Refurbished- what?

[ludocomino]

Refurbished on eBay is a complete misnomer and possibly contravening trade description act 2011.

What does it mean if something is refurbished?

Refurbished refers to a product that has been restored to a like-new condition after being returned or used.

How can a laptop (for example) be refurbished yet have "signs of usage, may have some marks/scratches on the body and has shiny keyboard or touchpad" 

What has been refurbished? This needs clear definition.

In this specific case the seller of this laptop hasn't even bothered to reinstall Windows, they opted to install Linux and is using library photos in their advert, I have drawn my own conclusions!

So in summary in this specific case the seller hasn't actually "refurbished" anything, I do not classify installing an operating system as refurbishment.

In the eBay scenario "refurbished" means the seller has to offer free returns and a twelve month warranty, that cannot be defined as "refurbished"

backmarket does refurbished much better than eBay, the definitions are clear and I'd feel more confident buying from them as opposed to eBay whose implementation and execution the whole refurbished movement is flaky and clunky.

[red_magpie]

What does it mean if something is refurbished?

eBay provides multiple and very clear definitions of "refurbished", ranging from seller refurbished (which in practice may mean they've just cleaned it up a bit!) to certified refurbished, which requires the item to have been professionally inspected, cleaned, and refurbished by the manufacturer or a manufacturer-approved vendor to meet manufacturer specifications.

For the full list of definitions see: https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/item-conditions-category?id=...

Ultimately, eBay only provides the definitions - it's up to the seller to comply with them. If the item received doesn't match the description, the buyer can use eBay's money back guarantee. That's the way that eBay works.