AbbeysteadGlobal Positioning System Articles
Saving money is really important to you in your consumer purchases. You want to stretch your dollars so that every cent gets you the best value in everything you buy. This is true whether you are buying an mp3 player, laptop computer, or refrigerator. You want value in your GPS purchases.
The only way to do that is to do research on the highest quality products and to find the best way to get those products at the lowest price point. One way to do that is scour the internet and newspaper adds for the best sales. This can take time trying to find out what things are really selling for these days.
Or, you can buy a refurbished GPS.
It is true that there has been a dramatic dip in the pricing of GPS units across the board. In car navigation systems used to run above $500 on a regular basis. These units were costly and you could only hope to get a deal on them if you really looked hard. If you were lucky enough to find a refurbished item it was often gone in an instant because so many people wanted these items.
Now prices are relatively low, often well below the $500 mark. This has left some people wondering why you would even consider buying a refurbished GPS. The reason you should still buy refurbished is that these items are still cheaper than a "brand spanking new" model.
The current price for a TomTom One Third Edition auto GPS on one online retailer is currently just under $200 'new.' If you were to buy its refurbished counterpart on the same retailer you would see a savings of $50. That is like getting a 25% discount just because you went with a product that initially failed the manufacturer's production standards but has since qualified after being re-outfitted.
The product is exactly the same. The functionality is exactly the same. The value is exactly the same. But the price is radically different.
You shouldn't just listen to what you read on the internet, though. You need to go out and do your own research and talk to a sales rep yourself if you really want to take advantage of the deals available. Know what you are getting into when you buy a refurbished item and what exactly the means. You will be surprised to know that it can mean a lot of different things.
A refurbished item can simply be on that didn't work like the company wanted it to so they then fixed it post production. It could have a scratch on it that prevents the manufacturer from selling it as new because of their own production standards. Or it can be an older device with new guts. Whatever the reason the reason for the refurbishment, you will want to know why. This will make you an informed consumer and it will help you decide if the 25% discount is really worth it or if you just want to spend money needlessly.
Why buy new when you can buy refurbished? It is cheaper and you get the same bang for your buck.
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