Factory Refurbished Binos

[Demonical]

Since I've been shopping for binoculars, I've seen lots of 'deals' on refurbished binoculars. These ads pretty much all claim to be manufacturer refurbished; Nikon, Bushnell, Vortex etc...

First of all, what's factory refurbished really entail?

Why do these binos require a factory rebuild (if they were decent quality to begin with)?

Third is, would you buy binos, that are used/abused, then immediately send them into the manufacturer, to get them repaired/refurbished?


And the main question: would you be comfortable buying factory refurbished optics?

 

[mildot]

Just to comment on my own experience, I purchased a pair from Camera Land NY, they were a set of Nikon Premier LX-L 8x20. They had no "blems" and were like new. Here's how Nikon explains there "refurbished" policy. I feel I got excellent "bang for the buck" and Camer Land NY is a "solid" company to deal with. Just to put this into perspective, new they are $525, and I paid around $300, so the savings of $250 was well worth it. Like I said, mine were "new" no scratches etc.

Nikon defines a "Refurbished Product" as any product that has been returned by a retail partner/authorized Nikon dealer. Once the product is returned, Nikon conducts a rigorous evaluation of the appearance and all product functions to make sure that the item meets their quality standards. Your product will function identically to a brand-new Nikon product, however it is possible for a reconditioned product to have a scratch or blemish on the surface, not the optics. Nikon demos come with a 90 day warranty.

 

[can14]

I have bought a few pairs of steiner binos that were factory re furbished. They all are great and sometimes you can get the military issued ones

 

[BigUglyMan]

I believe the refurbished ones that Cameraland sells have made the rounds of the trade shots, SHOT etc and have been handled a lot in an indoor environment but not really used. At the end of the circuit they get sent back, checked over and anything worn is replaced. Then they go back into the world and sold at a discounted rate. Most good optic companies have a good warranty and they treat these products like they do their new ones.

I'd buy a set with confidence.

 

[f7 666]

I bought a pair of nikon monarchs from camera land about two years ago and they were like brand new and saved big time. Great to deal with.

 

[762shooter]

I once bought a portable air compressor that was sold as refurbished. The story I got was that they were in shipping container that was dropped. As a result all the compressors had to be unboxed, visually inspected and test run. The price was right and it's still running.

 

[black alder]

Bought a pair of Olympus binoculars once direct from Olympus. The warranty was only good for 30 days
When I received them one of the interior lens was rattling around inside
They said on the ad that the refurbished products went through a thorough inspection prior to being sold
Contacted them and they said to return them at their expense , and they replaced them with a brand new set- not a refurbished one