Other Best place to buy refurbished/renewed/used iPhone

[TomFromAndroid]

Where's the best place to buy a refurbished or "renewed" iPhone-- aside from Apple itself? Amazon, eBay or others? I know Apple says that they use all Apple parts, and I would presume that their people know the product much better than anyone else, but Apple Certified products aren't that much less expensive than brand new.

I don't use my phone a lot yet I'm hooked on the Apple ecosystem, especially now that I have a Mac as well as an iPad and iPhone (an original SE).

I got burned once on a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad years ago, which makes me uneasy about going the refurb route. Yet I just can't justify the price of a brand new iPhone. All suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Best Buy. They’ve been solid for several of our refurb iPhone purchases (kids mainly). Just watch battery life. You may need a new one. Usually about $89 from Apple.

Any refurb from Apple may as well be brand new, they’re that clean, but they only carry the last years models typically. Best Buy has refurbs going back to the iPhone 12.

 

[Macdctr]

I would go thru Amazon refurbished premium when purchasing pre-owned iPhones. I have gotten my 13 minis and my 15 Pro from Amazon this way. What I like about buying Amazon renewed premium is that their guarantee for their “Renewed Premium” items come with a 365-day return period. No questions asked, even if you changed your mind.

This is how I purchase pre-owned iPhones going forward. I have returned iPhones that did not meet Amazon’s renewed premium criteria and haven’t experienced any issues so far. Sometimes, not every time, you might get an item that clearly does not meet expectations . . . just return it and there’s no issue getting refunded. Worse case.

Avoid Facebook marketplace and eBay if you can. What I have seen on eBay when advertised brand new or excellent condition are devices that have been opened and had questionable batteries or LCD displays put in as they are much cheaper than genuine OEM soft OLED display panels. I still feel your chances of getting a great deal on a pre-owned iPhone in excellent condition is thru Amazon.

 

[rambo47]

I've always had great success scoring a used phone at Swappa.