True. But the risk is that the one you receive is not. This is why you get the discount. You are gambling that the one you get is good. Ok, it’s a good bet - but it’s not a certainty.
Ironically, the more expensive the item, the less likely I am to take up such an offer. Others may feel differently. For me, $150 for a $300 4TB SSD is a good deal but £300 for a $600 8TB SSD not so much. I’m more prepared to risk $150 than I am to risk $300 at the same odds.
You may not know Best Buy or US electronics retail, but the risk in the end is zero. Run any number of available tools that report SMART stats, and if the so called “Certified Refurbished” SSD turns out to be a used customer return, then you can return it as well. But if it reports zero hours on the drive, then you have a brand new drive at half price. The previous buyer just did not want it or did not know how to use it.
AJ
I am familiar with US retail practises to a degree. But I don’t agree with some of the practices employed and I wouldn’t do what you suggest out of principle and I don’t promote such practice.
My very strong belief is that, if you purchase an item, and it is as described when it reaches you, then you have no moral right to return it. If it is damaged in transit, just plain faulty or not as described (e.g. described as new but with a S.M.A.R.T. report that said otherwise), then that is a completely different matter.
In the field of my other interest, photography, I have heard of people in the US simultanously ordering $6000 cameras from multiple camera manufacturers - say Canon, Nikon and Sony, trying each of them out and then keeping the one that they like best and returning the others for a full refund.
This practise is, IMHO, just wrong. At the end of the day, it hurts everyone because the items, be it cameras or SSDs, have to be priced to factor in the return rate from such practice. Thus, the retail price of the item new is higher than it should be so that sale of new items can subsidise the re-stocking costs and the reduced selling price of the open box/refurbished items.
You obviously feel differently about such matters - it may be down to culture which we all know is very different on each side of the pond (Atlantic Ocean).
Agree with everything you wrote.
Furthermore, if you actually go to a store and try a product, they will often discount it if you ask, making it worth your while (subjective I know).
Buying 3 of something knowing that you’ll definitely return 2 of them is not what online purchase protection is there for, imo.