Buying refurbished is neither always the right choice nor a second-rate one: it is one option among others, suited to some products, some kinds of buyer and some listings. This guide explains what separates refurbished from used and new, when refurbished makes sense, what to check with the seller, and how Picksly handles refurbished depending on your profile: Budget, Smart or Premium.

Refurbished, used, new: three different statuses

  • New: never used, sold in its original packaging.
  • Refurbished: a device that has already been used, checked and restored by a professional, then resold with a warranty and, most often, a grade describing its cosmetic condition.
  • Used: resold as is, often between private individuals, without systematic checks or a professional warranty.

In France, a professional seller owes the legal guarantee of conformity whether the product is new or refurbished. One difference matters: a defect that appears after purchase is presumed to have existed at delivery for 24 months for a new item, but only 12 months for a used or refurbished one (article L217-7 of the French Consumer Code). Outside France the rules differ: read the seller's terms.

When refurbished makes sense

What follows is editorial opinion, not a Picksly measurement:

  • Products that age well: high-end smartphones, tablets and laptops from previous generations often keep enough power for everyday use, provided their software updates still have time to run.
  • When the gap with new is clear for a comparable model. A refurbished device barely cheaper than its new equivalent brings little against a longer warranty and a new battery.
  • When you are after a better-equipped device than a new one at the same price: more memory, a better chip, a better camera.

New remains preferable when you want the latest model, when the battery is a device's weak point and it is not covered, or when the older model's software updates are coming to an end.

What to check before buying

  • The seller: an identified professional, with an address, a written warranty and a clear returns policy.
  • The length of the commercial warranty offered on top of the legal guarantee.
  • The grade: it describes appearance (scratches, marks), not how the device works. Each seller has its own scale; read its definition rather than the letter.
  • The battery: stated condition, remaining capacity or replacement. It is the part that wears most on a mobile device.
  • The exact configuration: memory, storage, chip generation. Two listings with the same name can describe very different devices.
  • The price of the equivalent new device, at the same moment: it is the only comparison that tells you whether the refurbished one is worth it.

To spot fake discounts and misleading struck-through prices, our guide on how to recognise a genuine deal details the most common traps.

The trap of "new" that is not new

A listing labelled "new" can be misclassified. When rereading offers, Picksly found "new" smartphones at a fraction of the refurbished price of the same model (spare part, variant, labelling error), and business laptops from 2019 or 2020 advertised as new for less than refurbished, very probably refurbished end-of-lease machines. Two rules follow:

  • For smartphones, tablets and laptops, a "new" price below 60% of the refurbished price of the same model is not kept as a new price.
  • For laptops, a "new" device sold at less than 95% of the price of a verified refurbished offer for the same model, with the same storage read in both listings, is not kept as new: it no longer supports a Smart or Premium choice, and the Budget profile judges it at the refurbished price. Our student laptop guide explains how to spot these cases.

These rules change no listing: they only decide which price Picksly uses. If the price of a new device looks too good, read the title and the condition in the listing before buying.

How Picksly handles refurbished

Picksly sells nothing itself. It reads real listings at retailers (eBay and Amazon in particular), checks that each link leads to a real product page, and ranks what it finds according to your profile.

On the score pages and in the comparison

For smartphones, tablets and laptops, Picksly scores each model from public sources, then picks one choice per profile:

  • 🟢 Budget is the only profile that accepts refurbished. It keeps models whose price, new or refurbished, does not exceed the category ceiling (€350 for a smartphone or a tablet, €700 for a laptop), and takes the lower of the two prices. See smartphones at €350 or less, tablets at €350 or less or laptops at €700 or less, ranked by Budget score.
  • 🟣 Smart only counts new offers, with a Smart score of at least 50 out of 100.
  • 🔵 Premium never keeps refurbished: only new devices, released within the last 24 months when the date is known, with a Premium score of at least 60 out of 100.

A used listing, or one whose condition is not recognised, enters none of these choices. The rules are detailed on the methodology page.

In the extension

When you look at a product at a retailer, the extension searches for verified alternatives. In the Budget profile, a refurbished device comes ahead of a new one at a comparable price, and if there is one among the results, at least one appears among the first shown. In the Premium profile, refurbished and used devices are always set aside. The Smart profile does not sort by condition: it looks for the best value for money.

To go further by category: best value-for-money phone, best tablet and best laptop.

FAQ

Is refurbished reliable?

It is as reliable as its seller. A professional who checks the device, states the battery condition and gives a written warranty greatly reduces the risk compared with a private sale. Read their returns policy before buying.

Refurbished or new, which should you choose?

Compare the refurbished device with its new equivalent, at the same moment and with the same configuration. If the gap is small, new and its longer warranty often win; if it is clear, or if the refurbished device is better equipped than a new one at the same price, it deserves consideration. In Picksly, the Budget profile makes this comparison for you.

Why does Picksly not offer refurbished in Premium?

Because the Premium profile promises the best quality, new and recent. A refurbished device, even in excellent condition, has already been used and its battery has aged: it has its place in the Budget profile, not in Premium.

Is Picksly paid by merchants?

Picksly may earn a commission when you buy through one of its links, at no extra cost to you. The scores come from public sources and do not depend on affiliation; what affiliation can change is explained on our transparency page.

Install the Picksly extension: it recognises the product you are looking at, searches for verified alternatives suited to your profile — Budget, Smart or Premium — and tells you when the listing shown is not the best choice for you.

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Picksly may earn a commission on purchases made through its links, at no extra cost to you. What affiliation can change is explained on our transparency page.