In the secondary market the same switch is listed as refurbished, used, tested, pulled and working, often by sellers who mean different things by each word. The grade is the only part of the listing that tells you what somebody did to the unit before it went on the shelf. Read it as a claim, and ask what stands behind it.
The five grades we list under
- New.
- New, open box.
- Refurbished, tested and guaranteed.
- Used, tested and working.
- As-is, untested.
The words in each name are the claim. Tested means it went across a bench. Untested means it did not, and the listing says so instead of leaving you to assume. A unit is listed under the grade it earns on the bench.
What tested should mean
On our bench a refurbished or used unit is checked on four things before it is shelved:
- Ports.
- Power supplies.
- Fans.
- Thermals.
If a seller says tested, ask which of those four. A unit that powered on once has been plugged in. It has not been tested.
Four questions for any seller
- Is the grade for this unit, or for the lot it came in?
- Who backs the warranty: the seller, or a third party you will have to chase?
- Is the unit in the description the unit that ships?
- When a part has no shelf price, who prices it, and against what?
Our answers are on the store page. We warrant every unit for one year, at every grade. The warranty is ours and no third party stands between you and it. The description you read is the one that ships. A part too specific to carry a shelf price gets a quote from a person, priced against the current market with the evidence shown.
Selling works the same way
The bench that grades a switch for a buyer is the bench that values it for the company retiring it. If you are decommissioning a rack, send us the list. The desk also sources, deploys and maintains: the hardware services are the same people.