In the computer industry, not every item is retail packaged like you would find at your local electronics store. To make sure you understand the condition of the items we have for sale, we have compiled a list of some terms frequently used on our website.

 

OEM	Open Box	Recertified
Refurbished	Retail Box	New Surplus
System Pull	White Label

“OEM" products are bulk products that are sold to companies for re-branding, assembly, and/or other special purposes. They may or may not come with some of the niceties of the retail version since they were not originally designed for the retail market. In the PC industry, many OEM products are offered directly to consumers to pass on savings. For example, an OEM drive is bulk packaged and may or may not come with cables, a manual, or software; this makes it significantly cheaper than the retail version. Also, some manufacturers have different warranty terms on their OEM products; for example, an OEM CPU has a 30 day warranty which we pass onto our end users, while the more expensive retail box version has a three year warranty directly from Intel or AMD. Besides CPUs and motherboards, all of our OEM products carry 90 days warranty through us unless specified otherwise.

“Open Box” – Most major retail stores such as Best Buy or Circuit City offer a 30-day money back guarantee in case a customer changes her mind. These items have been used at most for a day or two, but cannot be sold again as "new." Normally, they are originally retail box products, and in most cases still carry manufacturer warranty.

“Recertified” – Some products are returned to manufacturer due to damaged boxes in transit, cosmetic blemish such as scratches on product surfaces, or minor defects. In many cases, a perfectly functional item is returned because of user error, not because of a problem with the item itself. These products are retested by manufacturer or its authorized third party. Any defective parts are replaced, and the product is tested to meet industry standards.
 

“Refurbished” – Defective products outside the manufacturer's warranty period are liquidated to a third party specialist who repairs the items. The products are tested and guaranteed to be in “as new” working condition. Refurbished products may have some cosmetic blemishes.

“Retail Box” – This is identical to the version you would get at a store like Best Buy, Circuit City , etc. Retail packaged items typically include product manuals, software, and accessories, and carry a manufacturer warranty.

“New Surplus” – Some products sell slower than expected, and retailers need to clear their shelf space for new items. The items are liquidated through special channels, often under contracts that require the reseller (us) to assume warranty service. The manufacturer warranties are voided since the items are being offered under replacement cost. For example, you may find many of such products at Sam's Club, Big Lots, TJ Max, etc. While you see a significant price difference compared to regular store prices, please be aware that the warranty situation may be different.

“System Pull” – These are items (typically drives) that were purchased by major manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, etc. for installation in computer systems. At the end of a PC configuration's model life, the manufacturer liquidates these components from any unsold systems. In many cases these parts have not been installed, but kept on hand in case Dell, etc. needs to replace components in a computer under their warranty. Because of the special warranty contracts between the component manufacturers and the PC maker, system pull items do not typically carry the same factory warranty as an OEM item.

“White Label” – Major manufacturers such as Western Digital often have overstock, recertified, or out-of-warranty hard drives that they want to liquidate. But they do not want the low prices of liquidation drives to reduce the sales of their new drives. So instead they sell the drives to third party companies like Magnetic Data Tech who remove the original manufacturer logo and adhere a plain white label, "unbranding" the drive. These companies assume the warranty and also mark all the drives-- not just the small number of refurbished ones-- as "recertified" so they do not directly compete with the new drives. System builders tend to use these since they are less expensive than the name brand drives.