True, I personally bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max from eBay certified refurbished (excellent condition) and I couldn’t tell the difference from a new one. Battery health was at 100% as well.
I know what you mean. Personally my experience has been great with the excellent and refurbished categories, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the lower tiers especially "good" based on the description. Curious how big the range really is and how common the condition they received really is.
Yea was thinking just that. Those phones are no doubt cherry picked, so the bottom tier with 'only' a couple scratches might be gouge's to a normal shopper
I've been buying refurbished electronics for a couple of years, and the only time i had problems i contacted customer support and immediately got another device (though it wasn't via ebay). But i still dont think this is representative of the diversity a model of "good" quality would have. That's the biggest problem, they best good phone is gonna be an absolute bargain but if you get a bad "good" device then you start to see where the cost saving comes in. It seems like such horrendous timing to release this after the secret shopping sponsons video on the main channel too. oh well.
personally had good experience with ebay refurbished, got the £750 xiaomi mi 11 for £250 as "very good" refurbished, no scratches, all accesories included, even the condom case had no yellowing and was in the packet, phone felt so clean that I didn't even want to wipe it
You guys should have checked the cycle count in the batteries. That would help determine how much that 22% discount on an "EXCELENT" device relates to just wear on the bats.
@@sven957 Yeah I really wish part of it was "we ordered these ourselves anonymously" kinda like they do for secret shopper. I personally tend to buy refurb electronics and maybe a gen or two behind especially for things like audio receivers where the tech doesn't really move very quickly. Like the site I normally use has a Yamaha factory refurbished 7.2 receiver for 250 bucks when it retailed for 550ish, it's a couple years old but still has basically every feature you could want. I have a higher end one (like 2-3x the price even refurbished) and the only features it looks like it's missing is slightly fewer inputs (still has 4xHDMI) but pretty lackluster legacy inputs only a couple RCAs and doesn't have a dedicated Phono input.
I've helped some friends and family buy refurbished in varying quality tiers. The good tier and very good is usually what we've gotten. I don't think there's ever really been an issue with the very good tier, and the good tier is usually fine. Out of probably 10 or 12 phones I've helped get, only 1 of them was kinda bad, and we just returned it. Always make sure you can return it before purchasing. The main concern imo would be battery life. So make sure you get the 30 day return policy, and actually daily drive it for 1-2 weeks.
tbh, most of the time refurbished phones are like new, without the 'new' feeling. if youre willing to sacrifice the feeling of a new phone then go ahead, its still basically the same quality
I bought a refurbished oneplus nord N200 for 135 Canadian, it had free shipping came with a fast charger and USBC cable. Phone is basically like new save for some minor cosmetic marks from where the last owner had a case protecting the phone. The battery was at 95% health, and it was a rocking deal for a used phone.
@@SomethingSimpler Usually the seller will specifically mention the degree of refurbishment. If it says something like "Grade B Refurbished" it was probably just cleaned up with a wet wipe and thrown into a generic box with a 3rd party crappy Chinese charger. If it says "Grade A" or "Excellent/Very Good", they most likely manually replaced the battery (which would result in loss of IP rating if it has one BTW), if the screen has bad burn-in they will also replace that as well.
i worked at best buy as a manager for best buy mobile, and refurb is hit or miss. i’ve seen refurb phones that were covered in scratches and loose charger ports, and some that looked like new. ironically all refurb come with a charger unlike new lol. your best bet is to get an open box phone in store (never order open box online.) if it’s open box in store, the previous owner only had it for maybe a week or two max and as long as you verify it’s not carrier locked, they’re usually a good deal
Im a big promoter of buying used and refurbished, I'm glad you made this video. I think a lot of people are worried that they're buying a used or worn down product, when sometimes it really can be just someone who opened the phone, didn't like it, and returned it.
gotta give this a try. I've gotten past the phase of always needing a new phone to upgrading after my phone is significantly aged or after it receives its last supported update lol.
I love getting refurbished phones because those tiny scratches are barely noticeable and even when you get a new phone over a little time it will look the same anyway
Hey to be honest it is not clear if ebay sent you these phones or if you picked them yourselves. The reason being if it was ebay themselves who sent you this the video could be biased. But if it was you guys buying it on ebay that would make it sound more fair. What im trying to say clarity on how the phones were recieved would help :) 👍
Got a certified refurb iPhone 12 for my mom about 2 months ago. It came through in essentially new condition. I think my biggest concern with refurbs would be that they probably often have one or more of the panels replaced and very likely are no longer waterproof.
If you really look though, when was the last time you really took advantage of a water proof phone? Its not like you go out looking for ways to get your phone wet. Refurb phones are definitely a way to go...
this felt ultra hard like just a very scripted advert. No data from labs on how the battery life would be, no secret shopping and getting a few extra phones to check out for yourself.
@@dftfire yeah! Very true, for all we know, the screens could have massive amounts of dead pixels, water damage or the screens/functionality could be crap
I bought my Pixel 4a used from Swappa about 2 years ago. Still going strong today. I'll probably get a newer Pixel by the end of the year. It's like buying a car... buy a good lightly used one and let someone else take the depreciation hit.
Yes, this. Everyone has different preferences of course, but I could never bring myself to buy my car brand new if I could help it. If I do buy new, I intend to hang onto it for a very long time (even then, often the same for used, honestly)
Gotta criticize here a bit: the bare minimum on a sponsored video should've been anonymously buying the phones and also verifying the actual battery health properly
The thing that has bit me quite hard in the past with a refurbished phone was not external damage. It was a pathetic battery life, as well as general crashing. It's a little disappointing that these phones weren't even turned on in this review, but it's good to note that you did mention it went through labs testing. Maybe things have improved now (or I got unlucky).
Bought a note 20 ultra on swappa and had this problem. Luckily the trade in value was insane from samsung so I used it to get an s22 ultra on the cheap.
I'd also just do a quick search around (particularly with laptops). As they mentioned briefly, the msrp isn't always what a phone is going for, particularly as more time passes by. For instance, I believe the Pixel 6a is going for around $350 (usd) on google's on store at the time of this video. But that being said it is still like ~30% off, I'd consider that well worth a tiny scratch.
You can get it as low as $300 US (~$400 Canadian) if you don't buy it on Google's store, so the refurbished one is only ~18% cheaper. Since it's not a top tier ("certified refurbished") device, it can have up to 20% decreased battery life and it doesn't come with any warranty for the battery. So you're saving C$70 by buying a refurbished phone, but you might need to spend that on a replacement battery later on.
@@alecjahn yeah, I've also seen it on sale new at Target at one point for $250 USD. Which is pretty much on par with the $330 Canadian for that refurbished one. Looking around at the options is pretty important.
@@hitnovakThe 6a was available $250 about 4 months back at Best buy (US unlocked). Converting, it'll be 332 CAD. So ya.. not a good deal. The 12 Pro max also is just barely a decent deal since it'll be a 3 Yr old phone in 1 month. Flip is a damn good deal mostly coz of the extra year of warranty. In fact, just because of that it's better to buy the certified refurbished than New one's.
This wouldve been better if they also bought the same phone models but anonymously, and compare the ones they bought and the ones that ebay sent them for the video.
I have gone through eBay refurbs a couple times now and the quality levels “good”, “very good” etc. are way more dramatic than they show here.. Don’t even bother with “good”, you can get lucky with very good, and “excellent” is definitely a better bet… but still a gamble
Where are you buying them from? Lol. I've had two gently used phones now and all of them lasted three years. I never buy the cheapest option, because I don't want someone who is competing solely on price. Maybe that's why you got lemons?
It must have been provided for them to have an example of each level. That doesn't take away from the products and their service, just always look for more reviews, comments, maybe somebody else will have this topic in their channel, and buy at your own discretion.
@@GH0STST4RSCR34M they said that this is sponsored by ebay so it's much more fair to assume that ebay sent them the phones for free as part of the sponsorship
@@ToppyTree Fam, I'm actually impressed. Because most sponsors don't have good integration. I'm familiar with Ebay's sponsorship from Drive Tribe, the former cast of Top Gear, Europe.
@@ToppyTree … as any reasonable person should be (disclaimer: am actual eBay employee). FWIW (and you might expect _me_ to say this, but it’s true): I purchased several of my mom’s iPhones and my GF’s iPhones on eBay. It’s just cheaper and you do get buyer protection. I think we did have a battery issue after about a year, but the phone was already 3-4yrs old so it made sense. 🤷♂️
I don't like this video, looks like an ad and that's it. No battery or perfomance tests, no secret shoping, no new phone to compare to, no twists nothing
The iPhone XS I’m still using today was an eBay refurb - no probs at all, I killed my first one out of warranty, didn’t need the latest phone at the time (13) so just saved some cash and bought the refurb. Flawless. Have done a battery change since then is all…
As a frequent eBay refurbished buyer for many a friends and family...this feels like a load of BS. I've had super noticeable scratches and dents. A few with entirely broken features like iPhones without face id, or broken cameras. I wouldn't recommend eBay for slower shipping and annoying swaps. This video idea was neat. I love 2 hosts. But the pacing felt very odd. Felt like a big fake smile the whole time.
@@ChodaBoyUSASure, but what's the value in sponsored videos to us viewers? You're only going to get the positives, but no negatives. The only benefit is to the LTT team, who get the money for doing it
@@ChodaBoyUSA to some extent, yes. I think there is usually still some value to us viewers. The tone of this just felt wrong. It sounded like it was scripted by eBay and not LTT or a the very least, had a long list of talking points or edits to the script from an eBay rep.
In my country, especially in the north, refurbished phones is very common among the middle class or students, since they don’t have enough budget to afford a new, unused phone, so most stores will display those phones and say they’re “like new” or “99%”, even “95%” to attract more consumers who want an iPhone or a Samsung phone to not feel left out in their friend circle.
Screen Burn and image retention is notorious with any old phone and unless the screen panel has been refurbished then it's a problem. Then the usual lack of security updates and owning something that has had someone elses life data on.
I bought a refurb LG G8 ThinQ for less than $100 a hot minute ago. There's some mild burn-in and very difficult-to-see "micro scratches" on the back glass, but the battery was obviously replaced (it lasts a surprisingly long time for a 3500mAh in a 4 year old phone, so I'm assuming at some point it was replaced with a new one). Camera curbstomps any modern cheapo budget phone by light years, the "Quad DAC" is actually legit good and not just a gimmick (the weird hand gesture stuff is definitely a gimmick tho lmao) AND it runs Android 12 (for a phone that came out with Android 9 that's shockingly good).
I bought a "excellent" quality refurbished S21 5G, was supposed to be free of cosmetic damage and have at least 80% of battery life. It was scratched up, had the finish worn off in a bunch of places, and the battery life was less than half that would be expected from a new phone. Total ripoff. Never again.
I thought for sure that the duo would test the phones to ensure that they are in full operating condition. Is that all they're going to do with the phones, check for scratches?
Got s21 ultra from my provider $10/month only problem it had was a slight cosmetic damage on the side barely noticeable and covered by my kickstand case super good value
Yes. Frankly on Android it's like a cheat code. You wait 18 months and you get phones for like 33 cents on the dollar and these days they're still going to get years of updates
Physical damage is the least important part. Battery life, wear and tear on the internals, those are much more important. I'm disappointed in this video, I expected better from this channel.
And is the phone still getting security-updates, and did the previous owner remove their Google or Apple account before resetting it, so you can actually use it! Only things I'd expect a tech-channel to cover! 😂
Well... I guess am not surprised since it's sponsored, but the fact that you don't talk about battery health at all is embarrassing. Like this is the first thing to check when buying a used device with a battery.
This was such a good concept for a video that I'm disappointed it's an ad A roundup of refurb phones from multiple websites AND secret-shopping the phones would have been great
They should do the secret shopper on sponsors for this, Ebay could have sent them the best conditions in the catorgories, a normal buyer could get a 'good refurbished' and be chalk full of scratches
Warranty doesn't seem to be a worldwide thing... European eBay has the certified refurbished program, however there's no information anywhere (I could find) about warranty... I think the regional aspects should have been mentioned in a sponsored video Country tested : Germany
I bought my current phone 2.5 years ago for only a fraction of the original price, its still great and i never had a complain about the fact it was refurbished
I have had some luck with buying refurbished phones in the past, but have had nothing but pain when buying refurbished/second hand monitors... It has put me off buying anything refurbished again. It's a shame; I'm not keen on adding to landfill, but once you see a stuck or dead pixel, it can never be unseen.
Well I mean they cherry picked the products for you guys to show off. You should never assume everything is as it seems when a reviewer gets ahold of sponsored product or the company knows they are sending it to get a video made on it
I bought an excellent condition iPhone 8 plus not too long ago for my daily phone after i lost my iPhone 13 pro, the phone was basically brand new without the iPhone packaging, absolutely no scratches/dings/dents or noticeable wear. Plus if you dont like it most of the time you have 30 days guaranteed to return it. So i think for sure refurbed phones are worth it, plus people can help the environment. So it’s a win win And a warranty
The Pixel 6a doesn't sell for over $600 CAD, it's $479 CAD brand new directly from Google. You'd need to compare the *current* price, not the release price from over a year ago.
This video was definitely a little harder a swing towards a full-on ad than I would like from sponsored content. Also, anecdotally, some of the prices quoted here are totally wrong. The 12 Pro Max does NOT have an MSRP of $1600 CAD. A brand new 14 Pro Max goes for 1550 on the Apple Store today. I can only guess this info was from eBay, which would be disappointing.
I just bought a refurbished HP Chromebook X2 11 from Amazon. I was immediately blown away by the pristine condition it’s in, damn thing even came with all the original accessories including extra tips for the pen, and I got it with half the price. A tiny gripe is the battery, 95%, though a 11hrs tablet with 5% battery short is more than negligible. It’s not a steal, it’s a rob.
I buy used phones from ebay sometimes, I have notice a 8 out of 10 or B grade look almost flawless, maybe a tiny scratch that you have to look for. They are always at decent prices.
Just checked the iPhone13 Mini 128GB. eBay looks like it has a great discount, until you notice that they're listing the MSRP as $699 instead of $599. Not such a great deal when you factor in the real MSRP.
My last 2 phones have been refurbished via Backmarket. 1 year warranty and I buy the cheapest/most scratched. Always comes in very good condition and I have had zero issues
wish they had done some test. does the phone still hold up compared to new? how bad is the battery used? thats the one thing that has me hesitant. but 50%, i mean damn. thats hard to pass.
Feedback: I like that variety of sponsors is way bigger this summer compare to what we usually get. Tired of seeing same 3-4 companies every other video.
@@DizzyBusy this might be true, but you know, i am a 90`s boy, our tv channels had a lot of variety in terms of ads, some became so memorable they are memes even now and I did not mind ads because of the variety. dbrand ads are funny, sure, but I still don`t like the general brand consolidation and that you see same ads and same companies all the time, both from youtube and from lmg. repetition is so darn annoying.
I'd be curious to secret shop this program because i could imagine this being pretty easy to cherry pick
True, I personally bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max from eBay certified refurbished (excellent condition) and I couldn’t tell the difference from a new one. Battery health was at 100% as well.
I know what you mean. Personally my experience has been great with the excellent and refurbished categories, but they leave a lot of wiggle room in the lower tiers especially "good" based on the description. Curious how big the range really is and how common the condition they received really is.
Yea was thinking just that. Those phones are no doubt cherry picked, so the bottom tier with 'only' a couple scratches might be gouge's to a normal shopper
I've been buying refurbished electronics for a couple of years, and the only time i had problems i contacted customer support and immediately got another device (though it wasn't via ebay). But i still dont think this is representative of the diversity a model of "good" quality would have. That's the biggest problem, they best good phone is gonna be an absolute bargain but if you get a bad "good" device then you start to see where the cost saving comes in. It seems like such horrendous timing to release this after the secret shopping sponsons video on the main channel too. oh well.
personally had good experience with ebay refurbished, got the £750 xiaomi mi 11 for £250 as "very good" refurbished, no scratches, all accesories included, even the condom case had no yellowing and was in the packet, phone felt so clean that I didn't even want to wipe it
You guys should have checked the cycle count in the batteries. That would help determine how much that 22% discount on an "EXCELENT" device relates to just wear on the bats.
Even just checking the battery health using Aida64 would have been cool of them.
I would actually love this information
this entire video doesnt make sense considering its sponsored by ebay and they most likely good good units
@@sven957 Yeah I really wish part of it was "we ordered these ourselves anonymously" kinda like they do for secret shopper. I personally tend to buy refurb electronics and maybe a gen or two behind especially for things like audio receivers where the tech doesn't really move very quickly. Like the site I normally use has a Yamaha factory refurbished 7.2 receiver for 250 bucks when it retailed for 550ish, it's a couple years old but still has basically every feature you could want. I have a higher end one (like 2-3x the price even refurbished) and the only features it looks like it's missing is slightly fewer inputs (still has 4xHDMI) but pretty lackluster legacy inputs only a couple RCAs and doesn't have a dedicated Phono input.
Amateurs 🤦♂️
Riley seems like he’s withholding his usual lightly chaotic Wisconsin dad energy.
Yeah it feels likes they had very strict pointers from eBay on what they can say
I'd like to be a Wisconsin dad
Sometimes Wisconsin mom
@@TheJubess Is it ironic that they had a live panel discussion in LTX 2023 with the title "sponsored reviews need to be stopped"?
@@TheSiprianus That is no review.
This needs a secret shopper one. All phones being nearly perfect is sus.
I've helped some friends and family buy refurbished in varying quality tiers. The good tier and very good is usually what we've gotten. I don't think there's ever really been an issue with the very good tier, and the good tier is usually fine. Out of probably 10 or 12 phones I've helped get, only 1 of them was kinda bad, and we just returned it. Always make sure you can return it before purchasing.
The main concern imo would be battery life. So make sure you get the 30 day return policy, and actually daily drive it for 1-2 weeks.
tbh, most of the time refurbished phones are like new, without the 'new' feeling. if youre willing to sacrifice the feeling of a new phone then go ahead, its still basically the same quality
A lot of times the condition will be slightly better than you'd expect too
I got a galaxy s10e for like 100$ when its MSRP was 700$
But refurbished isn't a defined term. Refurbished can mean anything from wiped with a wet wipe to replaced the internal battery and external glass.
I bought a refurbished oneplus nord N200 for 135 Canadian, it had free shipping came with a fast charger and USBC cable. Phone is basically like new save for some minor cosmetic marks from where the last owner had a case protecting the phone. The battery was at 95% health, and it was a rocking deal for a used phone.
@@SomethingSimpler Usually the seller will specifically mention the degree of refurbishment. If it says something like "Grade B Refurbished" it was probably just cleaned up with a wet wipe and thrown into a generic box with a 3rd party crappy Chinese charger.
If it says "Grade A" or "Excellent/Very Good", they most likely manually replaced the battery (which would result in loss of IP rating if it has one BTW), if the screen has bad burn-in they will also replace that as well.
I'd love to see them do this with amazon, bestbuy, and other well known companies that do refurbished or renewed.
Yes, but maybe in a secret-shopper format, not a sponsored review
i worked at best buy as a manager for best buy mobile, and refurb is hit or miss. i’ve seen refurb phones that were covered in scratches and loose charger ports, and some that looked like new. ironically all refurb come with a charger unlike new lol. your best bet is to get an open box phone in store (never order open box online.) if it’s open box in store, the previous owner only had it for maybe a week or two max and as long as you verify it’s not carrier locked, they’re usually a good deal
Im a big promoter of buying used and refurbished, I'm glad you made this video. I think a lot of people are worried that they're buying a used or worn down product, when sometimes it really can be just someone who opened the phone, didn't like it, and returned it.
They can be... but they didn't test these phones at all, only looked at the outside condition
@@dftfire they said labs tested it
where do u usually buy from ? what would you recommend ?
I bought a refurbished Pixel 6 from eBay a few months back, saved a good bit of money and I love it. Will continue to buy my phones this way.
I had one from new, less than a year and the charging port needs replaced.
@@noneyabizz8337 dang, that sucks. If it happens to mine, I'll just stick to wireless charging
Was the battery new when you received it? Do they replace it.
This comment has been sponsored by eBay(tm)
Bought two Pixel 5 from ebay. Both of them came with burned in Tiktok screens. Absolute trash
I always go for a flagship refurbished from 1-2 generations back whenever I buy a new phone. Hasn't let me down yet.
You can get stuff like an s21 ultra for a quarter of the price, pretty awesome
same here
gotta give this a try. I've gotten past the phase of always needing a new phone to upgrading after my phone is significantly aged or after it receives its last supported update lol.
Same here! I've one it for years, and I've never had an issue.
Unless it's an iPhone, don't you care about software updates?
I like the dynamic of having two hosts together! Hope there will be some future videos with both of these guys behind the table.
I'd have liked to see the battery conditions of each of these phones. that's a big reason I don't buy used phones.
@@detodoynada936 They often do checks and are transparent with results to be fair.
I love getting refurbished phones because those tiny scratches are barely noticeable and even when you get a new phone over a little time it will look the same anyway
This sort of video idea might be better in a more secret shopper format.
Hey to be honest it is not clear if ebay sent you these phones or if you picked them yourselves. The reason being if it was ebay themselves who sent you this the video could be biased. But if it was you guys buying it on ebay that would make it sound more fair.
What im trying to say clarity on how the phones were recieved would help :) 👍
Got a certified refurb iPhone 12 for my mom about 2 months ago. It came through in essentially new condition. I think my biggest concern with refurbs would be that they probably often have one or more of the panels replaced and very likely are no longer waterproof.
If you really look though, when was the last time you really took advantage of a water proof phone? Its not like you go out looking for ways to get your phone wet. Refurb phones are definitely a way to go...
@@shygrammer me almost never. My girlfriend? More often than you would think :-)
they weren't ever waterproof. Water resistant, yes, waterproof, never.
@@Erevos85 Yes if you want to be pedantic about it that's true. Technically nothing is waterproof.
@@DoRC I’m sure you understood my point
this felt ultra hard like just a very scripted advert. No data from labs on how the battery life would be, no secret shopping and getting a few extra phones to check out for yourself.
They didn't even turn any of them on to check any actually worked 😂
@@dftfire yeah! Very true, for all we know, the screens could have massive amounts of dead pixels, water damage or the screens/functionality could be crap
I bought my Pixel 4a used from Swappa about 2 years ago. Still going strong today. I'll probably get a newer Pixel by the end of the year.
It's like buying a car... buy a good lightly used one and let someone else take the depreciation hit.
Yes, this. Everyone has different preferences of course, but I could never bring myself to buy my car brand new if I could help it. If I do buy new, I intend to hang onto it for a very long time (even then, often the same for used, honestly)
Gotta criticize here a bit: the bare minimum on a sponsored video should've been anonymously buying the phones and also verifying the actual battery health properly
And actually turning any of them on! 😂
@@dftfire Yeah they all look DEAD in the video 😂
The thing that has bit me quite hard in the past with a refurbished phone was not external damage. It was a pathetic battery life, as well as general crashing. It's a little disappointing that these phones weren't even turned on in this review, but it's good to note that you did mention it went through labs testing. Maybe things have improved now (or I got unlucky).
Bought a note 20 ultra on swappa and had this problem. Luckily the trade in value was insane from samsung so I used it to get an s22 ultra on the cheap.
" . . . these phones weren't even turned on in this review".
This is really NOT a legitimate review, just another YT paid advertisement.
My last three phones were from eBay and no issues. You just need to choose the right seller.
This should be a good one for a secret shopper episode
Yes they are, I bought one and never had in issue.
Nice big group of experiences. If one person didnt have issues with his single Phone, it must always be worth!!
@@richburmond6761I've gone to buying pretty much all electronics used in some form, it's just way cheaper for practically no downside
@@richburmond6761I bought a hard drive that was dead on arrival once. Clearly all hard drives must be defective then.
@@richburmond6761 all big group of experiences are made up of a bunch of one persons having experiences.
@@richburmond6761the comments is literally filled with people saying their refurb phone was fine, not sure what you are on about.
I'd also just do a quick search around (particularly with laptops). As they mentioned briefly, the msrp isn't always what a phone is going for, particularly as more time passes by. For instance, I believe the Pixel 6a is going for around $350 (usd) on google's on store at the time of this video. But that being said it is still like ~30% off, I'd consider that well worth a tiny scratch.
You can get it as low as $300 US (~$400 Canadian) if you don't buy it on Google's store, so the refurbished one is only ~18% cheaper. Since it's not a top tier ("certified refurbished") device, it can have up to 20% decreased battery life and it doesn't come with any warranty for the battery. So you're saving C$70 by buying a refurbished phone, but you might need to spend that on a replacement battery later on.
Out of stock right now but the 6a is listed at 200 with my Google Fi account. I know that doesn't translate to "everyone" but... For me... Yeah.
@@hitnovak for sure, there are definitely a number of factors one should consider. The battery is also a great point.
@@alecjahn yeah, I've also seen it on sale new at Target at one point for $250 USD. Which is pretty much on par with the $330 Canadian for that refurbished one. Looking around at the options is pretty important.
@@hitnovakThe 6a was available $250 about 4 months back at Best buy (US unlocked). Converting, it'll be 332 CAD. So ya.. not a good deal. The 12 Pro max also is just barely a decent deal since it'll be a 3 Yr old phone in 1 month. Flip is a damn good deal mostly coz of the extra year of warranty. In fact, just because of that it's better to buy the certified refurbished than New one's.
You need to order these refurbs secretly, i cant trust them not to cherry pick.
This wouldve been better if they also bought the same phone models but anonymously, and compare the ones they bought and the ones that ebay sent them for the video.
I have gone through eBay refurbs a couple times now and the quality levels “good”, “very good” etc. are way more dramatic than they show here.. Don’t even bother with “good”, you can get lucky with very good, and “excellent” is definitely a better bet… but still a gamble
Stopped when you said, eBay sponsored the video while reviewing their work.
No comment about the battery health on these which a lot of the time are excluded from the warranty
Was hoping for some proper tests here, e.g. checking remaining battery capacity.
Or, you know, at least even just turning them on! 🙃
They said labs checked in the video
They were supposed NOT to turn them on as suggested by the sponsor!
I had 3 refurbished phones.All of them started to have serious issue within 6 months.
Guess it depends where you are, if its from a good seller with a warranty it'll be fine
Where are you buying them from? Lol. I've had two gently used phones now and all of them lasted three years. I never buy the cheapest option, because I don't want someone who is competing solely on price. Maybe that's why you got lemons?
the return policies and warranty included with eBay certified refurbished things are usually pretty good
If they actually wanted to show quality comparison they should have gotten four of the same phone at the different quality levels
That's a good idea
But don't you think they sent you products they specifically hand picked
Were the phones provided to you or did you buy them independently of the sponsorship?
It's just an ad what do you think
It must have been provided for them to have an example of each level. That doesn't take away from the products and their service, just always look for more reviews, comments, maybe somebody else will have this topic in their channel, and buy at your own discretion.
Ah, if only it was specified in the description of the video.
@@GH0STST4RSCR34M they said that this is sponsored by ebay so it's much more fair to assume that ebay sent them the phones for free as part of the sponsorship
@@catandclysmit doesn’t say that
Now , we can offically call them , THE "ULTIMATE PHONE DUO"......
Ebay's social endeavors, beginning with their automotive campaigns, have been amazing.
Man these comments feel like corporate bs astroturfing. I don't know if they are but I am suspicious
@@ToppyTree Fam, I'm actually impressed. Because most sponsors don't have good integration. I'm familiar with Ebay's sponsorship from Drive Tribe, the former cast of Top Gear, Europe.
@@winconfigwhat eBay automotive campaigns are you talking about, it sells cars now?
@@winconfig alright, fair
@@ToppyTree … as any reasonable person should be (disclaimer: am actual eBay employee). FWIW (and you might expect _me_ to say this, but it’s true): I purchased several of my mom’s iPhones and my GF’s iPhones on eBay. It’s just cheaper and you do get buyer protection. I think we did have a battery issue after about a year, but the phone was already 3-4yrs old so it made sense. 🤷♂️
It's sponsored by ebay ,the phones were handpicked by ebay . Also what about the battery ? you didn't mention anything about it either .
I usually like Riley but this time he was selling instead of reviewing. It was hard to watch. I hope he does not do this again.
Without checking the battery charge cycles, this was pointless guys.
I bought a used laptop from eBay, one of the best purchases I made. I still use the laptop until now. 10/10 would recommend!
Bro I was just Searching for refurbished phone and here it is 💀 Wtf
We are testing ebay refurbished phones sponsored by ebay. Definitely no conflicts of interest here
I don't like this video, looks like an ad and that's it. No battery or perfomance tests, no secret shoping, no new phone to compare to, no twists nothing
I know... it's a "review" where they don't even turn any of the phones on!
Are those special selected phones?
You should also bought the phones as a costumer to compare with the ones they sent.
I wish they did with this sponsor like they did with the pcs. the ones send for review and the ones bought to see what to expect
With eBay's actually decent buyer protection, it seems well worth the risk of the occasional lemon.
Yeah, if Ebay cherry pick these you still have the 30 days return policy to save you a bad pick.
The iPhone XS I’m still using today was an eBay refurb - no probs at all, I killed my first one out of warranty, didn’t need the latest phone at the time (13) so just saved some cash and bought the refurb. Flawless. Have done a battery change since then is all…
You guys should do this but for back market. In the past back market has served me better than ebay refurbed.
Crazy that North America and Canada don't have 2 year warranties as standard, it's the best.
We need 10 of these video's done by more staff, COOL LTT SERIES COME ONE DO IT!
As a frequent eBay refurbished buyer for many a friends and family...this feels like a load of BS. I've had super noticeable scratches and dents. A few with entirely broken features like iPhones without face id, or broken cameras. I wouldn't recommend eBay for slower shipping and annoying swaps.
This video idea was neat. I love 2 hosts. But the pacing felt very odd. Felt like a big fake smile the whole time.
3:27 Yep , after the entry of TYPE-C the scratches near the post has become a lot less because of it's reversibility......!!!
No point I guess. You can get a new model for shelling 50-70$ more for all the pricing they mentioned in the video.
If eBay picked the devices they sent this video is basically pointless. Theyre just going to send over their best devices.
This really felt like nothing more than a 13 minute ad for eBay.
Isn't that what a sponsored video is?
@@ChodaBoyUSASure, but what's the value in sponsored videos to us viewers? You're only going to get the positives, but no negatives. The only benefit is to the LTT team, who get the money for doing it
@@ChodaBoyUSA to some extent, yes. I think there is usually still some value to us viewers. The tone of this just felt wrong. It sounded like it was scripted by eBay and not LTT or a the very least, had a long list of talking points or edits to the script from an eBay rep.
I’m sorry if that was mentioned in the video, but I hope that Ebay didn't pick out the very good devices.
Of course they did. Don't trust this video.
They said at the start that eBay had sponsored this video, so... I would imagine they'd supply the best units they could
Doesn't matter if they did. They have a ton of return policies and decent buyer protections.
not checking any software or comparing with ones you bought yourself from ebay is a bit odd considering the cooler master video you guys just did
Did ebay tell you to buy 6 random phones or did they hand pick these? hmmmm.....
I bought an s21 off Swappa for less than $300 a little over a year ago. Still great. I will never buy a new phone again.
In my country, especially in the north, refurbished phones is very common among the middle class or students, since they don’t have enough budget to afford a new, unused phone, so most stores will display those phones and say they’re “like new” or “99%”, even “95%” to attract more consumers who want an iPhone or a Samsung phone to not feel left out in their friend circle.
1.600 dollars for a 3 year old phone is simply crazy!
Screen Burn and image retention is notorious with any old phone and unless the screen panel has been refurbished then it's a problem. Then the usual lack of security updates and owning something that has had someone elses life data on.
I bought a refurb LG G8 ThinQ for less than $100 a hot minute ago.
There's some mild burn-in and very difficult-to-see "micro scratches" on the back glass, but the battery was obviously replaced (it lasts a surprisingly long time for a 3500mAh in a 4 year old phone, so I'm assuming at some point it was replaced with a new one). Camera curbstomps any modern cheapo budget phone by light years, the "Quad DAC" is actually legit good and not just a gimmick (the weird hand gesture stuff is definitely a gimmick tho lmao) AND it runs Android 12 (for a phone that came out with Android 9 that's shockingly good).
I bought a "excellent" quality refurbished S21 5G, was supposed to be free of cosmetic damage and have at least 80% of battery life. It was scratched up, had the finish worn off in a bunch of places, and the battery life was less than half that would be expected from a new phone. Total ripoff. Never again.
If eBay sent these devices they could be cherry picked.
kinda like this format with 2 hosts. these two are also a good combi I think. Makes for a very entertaining video ;)
I thought for sure that the duo would test the phones to ensure that they are in full operating condition. Is that all they're going to do with the phones, check for scratches?
What did you expect? This isn't a professional tech-channel or anything! 😂
Yes to more videos together, and I will legitimately look at eBay refurbished for my next phone. Successful sponsorship, well played eBay.
Got s21 ultra from my provider $10/month only problem it had was a slight cosmetic damage on the side barely noticeable and covered by my kickstand case super good value
Ebay sponsored this video. Of course they will pick the “best” quality to Short Circuit.
Yes. Frankly on Android it's like a cheat code. You wait 18 months and you get phones for like 33 cents on the dollar and these days they're still going to get years of updates
Physical damage is the least important part. Battery life, wear and tear on the internals, those are much more important. I'm disappointed in this video, I expected better from this channel.
And is the phone still getting security-updates, and did the previous owner remove their Google or Apple account before resetting it, so you can actually use it! Only things I'd expect a tech-channel to cover! 😂
Now I need an LTT video to prove if ebay cherry picked these phones
LTT should buy 20 and give them away after the video LOL.
They would send their best ones from each category 😅
As a refurb purchaser in general, this holds up with my experience. I'm not a super picky consumer, but I've had great luck with refurbs. Good video.
Well... I guess am not surprised since it's sponsored, but the fact that you don't talk about battery health at all is embarrassing. Like this is the first thing to check when buying a used device with a battery.
They don't even turn any of the phones on! 😂
This was such a good concept for a video that I'm disappointed it's an ad
A roundup of refurb phones from multiple websites AND secret-shopping the phones would have been great
They should do the secret shopper on sponsors for this, Ebay could have sent them the best conditions in the catorgories, a normal buyer could get a 'good refurbished' and be chalk full of scratches
The A71 5g was an upper midrange phone. Good budget option and several steps above "entry-level" for the year it came out.
Why would u watch a review by people who are sponsored by the company they are reviewing
Great video guys, more is in fact needed.
I like how they're using the desk from the recent most clean set up video
This co-host thing was awesome.
I stop after i heard sponsored they can cherry pic the unit to send
Warranty doesn't seem to be a worldwide thing... European eBay has the certified refurbished program, however there's no information anywhere (I could find) about warranty...
I think the regional aspects should have been mentioned in a sponsored video
Country tested : Germany
I bought my current phone 2.5 years ago for only a fraction of the original price, its still great and i never had a complain about the fact it was refurbished
And I'm not planning on ever buying a new phone
I have had some luck with buying refurbished phones in the past, but have had nothing but pain when buying refurbished/second hand monitors... It has put me off buying anything refurbished again. It's a shame; I'm not keen on adding to landfill, but once you see a stuck or dead pixel, it can never be unseen.
Glad they mentioned the Canadian price
this video would've been great if not sponsored. It's a big miss to have a topic based on trust be sponsored.
Well I mean they cherry picked the products for you guys to show off. You should never assume everything is as it seems when a reviewer gets ahold of sponsored product or the company knows they are sending it to get a video made on it
Considering eBay sponsored this, it seems quite cherry picked.
I bought an excellent condition iPhone 8 plus not too long ago for my daily phone after i lost my iPhone 13 pro, the phone was basically brand new without the iPhone packaging, absolutely no scratches/dings/dents or noticeable wear. Plus if you dont like it most of the time you have 30 days guaranteed to return it.
So i think for sure refurbed phones are worth it, plus people can help the environment. So it’s a win win
And a warranty
The Pixel 6a doesn't sell for over $600 CAD, it's $479 CAD brand new directly from Google. You'd need to compare the *current* price, not the release price from over a year ago.
eBay likely forced them to use the original pricing I'd imagine
Also... is that $479 including taxes, or is Canada like the US where tax is only added at checkout? 🤔
This video was definitely a little harder a swing towards a full-on ad than I would like from sponsored content.
Also, anecdotally, some of the prices quoted here are totally wrong. The 12 Pro Max does NOT have an MSRP of $1600 CAD. A brand new 14 Pro Max goes for 1550 on the Apple Store today. I can only guess this info was from eBay, which would be disappointing.
eBay will be quoting the price of each phone when it was initially released, I would imagine, to make their prices seem much cheaper than they are
I just bought a refurbished HP Chromebook X2 11 from Amazon. I was immediately blown away by the pristine condition it’s in, damn thing even came with all the original accessories including extra tips for the pen, and I got it with half the price. A tiny gripe is the battery, 95%, though a 11hrs tablet with 5% battery short is more than negligible. It’s not a steal, it’s a rob.
I buy used phones from ebay sometimes, I have notice a 8 out of 10 or B grade look almost flawless, maybe a tiny scratch that you have to look for. They are always at decent prices.
We need comparison with Amazon renewed as well please
Just checked the iPhone13 Mini 128GB. eBay looks like it has a great discount, until you notice that they're listing the MSRP as $699 instead of $599. Not such a great deal when you factor in the real MSRP.
My last 2 phones have been refurbished via Backmarket. 1 year warranty and I buy the cheapest/most scratched. Always comes in very good condition and I have had zero issues
Plus every phone always advertised a new battery
wish they had done some test. does the phone still hold up compared to new? how bad is the battery used? thats the one thing that has me hesitant. but 50%, i mean damn. thats hard to pass.
I've been going used, open box or refurbed from eBay for past 4-5 years. No issues yet.
Feedback: I like that variety of sponsors is way bigger this summer compare to what we usually get. Tired of seeing same 3-4 companies every other video.
Dbrand's sponsored videos are usually fun, though
@@DizzyBusy this might be true, but you know, i am a 90`s boy, our tv channels had a lot of variety in terms of ads, some became so memorable they are memes even now and I did not mind ads because of the variety. dbrand ads are funny, sure, but I still don`t like the general brand consolidation and that you see same ads and same companies all the time, both from youtube and from lmg. repetition is so darn annoying.