# How to tell a new from a refurbished Kindle?



## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

Hello everyone. I've been visiting this forum since I ordered my Kindle the other day. I really regret that my this is my first post.

I ordered my Kindle off e-bay from a seller advertising New, Sealed in Box and all that jazz. I specifically asked prior to purchasing if this was a new retail or refurbished/sealed and being sold as new (below is my question and the seller's answer).

*ME:* _Is this item Brand New Retail version or is this 
the Brand New Factory Refurbished and Sealed? It 
seems like a lot of sellers are listing 
refurbished as new, but they at least put 
Refurbished in the description._

*Seller: *_This item is Brand new and sealed in the box_

I received my Kindle tonight. At first, I was filled with joy, but with a bit of confusion. I saw that the Kindle was shipped from Warehouse Deals. For those of you that may not know, Warehouse Deals is an Amazon company that usually sells refurbished, open box, or dented box items. I tore off the packing slip and sure enough the ebay seller took my money and ordered a Kindle from warehouse deals with me as the shipping address and him as the billing address. Unfortunately, no where on the slip or the box does it say the kindle is refurbished. I only believe it's refurbished because I don't see the option to buy new (only refurbished) from Warehouse deals.

I know some of you are wondering why I ordered a Kindle through ebay to begin with. Well, sometimes I try to be more frugal than its worth. At the time, Bing.com was offering 20% cash back on Buy it Now/Paypal orders through ebay. I also wanted to pay using my paypal account since I had over $300 balance and Amazon doesn't allow paypal transactions.

I guess I should get to my question... Is there anywhere on this device that will give me info to support my refurbished claim (i.e. manf. date, hours used?) some times electronic devices have this info in a sub menu or something.

I'm sorry if my post is a bit of a mess right now, I'm a bit flustered. Hopefully the seller will contact me back and we can work something out, but right now i'm pretty pissed.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Off-hand I don't know of any way to be sure, other than contacting Amazon with the serial number and seeing if they can tell you. If they will tell you (and I don't know if they would), I suppose they could only confirm/deny if any refurbishing had been done through them, though I have no idea if anyone else would do so.


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## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

Had the same thought so I gave them a call. They can confirm that the SN was previously used, but thats about it. I asked them to at the very least write an e-mail stating this minus the previous user's info and they pretty much said no.


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## Anju  (Nov 8, 2008)

In some cases I think the refurb might be better than an untouched by human hands unit.  Any bugs would have been exterminated and you still have ability to use a refurb just like a brand new one.  So unless you paid brand new price I wouldn't worry about it, just enjoy the experience.


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## MrTsMom (Jun 13, 2009)

I'm pretty sure that the refurbished ones have a green sticker on the packaging. I think.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes, several members in the past reported the green sticker.  Don't know if that's still true.

Here's the thing--does it have the same warranty?  Refurbs are supposed to have the same Amazon warranty.  If it does, I wouldn't sweat it.  Refurbs have been gone over, and if it has the same warranty as a brand new one, if you have any problems, Amazon will replace it, and not necessarily with another refurb.

I would recommend using it a lot for a couple weeks.  Do downloads, usb connections, searches.  I read once that most abnormal problems with electronics happen within the first 48 hours of use; it's just that it usually takes awhile to get to the 48 hours. 

Betsy


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## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes, several members in the past reported the green sticker. Don't know if that's still true.
> 
> Here's the thing--does it have the same warranty? Refurbs are supposed to have the same Amazon warranty. If it does, I wouldn't sweat it. Refurbs have been gone over, and if it has the same warranty as a brand new one, if you have any problems, Amazon will replace it, and not necessarily with another refurb.
> 
> ...


I'm not really concerned about the quality of the refurb vs. new. Actually the unit I got is in really good shape. However, the seller advertised as new, sold it at the new price, and then had warehouse deals send me a refurbished one. I refuse to pay the new price for a refurbished unit regardless if I got 20% bing cashback. I want to keep the Kindle, so hopefully the seller and I can work something out where he gives me a partial refund. If not, then I'm submitting a claim through ebay, paypal, and leaving a negative comment detailing his fraud.

As for the signs of it being refurbished, my box does have a little green circle sticker. More importantly, Amazon finally sent me an e-mail stating the unit I receive is in fact a refurbished unit. I pretty much already knew that from the start, but it gives me all the proof I need, if I need it.


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## kcgill (Aug 9, 2009)

I have a refurb K1 and have had no issues with it.  I also bought a brand new DX before the refurb.  Wish I could have bought a refurb DX rather than the new one but they weren't offering them at the time.

I am surprised that Amazon actually sent you that e-mail.  After all, you chose to take your business elsewhere and when you felt you got "cheated", you wanted Amazon to step up to the plate and help you out when they didn't have a dog in the race.

Another example of the above and beyond of Amazon CS.


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## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

kcgill said:


> I have a refurb K1 and have had no issues with it. I also bought a brand new DX before the refurb. Wish I could have bought a refurb DX rather than the new one but they weren't offering them at the time.
> 
> I am surprised that Amazon actually sent you that e-mail. After all, you chose to take your business elsewhere and when you felt you got "cheated", you wanted Amazon to step up to the plate and help you out when they didn't have a dog in the race.
> 
> Another example of the above and beyond of Amazon CS.


I wasn't asking Amazon for anything other than an e-mail stating what they told me over the phone, that the unit was previously owned. I agree that Amazon overall has good customer service, but sometimes it takes some work. I'm familiar with the customer service industry, so I know my limits and I don't ask for anything more than what I would be willing to do for my own customers.

Any way you look at it, I was "cheated". Advertising one thing and delivering another, is simply wrong. I'm sorry if my first post may have sounded a bit whiney, that's not really the impression I was trying to make. I was a bit flustered and upset and was looking to the community for info on how to identify a refurb.

Regardless, the seller contacted me and stated that he uses a drop shipper and was told by the shipper that the units were new and claims he had no idea that they were buying refurbs from Amazon. I'm not sure if I buy his story, but he did refund me the difference ($40).


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## MINImum (Oct 15, 2009)

jd78:  That's awesome that you worked something out with the seller.  It's so frustrating to be a victim of fraud on ebay, it's happened to so many people.  I don't blame you one bit for being upset about it.

But congrats on your Kindle purchase!  You're going to love it.  These boards are a wealth of information, so stick around and have fun.  Happy reading!


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## Neekeebee (Jan 10, 2009)

Glad you were able to get Amazon to cooperate and get a refund from the seller.

I can understand why you would be mad. Regardless of whether the new Kindle is truly "better" than the refurb Kindle, it is up to _you_ to decide which you want to purchase. You should not be put in the position of thinking you are buying one thing and have the seller decide to send you the other.

N


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## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

MINImum said:


> jd78: That's awesome that you worked something out with the seller. It's so frustrating to be a victim of fraud on ebay, it's happened to so many people. I don't blame you one bit for being upset about it.
> 
> But congrats on your Kindle purchase! You're going to love it. These boards are a wealth of information, so stick around and have fun. Happy reading!


Thanks. I've already found this site very helpful. I've been lurking here over the past week and this is one of the sites that ultimately swayed me to get a Kindle. One of the first things I did after I got my issue resolved was to put the screen saver hack on and replace the stock screen savers with pictures on my wife and newborn son. I really thought the pictures of classic authors was a nice touch, but I rather see my family .


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

kcgill said:


> I am surprised that Amazon actually sent you that e-mail. After all, you chose to take your business elsewhere and when you felt you got "cheated", you wanted Amazon to step up to the plate and help you out when they didn't have a dog in the race.


I don't think Amazon cares one bit about how many Kindles they sell or who sells them, except as a means to an end. It's a razors/blades market. Anybody who buys a Kindle, from any vendor, is going to be buying books from Amazon. That's the real goal, and where Amazon is going to make real money. Besides, even if you want to assume that they do make money on the sale of the hardware, a customer angry at a non-Amazon vendor for selling a refurbished device as new is more likely to turn around and buy one direct from Amazon than a customer who doesn't know he/she got taken. So it's in their interest even in that case.


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## skibbs (Dec 12, 2009)

I think I just bought one from the same seller. Was it tonlliwi?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Amazon-Kindle-2-Brand-New-Global-Wireless-Newest-Ver_W0QQitemZ150396254492QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230450b91c

Mine arrived in a box that had all the exterior shipping labels torn off, so I couldn't look at them. When I fired it up, I saw that it was already registered to some lady. This was sold as BRAND NEW, SEALED - NOT REFURBISHED. Could you please let me know if this is the same person? I also ordered because of the Bing cashback and feel cheated...

Thanks!


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## jd78 (Dec 8, 2009)

skibbs said:


> I think I just bought one from the same seller. Was it tonlliwi?
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Amazon-Kindle-2-Brand-New-Global-Wireless-Newest-Ver_W0QQitemZ150396254492QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230450b91c
> 
> ...


My seller was Westernword and my package was sent straight from Amazon's Warehouse Deals so it still had all the external labels.


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## ReginaLovesHer Kindle (Nov 30, 2009)

You can file paypal claims through paypal within 45 days of purchase.  They are slow and not always successful.  But I would do that.

Also, you can withdraw your paypal balance into a checking account for no fee.  

So sorry about this!


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## Stellamaz (Aug 12, 2009)

Sorry this happened to you.  I have actually done quite a bit of selling (not electronics) on ebay, and the thing that bothers me the most about this whole transaction is the seller's response to your very direct question.  It should have been obvious that you definitely did not want a refurb ... so, that person either does not know his/her product OR chose to deliberately deceive you, hoping you wouldn't know the difference.  Neither one is good.  

I don't think I would leave them a negative since they did refund you, but ... I would definitely mention it in the feedback.

On another note ... I have purchased several refurb electronic items over the past several years, and they have all performed beautifully.  Of course, that doesn't help if you positively wanted NEW, but ... if you decide to keep it, it should be fine.


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## angelad (Jun 19, 2009)

Wow, that really sucks.  HOpefully you guys get your moneys backc.


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