Nikon Refurb Store; why ?

[dabhand16]

Nikon USA has actually out-sourced most of the repairs to vendors they choose and it appears that part of the deal is that these places only work for Nikon USA and can't take in work directly from the public.

Over here I think that would be considered a restrictive practice under our laws. It makes good buisness sense to diversify your customer base or else if your one and only customer decides to ditch you, your business dies.

 

[Ken Miracle]

There are authorized service centers here but Nikon has been lax in providing them with the equipment and training required to repair newer gear. When I needed to send my D5 in for repair out of warranty I called more than one "Authorized Service Center" from the Nikon USA website and all said the same thing, they couldn't work on it I had to send it to Nikon. Nikon USA has actually out-sourced most of the repairs to vendors they choose and it appears that part of the deal is that these places only work for Nikon USA and can't take in work directly from the public. Nikon Melville repairs now get sent to a location a town over. If you want to drop stuff in person, you have to drop it at Melville and they run it over to the repair center. Previous gear I sent to Melville came back from this other location and a different one in the Bronx. The Bronx outfit had a name I would not have associated with Nikon.

Our last brick and mortar camera store in Boise was one of the repair places Nikon used to send stuff to. When the store closed the tech that ran the repair shop opened his own busines, as far as I know he is the only SPT certified camera technician in Idaho, but Nikon has not set him up as a repair center for them and Nikon will not sell parts to him so he has to get them through other suppliers he knows in the industry at additional mark up.

 

[Calson]

They do it because it works - for them at least. I could never see buying a "refurbished", i.e. repaired camera or lens, for which Nikon only provides a 90-day warranty. If that is all the confidence they have then I am more than a little dubious. These are also USED lenses and if you are going that route there are ways to save 50% on cameras and lenses sold by their owners.

 

[John Woodworth]

My understanding is that some of these "refurb's" are demonstrators lent out to reviewers. They can't be sold as Open Box so they are sent back to Nikon for inspection and then re-sold as such.

 

[Ken Miracle]

Nikon refurbished products sources are all over the board for how they got inspected adjusted or repaired as needed and put up for sale. As noted in this thread there are many different sources for the equipment that Nikon sends down this route. Nikon does not disclose how the product made it to the refurbed world. As a Nikon NPS rep and a Nikon engineer told me a few years ago Nikon does not use a used lens rating scale like KEH, B&H etc. because Nikon only sells the equipment that "functions" like new after refurbishment. They said no one at Nikon seems to track the sources of the gear that goes to refurb they know that some of the demo gear they have ends up in the refurb market but could not tell anyone what that might be unless it just happened to be the only one listed and a hard to find item and they had just given it back.

 

[M R Opp]

There is now a second 500 F4G ED VR listed for $7,700 and a 600mm F4G ED VR for $9,000!

 

[Ken Miracle]

There is now a second 500 F4G ED VR listed for $7,700 and a 600mm F4G ED VR for $9,000!

OP was looking at 500 F/4E ... only one 500 F4G at this moment

 

[JerryF]

B&H and Adorama offer 7% and 5% discounts on new factory sealed gear if you use their credit cards so 3% off would not entice me at all. And 90 days is not so hot of a warranty.

 

[nikonkelly]

Def not a great deal but being refurbished doesn’t necessarily mean something was wrong with it. It could have been a return and sometimes overstock or closeout items are sold that way (not likely in the current stock shortage world we currently inhabit). But even if something was wrong by biying refurbished you’re getting a lens that has specifically been tested and fixed/aligned, etc. vs just rolling off the assembly line.

I would like to think that you are correct in believing that the refurbished lens has been completely gone through and totally fixed. But I had D850 which would not focus on a moving object... I sent it in three times before they got it right. So, I dont believe that for even one moment that they fix the refurbished gear correctly... work on it yes... fix it... nah. just my 1/2 cents worth.

 

[splatbass]

The price does seem high. As far as worrying about something being refurbished by Nikon, I don't. I purchased a D750 4 years ago that was refurbished and it is still going strong. I've also had a camera and a lens repaired by them and both came back good as new. I will buy refurbished Nikons again, it is usually a good value - although this time it doesn't seem t be.

 

[Whiskeyman]

In my 44 years of owning and using Nikon cameras and lenses, I have experienced exactly two equipment failures. Both of them were with products purchased as refurbished fromy Nikon USA. So a 3% discount wouldn't cut it for me. Then again, neither would a 10% discount.

I will buy used at a good enough price, like the 600 f4 AF-S G I just purchased for a great price from a BCGForum member. What I saved will pay for several trips to Nikon service if they are needed.