T gophones (pay as you go). I had an AT&T phone from work that I kept when I retired and we bought new phones for DW and DS (~$50 each as I recall).

We use the $25 for 3 months ($26.50 with tax) and get dinged for 10 cents a minute and 20 cents a text. The ~250 minutes every three months is about what we use (we don;t text much), so our cellphone bill is now about $8.83/month per phone or $26.50 a month for all three phones. Previously were were paying ~$80/month for the three phones.

Not quite as attractive as $10 for 3 months that noelm mentions, but we would need more than 100 minutes for 3 months.
 
pb4uski said:
We recently all went with AT&T gophones (pay as you go). I had an AT&T phone from work that I kept when I retired and we bought new phones for DW and DS (~$50 each as I recall).

We use the $25 for 3 months ($26.50 with tax) and get dinged for 10 cents a minute and 20 cents a text. The ~250 minutes every three months is about what we use (we don;t text much), so our cellphone bill is now about $8.83/month per phone or $26.50 a month for all three phones. Previously were were paying ~$80/month for the three phones.

Not quite as attractive as $10 for 3 months that noelm mentions, but we would need more than 100 minutes for 3 months.
Click to expand...

A son who does not text much? Wish my son was like that.
 
noelm said:
If this is indeed emergency phone and if you have a spare GSM phone (unlocked or at&t) lying around then you can use Airvoice Wireless, 100 minutes for $10 for 3 months or Spot mobile (for unlocked or t-mobile phone) with 50 minutes for $5 for 3 months.
Click to expand...

If all you need is 911 service, any cell phone can access that for free whether it's activated or not.
 
Live And Learn said:
I look at is as me getting a bargain on clothing and Goodwill getting the $ to help the less fortunate. Best definition of "win-win" I can come up !
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Thanks for your post (and your purchases).

My adult (disabled) son works in a Goodwill sheltered workshop, and your purchases along with the contract work (such as packing "kits" - nuts and screws for products of local manufacturers) they are able to contract for, gives him a purpose in life, along with a little bit of income to supplement his SSD.

Since he pays social security, medicare and local/state income taxs (his federal is returned since he's one of the "working poor") on his meager earnings, he's still able to contribute to society.

A win-win situation, as I see it...
 
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imoldernu said:
Just ordered (for our emergency use)a tracfone... 1 year, 1200 minutes for $79.95. Probably beter deals, but well worth it for us.
Click to expand...

We use tracfone as our main cell phone. Last replacement was refurbuished LG, good for 5 months, 140 minutes for $30. Then $20 for 3 months, 120 minutes. Or you can keep on replacing your phome every 5 months.

I bought a refurbished GPS at Frys Electronics. There was a problem that was resolved by calibrating the touch screen.

I bought a refurbished router from the Cisco online store. No issue whatsoever.

DW and I like Goodwill. I had found many bargains there. I found prices there that are generally lower than what you can find on garage sales.
 
Regarding Apple 'refurbs' - I would not hesitate to buy (and I have purchased a number of them). The 'word on the street' is, that often these are not refurbs at all, but Apple's way of getting rid of overstock of old models w/o having to advertise a 'sale' on them. Seems Apple does not like the idea of putting things on sale, and 'cheapening' the brand, or admitting they are stuck with these models?

rescueme said:
Thanks for your post (and your purchases).

My adult (disabled) son works in a Goodwill sheltered workshop, and your purchases along with the contract work (such as packing "kits" - nuts and screws for products of local manufacturers) they are able to contract for, gives him a purpose in life, along with a little bit of income to supplement his SSD.
...
A win-win situation, as I see it...
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So you feel GoodWill is a pretty good outfit? I often hear some not-so-great things about many charities (not specifically GoodWill), that I get suspect. At any rate, a fairly large outlet moved in near us, so all our donated stuff goes there now. I have not spent much time actually shopping there, but DD did get some stuff for her apartment. Maybe I should poke my head in more often?

-ERD50
 
ERD50 said:
So you feel GoodWill is a pretty good outfit? I often hear some not-so-great things about many charities (not specifically GoodWill), that I get suspect. At any rate, a fairly large outlet moved in near us, so all our donated stuff goes there now. I have not spent much time actually shopping there, but DD did get some stuff for her apartment. Maybe I should poke my head in more often?
-ERD50
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Definitely do it. I've bought pants, shirts, skirts, tank tops, candles, baskets, and a couple of other small items and have been happy with all of them.
 
ERD50 said:
So you feel GoodWill is a pretty good outfit? I often hear some not-so-great things about many charities (not specifically GoodWill), that I get suspect. At any rate, a fairly large outlet moved in near us, so all our donated stuff goes there now. I have not spent much time actually shopping there, but DD did get some stuff for her apartment. Maybe I should poke my head in more often?

-ERD50
Click to expand...

+1 on Goodwill in general. Each local Goodwill is locally managed, so if you are concerned, you can check their website and review their IRS Form 990. In our area, the local Goodwill has put many people with barriers to employment to work, including providing training and experience to help them obtain employment elsewhere. And reuse is the best form of recycling - keeps stuff out of landfills. I am both a regular donor and a regular shopper.
 
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ERD50 said:
So you feel GoodWill is a pretty good outfit? I often hear some not-so-great things about many charities (not specifically GoodWill), that I get suspect.
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Ours is good. The GW stores in our area have gone "upscale"--brick facades, better lighting, etc. I'm a bit suspicious of that, but the goods inside seem fairly priced. I wonder what happens to the actual donated items--people drive in with all kinds of stuff, but the selection of tools and housewares for sale is tiny, they concentrate on clothing. Of note, they are now recycling desktops and laptop computers. I think these are donated by businesses (they seem to have 5-10 of the same model on display). They check them out, remove any data and software, add an old version of Windows (and maybe Open Office, I can't recall) and sell them very reasonably. It wouldn't suite everyone, but it would be a fine setup for many families.
 
W2R said:
Don't buy! Simply being happy with what you have is a great way to save money. It can be quite a revelation to re-discover how little we need, really.
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+1. And it's amazing what can be fixed/adapted for use, as we've discussed recently in other threads. Too often some folks these days don't even try...:D
 
I've bought several sport coats at GW. $7 ea., plus the dry cleaning bill. Great for cooler weather, when I wear a "Texas suit": jeans, boots, jacket.
 
My sister is a social worker who helped place workers from Goodwill. She spoke very highly of their organization.
 
I don't know for sure but I think GW keeps the better stuff that is donated and sells the rest to other for profit thrift stores. I've seen some of my donated items on the racks at GW. I also go to some local thrift stores but found the quality to be a step down from Goodwill.
 
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