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Experiences with Amazon "scratch & dent" warehouse deals (1 Viewer)

Dennis Nicholls

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I've taken the plunge on occasion to save money on Amazon's warehouse deals. Generally I've had good luck. The best deal was over this summer buying a home treadmill. All sorts of exercise equipment has been backordered for months due to Covid. The model I wanted was then $350 and backordered 6 weeks. I took a chance on a warehouse deal with torn up packaging for $215 - immediate shipping. The outer corrugated box was torn up some but the unit inside was new and undamaged.

Another time I bought an Arris SB6183 cable modem for $30, advertised as open box. Normal price was $70. It came in the original box with undisturbed original packaging inside. It's been up and running 24/7 for a few years now.

Is this typical? Or do most people regret such purchases?
 

Josh Steinberg

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I’ve done a few of those Warehouse deals on discs. The cases came with cosmetic damage (as advertised) but the discs all played flawlessly so no complaints here.
 

Angelo Colombus

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I’ve done a few of those Warehouse deals on discs. The cases came with cosmetic damage (as advertised) but the discs all played flawlessly so no complaints here.
Done the same with discs too and so far no returns. Tempted with laptops that are not brand new but i do read about some issues with that.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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OK I've taken another gamble on another Amazon "used" item. An Arris SB8200 cable modem: normally $136 but with a "damaged original packaging" only $82. That's enough of a discount to give it a try. Those descriptive words from Amazon generally mean brand new in a damaged cardboard box.

It arrived today. A small (half inch) tear in the outer box near a corner. All stuff inside the box packaged as new. Considering this modem originally had an MSRP of $200, getting one for $82 is a bargain.
 

BobO'Link

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Yeah, I've taken chances on some board games recently - most have arrived with very, very, minimal box damage. Only 1 was pretty banged up (couple of fully torn corners) but it was clearly stated on the description - and it's not so bad that minimal repairs can't fix the damage fairly easily.

I've even gotten some things, like modems/routers/fire tablets, that say "light scuffing on top/bottom/side" for them to arrive and the "scuffs" are no worse than you often see on new-in-box items like these.
 

jcroy

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So far most of the "amazon warehouse" deals I purchased were books. Most of the time I had no idea what the "dent / scratch" was.

The only time I ever made a non-book "amazon warehouse" deals purchase, was an audio cd. Otherwise I generally avoid such "warehouse deals" of dvds, blurays, etc .... and many other items.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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After a short call to my ISP (Sparklight), my cheap Arris SB8200 is up and running.

Sparklight is trying to push their heritage customers off their old bottom tier 100 Mbps service onto their lowest current tier at 600 Mbps. They offered me a deal to make the change for only $5 more a month: from $55 to $60. That's why I had to buy a new modem as the old one wasn't fast enough.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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Well I appear to be pleased with another discount purchase. This time it's a Dash small air fryer. Normally $50 I got it for $33. The box was somewhat beat up but the fryer inside was unused and undamaged. Time for fresh French fries tonight.

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John Dirk

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Timely thread as I recently ordered a pneumatic workshop chair for my garage from Amazon. To be honest, I wasn't even paying attention and didn't realize I had ordered a "renewed" product until I saw the box upon arrival. Despite the condition of the packaging the chair was in perfect condition. Checking back today I see I saved about $30.00. I'll be keeping an eye out for these types of bargains in the future.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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I would guess that Amazon is "self insured" for inventory. So they cut their losses by selling any "damaged goods" at whatever price they think they can get.
 

JohnRice

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I've gotten a number of things this way, but I always stay from tech items. So, I've gotten stuff like George Forman grills and such. It's always worked out.
 

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