It is always tempting to buy a gadget in the secondary market: it seems that you can save a lot this way. We explain why this may not be as profitable as it seems.
Technology Becomes More Accessible
Budget technology is getting better, that’s a fact. The “initial” processor no longer means endless brakes, and the most ordinary smartphone can shoot at the level of camera phones of yesteryear. In an inexpensive device, you can even find a screen with a refresh rate of 90 Hz – just two years ago, this was not the case in flagships.
For example, Samsung Galaxy S9, which was the flagship in 2018, can be found on the secondary market at a reasonable price. However, the comparable but all-new Galaxy A22 costs the same but has a bigger screen and four cameras instead of one. So if you are planning to buy Galaxy A22 or Huawei p50 phones, buy the new ones instead of used phones.
Technique Becomes Obsolete
Five years ago, smartphones could call and post cats on VK almost the same way as they do now. But physical obsolescence has not disappeared anywhere. “Indestructible” gadgets of the beginning of the century, which probably still lie somewhere in your home, are no longer made.
The first problem is the battery, which adequately holds a charge for no more than two years, and degrades even faster when using fast chargers. This makes you constantly suffer with external batteries and spontaneous shutdowns, or go to a service center to be unpleasantly surprised at the cost of replacing a battery with a new one.
And if you slip a cheap analog, the gadget turns into a time bomb: there are many cases when such batteries either explode when charging or simply become unusable. Finally, over time, manufacturers stop releasing system updates for older devices. This means that not only do you not get new features but you are also left without important security patches, which puts your information and even money at risk.
Risk Of Running Into Scammers
Unfortunately, there are many scammers in the secondary market. Most often, they try to sell a “killed”, but somehow repaired gadget under the guise of a working one. And most often this happens with iPhones. Until you realize that something is wrong with the purchase, the seller will be gone.
This is not the case with new devices. Someone even sells fakes: exact copies of popular flagship smartphones that look almost the same as the original, but inside there is the cheapest hardware that has nothing to do with the filling of the original model.
Often such fakes are “leaked” precisely through ad sites under the guise of “factory restored” devices. When meeting with real criminals, you may not get any gadgets at all. There are many fraud schemes, from sending a brick by mail to a good old robbery: you are going to meet with money.
Conclusion
Of course, you can successfully purchase a used device from a relative or a good friend, and this gadget, if you’re lucky, will even work for a year. And on ad sites, not all scammers. But it is much more rational to spend time looking for a modern new gadget. It will definitely cope with all the main tasks, and in addition, it will look relevant and hold a charge well. And in which case you are protected by a guarantee.
