Before Your Next Amazon Purchase, Make Sure You Look for These Secret Deals [CNET]

Amazon Resale typically offers discounts for lightly used or open-box items, but many of those prices are discounted to reflect the price of current sales. Below, we’ll fill you in on where to look to find an even better deal on the stuff you have your eye on. 

For more, check out the best smart home deals and the best Amazon deals for under $100.

What is Amazon Resale?

Amazon Resale is exactly what it sounds like. If a product purchased on Amazon is returned, refurbished or warehouse-damaged, it can no longer be sold as “new.” Amazon shuffles these products over to the Amazon Resale deals page where you can find them on sale, with a discount. 

Amazon Resale features pre-owned, used or open-box items, each with “grades,” or conditions, you can choose to purchase, and each will be priced according to their grade. 

What can you buy from Amazon Resale?

Pretty much anything.

On the Amazon Resale front page, you can browse through deals by category, including computers and tablets, kitchen appliances, home improvement tools, pet supplies, video games, unlocked cell phones and televisions.

And just because the items in the Amazon Resale are discounted doesn’t mean they aren’t name-brand products. You can purchase products from brands like Apple, Samsung, Keurig, Black+Decker, Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Nintendo, PlayStation and Logitech.

Best of all, many of the products you’ll find in the Amazon Resale are relatively new. For example, you can purchase a brand new Google Pixel 8 Pro with a near 30% discount, for $696.91. 

What sort of discounts can you get?

That depends on the product, but you can expect to see price cuts ranging from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars of savings.

Let’s say that you’re ready to pull the trigger on the LG OLED C3 now that the C4 series is out, but you’re still looking for a better deal than what’s on the market right now. Amazon currently sells the 55-inch version of the TV for $1,396.99, but you can get a slight discount by opting for a used, like-new condition model. 

Or maybe you’re looking into the aging but still great iPad Mini 6. Right now, the base Wi-Fi model is discounted by 24% for $379.99, but Amazon Resale has a used version in Good condition for $349.59.

Where to find Amazon Resale

The easiest way to access Amazon Resale and all the deals available is by going directly to the dedicated page on the Amazon website. You can click here to view Amazon Resale.

You can also access Amazon Resale by typing “Amazon Resale” into Amazon’s search bar and then hitting Enter.

Lastly, you can check out Amazon Resale deals, if there are any available, directly from any product page on Amazon. All you need to do is find the Sold by Amazon Resale option underneath the regular purchasing options.

How to nab an Amazon Resale deal

Let’s say you search Amazon for the Apple Watch Series 9, which typically costs $399 and is currently on sale for $299. 

If you want to view a possible Amazon Resale deal, you can scroll down, past the Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons, until you see a gray box with a Sold by Amazon Resale option.

There you would see the discounted price (currently $279.15), the condition of the product and the expected delivery date.

If there are other Amazon Resale deals, you might see more boxes underneath that, with labels like “New & Used,” “Buy Used,” “New & Used Offers” or “Used,” along with a number indicating how many other used items are available for sale. Browse through the used items and hit Add to Cart to add the item to your cart and make your purchase.

Does it matter which Amazon Resale deal I take?

Yes. If you view all of the Amazon Resale deals available for a single product, you’ll see a variety of prices, sorted by lowest price (combined with shipping cost) at the top, by default.

You probably want the best deal, but it’s also important to check out the condition of each item, which we’ll explain in more detail below. The cheaper it is, the more damaged or imperfect the item may be.

If you want a product that’s in better condition, you might need to spend a bit more.

What do the Amazon Resale conditions mean?

Amazon has five conditions, or grades, that are assigned to any item sold through Amazon Resale. Here’s how Amazon defines the product conditions:

• Renewed: This is the highest grade an Amazon Resale product can receive. A renewed item is inspected and tested by Amazon to work and look like new, and it comes with a 90-day warranty for any replacements or refunds. 
• Used, Like New or Open Box: In perfect working condition. The original protective wrapping may be missing, but the original packaging is in good condition with minor damage. Accessories and instructions are included.
• Used, Very Good: Lightly used with limited signs of wear and tear, but otherwise in good working condition. Packaging might be damaged and missing accessories, if any, are mentioned in the listing.
• Used, Good: Moderate signs of use, with identifying markings or minor cosmetic damage, but should function properly. The packaging may be damaged and the item could be missing accessories, like instruction manuals and assembly tools.
• Used, Acceptable: Worn but still fully functional. Major cosmetic defects, like scratches, dents and worn corners, as well as packaging issues or missing parts, accessories, instructions and tools.

Whichever option you choose, your item should be in working condition. None of the items sold in Amazon Resale are damaged to the point where they’re difficult to use or require repair or service. Truth be told, we’ve had some serious luck when opting for an “acceptable” item, only to find that it was in much better condition than anticipated. 

Do I need Amazon Prime to get Amazon Resale discounts?

Nope. As long as you have an Amazon account, you can take advantage of all Amazon Resale deals. Having Amazon Prime will save you on shipping costs and help you receive your products faster, thanks to two-day shipping. 

Be sure to check Amazon Resale during sales, too

As illustrated above, it makes sense to check out your Amazon Resale options during a big sale. Oftentimes, if not every time, when a big sale day happens, the prices for used items are reduced to reflect the sale of the new item. After all, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to pay more for a used item than a new one. This may not be the case for third-party sellers on Amazon, but check out what Resale has on offer during Labor Day or Prime Day when it arrives to see if you can snag an even better price. 

For more savings, don’t miss these top Amazon shopping hacks and the best Back-to-School deals.

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