Recertified western digital EADS 2 TB from ebay as a backup drive? Yes/no to seller?
 

I just won an auction for this for about $75.00, the original description stated it was refurbished, I have now received a message from the seller saying there was a typo in the description & that the hard drive is actually "re certified" & asks whether I still want to buy it. The photo & description says it has a warranty until 1-5-2012

what does re certified mean? how is it different from refurbished?

should I go for this? or decline?

I don't mean to pressure anybody here, responses are a little slower as a result of posters wanting to give through good answers, but in this case I would like to get back to the seller soon. I know people are knowledgeable here & have given me some good advice on tech stuff so far, that is why I have come here with this.

I just got a response back from the seller;

Dear sossity_123,

This drive came straight from Western Digital. They call the drive a re-certified drive but it is a refurbished drive from Western Digital. The drive is sealed in it's packaging and carries a warranty from Western Digital until 1/5/12
I just want to be clear that you know this is a refurbished drive before I ship it. Please let me know if you do or do not want to proceed with this order.

Refurbished or recertified items from original manufacturer usually only offers a very limited warranty.
But the price is generally lower than buying a new one with a full warranty.
So the trade off is lower upfront price, so one has decide whether they want full warranty or take a chance with refurb.

I can't advise you which way to go, it will have to be your choice.
If the item is a legacy item..... that is a desired item...... that would be different.
Check seller's feedback.....

Refurbished means the drive was returned to the manufacturer, confirmed to have an error, and repaired.
Recertified means the drive was returned to WD, found to have no problems, and can be re-sold as being in working condition.

Recertification is what happens to many store returns, where the person either lied about the condition, or where the store has a policy to not re-shelf anything.

Walmart, for example, does not re-shelf anything. However, Walmart sends their returned goods back to their own warehouse facility, where it may be deemed okay and put back into stock. (At least, that's how it was at Walmart at one time, as recently as 2009, according to a local Walmart manager.)

Some companies bulk send everything back to the manufacturer, and let them sort it out. The retailer gets refunded -- in fact, there's a whole complex financial tier and book of policies, as it related to returns to manufacturer, by a store. (You'll notice some manufacturers have printed "Do Not Return to Store, Call Us at 1-800-HELP-ME" because they'll be penalized by going the long way for the return.)

I buy a lot of reconditioned, refurbished and recertified computer parts and electronics. If anything, I tend to have more issues with new/unopened products than one of the "re's". If the deal was good, and the cosmetic condition of the item is like new, I have no second thoughts about buying such merchandise. I buy a lot of used books and DVDs, too, assuming good condition (unmarked pages with clean covers, unscratched discs in clean cases).

Thrift is even one of those religious moral values!

$75 for 2TB is about $35 OFF for the EADS drive model. Assuming the seller has good feedback, I'd go for it. Buy it. :)