If you are looking to save up to thirty percent on an Apple MacBook, the following are the best places to buy a refurbished one. These websites sell refurbished MacBooks after thorough quality checks, and most of them provide warranties, thus ensuring peace of mind.
The money you save after buying a refurbished Mac can be spent on dongles, cables, and other peripherals. You may also choose to buy a comparatively powerful refurbished MacBook instead of buying a less powerful one in the new state. So here is a list of the 7 best sites to buy a refurbished MacBook or Mac.
What is the difference between refurbished, used, and resold
Before you see the list of the best places to buy these, it is essential to know the meaning of “Refurbished”! First of all, refurbishment is not the same as resold or used.
Suppose your friend has a Mac, and he sells it to you for a lower price. This is ‘used, and he ‘resold’ it to you. That is, after his usage, he passed it on to you at a price that is significantly less than the cost of the product would have been if it were new. This MacBook will have all the problems and issues your friend faced during his use.
Refurbished, on the other hand, falls between new and used. Refurbished MacBooks are in used condition but are sold at a lower price only after thorough inspection, address of all issues, and repackaging.
Suppose a product has a minor issue, or you trade in your device that you no longer need, but these products still have a lot of usage left in them. So, Apple will replace the malfunctioning parts, inspect them, make sure everything is working correctly, and then sell them at a discount.
Things to consider when buying a refurbished MacBook
- Warranty and return policy: You must ensure that the MacBook has a warranty and a return policy in place if you ever run into any issues.
- Seller’s reputation: Buy refurbished Macs from a trusted seller. There are many scammers out there, so it’s important to do your research.
- The condition of the Mac: You must inspect a refurbished MacBook for physical damage, including scratches, dents, cracks, and dead pixels. Also, make sure that all the ports and buttons are working properly.
- Battery Health: Batteries degrade over time, so it’s a good idea to only buy a refurbished MacBook with at least 80% or higher battery health.
- Compare the prices: You should compare the price of a refurbished MacBook to the cost of a brand-new MacBook with similar hardware specifications before you purchase it. Sometimes, the price difference between a refurbished and a new MacBook might not be significant.
- The age of the Mac: You must consider how old the MacBook is and what its original price was. Refurbished Macs are normally available at a discount, but you don’t want to buy one that’s too old or obsolete.
Where to buy refurbished MacBook?
From Apple’s first-party refurbished store to third-party platforms, there are a handful of places to get a refurbished MacBook. Here are our top picks for places to buy a refurbished MacBook
1. Apple Refurbished Store
The Apple Refurbished Store is one of the best places to where you can buy a refurbished MacBook. Although it’s a bit more expensive than most other resellers, Apple carefully inspects each MacBook and restores it to almost pristine condition with genuine Apple parts. Therefore, refurbished MacBooks bought from Apple are often indistinguishable from new ones.
Every refurbished MacBook you purchase from Apple is covered under their standard one-year warranty, which offers replacement or refund for a major failure. Additionally, refurbished MacBooks are also eligible for extended warranty coverage offered by Apple by purchasing an applicable AppleCare+ plan.
The biggest benefit to buying a refurbished MacBook from Apple is that you can easily find great deals on almost all recent MacBook Pro or Air models. Moreover, along with MacBooks, the Apple Refurbished Store also sells other Apple products, such as iPhones, iPads, and iMacs, as well as accessories such as cases, chargers, and cables.
In a nutshell, if you are looking for some fantastic deals, the Apple Refurbished Store is a great place to start. You can be confident that you are getting a device with the same quality and warranty as a new one.
Visit: Apple Refurbished Store
2. Best Buy
Best Buy is probably the second-best place to purchase refurbished MacBooks. They offer a large selection of refurbished Apple products under its Geek Squad certified program. Here, you can easily find reasonably recent models of MacBooks at comparatively lower prices and have them delivered to your doorstep.
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All devices must pass through a thorough product testing, sanitization, and cosmetic grading process before they can be repaired and sold as a Geek Squad Certified refurbished product. Moreover, all refurbished devices are refundable under a 15-day return policy and offer one year of warranty.
Along with a refurbished MacBook, you also get up to three months of free subscriptions for paid services, including iCloud+, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple News. Moreover, you can even subscribe to Best Buy’s total tech service package for 24×7 tech support and additional damage protection.
Visit: Best Buy
3. Amazon Renewed
Amazon sells almost everything that you can think of, including refurbished MacBooks from verified third-party resellers. All devices that are sold through the Amazon Renewed program are inspected, tested, cleaned, and refurbished by quality resellers.
One can easily find great deals on recent models of refurbished Macbooks at Amazon for much lower prices compared to the Apple Refurbished Store. All refurbished MacBooks purchased through Amazon are backed by a 90-day Renewed Guarantee. Apart from that, all renewed products are eligible for free shipping and come with all the necessary accessories in the box.
Visit: Amazon
4. Back Market
Back Market is undoubtedly one of the best platforms from where you can buy refurbished MacBooks or other electronic gadgets like iPhones, iPads, gaming consoles, and much more. Everything they sell is clearly graded as either Fair, Good, or Excellent, so you know exactly what you are getting.
Back Market’s in-house experts meticulously test and renew each device before they are sold. However, they also sell devices that are refurbished by Apple themselves. Whichever device you choose, everything you buy from Back Market offers a 1-year warranty and 30-day money-back guarantee.
If that’s not great enough, all refurbished products they sell are eligible for free shipping. And for those who want to save more, Back Market lets you trade in your old tech for cash.
Visit: Back Market
5. OWC
OWC, or Other World Computing, is yet another trustworthy platform from where you can get a refurbished MacBook. All refurbished MacBooks sold by OWC are inspected and tested by Apple-certified technicians, so you can be confident that you are getting a device that’s free of defects.
Every Apple purchase from OWC comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee, free tech support, and a 90-day warranty. However, you can also purchase two years of additional damage protection from them.
Apart from its online marketplace, OWC has several stores across the U.S. where you can find and purchase a MacBook. Moreover, OWC also lets you trade in your older machine for a fair offer, so you can save some bucks.
Visit: OWC’s MacSales.com
6. RefurbMe
RefurbMe is an excellent aggregator platform that lets users compare new or refurbished MacBooks from multiple sellers in one place. Rather than directly selling the product, RefurbMe redirects you to more than ten certified refurbishers and sellers that deal with Apple devices.
You can use custom filters to conveniently sort MacBooks according to their condition, warranty coverage, price, and so on. Additionally, RefurbMe also allows you to track price drops on all products using its price alert feature.
Visit: refurb.me
7. Swappa
Swappa is an online community for buying new and refurbished gadgets. Here, buyers and sellers connect directly, and all devices must be fully functional to be sold or listed. The platform has an in-house customer service team that ensures all the devices meet their strict quality standards.
On Swappa, you can easily find the newest models of refurbished or used MacBooks, including the 15-inch MacBook Air. However, on the downside, none of Swappa’s devices are covered under manufacturer warranties unless explicitly stated in the product description.
Visit: Swappa
Signing off…
Many of the above-listed sites also sell used MacBooks. (I already told you about the difference between used and refurbished.) Similarly, if you are looking for used devices, you can search for them on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Olx, Quickr, and other e-marketplaces in your area. You may even get these from physical local computer shops.
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