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Is it ok and safe to buy Certified refurbished from Amazon?

I'd buy that over getting something on swappa and had I known about this before hand, I would have (I bought two 5s for my daughters a couple of weeks ago).
 
hgrimberg said:
Is it ok and safe to buy Certified refurbished from Amazon?
Like this one:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YD543VU/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00UC7USJO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1QGXHNSVV2VNBY6SGGR8
Click to expand...
Remember, you aren't buying from Amazon; you're buying from some other vendor that has Amazon handling the ordering and shipping for you. Any warranty on the phone would be through that third party company, not Apple or Amazon.
You need to rely on the reviews for the product when deciding if it's safe to buy. There are a lot of reviews, most are positive, but many are negative.
Anyone can claim a product is "Certified Refurbished" which likely means nothing other than "I cleaned this phone." It's not as if Apple did the refurbishing and then gave the phone to a 3rd party company to sell through Amazon.
 
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Unless it's coming straight from Apple and their pretty amazing refurbishment process, I would be a little leery. As @chrfr said, anyone can sell anything on Amazon and call it "Certified". That's not to say that there aren't other good refurbishment programs out there, but there are quite a few terrible ones. Be vary aware of buying from non-Amazon vendors on their website.
 
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bobr1952 said:
Just picked up a refurbished 3TB Time Capsule from a Prime vendor. Packed in original Apple box. Looks brand new and works great.
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Who is this prime vendor? Can you recommend it? Do they sell iphones as well?
 
I just got a 5S that way and it was in perfect shape. It was the silver version from the exact same listing.
 
You could check out Swappa unless you don't want used phones.

Some people do sell new phones sometimes but for a 5s it's less likely, I think.

You could also check out eBay and only go for highly reviewed, recently active sellers who deal with electronics like phones and purchase from them
 
Sumter said:
You could check out Swappa unless you don't want used phones.

Some people do sell new phones sometimes but for a 5s it's less likely, I think.

You could also check out eBay and only go for highly reviewed, recently active sellers who deal with electronics like phones and purchase from them
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But aren't refurbished better than used?
 
You can buy a brand new 16GB 5s on Cricket's website for $199. It has to be used on Cricket prepaid for 6 months and can then be unlocked and used on any AT&T or T-mobile based service after that.

Or if 9to5Mac has the rumor right, when the new 4" iPhone is announced in March, the 5S will drop to the $250 range.

Either way you get a new phone and new battery.
 
Buy it and once you get it just go over it with a fine tooth comb...

I will buy and return something to Amazon in a millisecond if something isn't EXACTLY as described.

I've received, returned and been refunded for things on the same day I've ordered them! Amazon is pretty good about taking care of their customers.

I just returned a trekking pole today that was supposed to be a SET and was refunded before the seller was even aware of the situation. I don't have time to be jerked around with poor service...either they were up to something or someone screwed up the order, regardless its not my problem anymore...
 
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aKansasKid said:
You can buy a brand new 16GB 5s on Cricket's website for $199. It has to be used on Cricket prepaid for 6 months and can then be unlocked and used on any AT&T or T-mobile based service after that.

Or if 9to5Mac has the rumor right, when the new 4" iPhone is announced in March, the 5S will drop to the $250 range.

Either way you get a new phone and new battery.
Click to expand...
What is that 4" iphone???
 
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