Apple goods have such a vocal and loyal fan base because they are attractive, easy to use, and have consistently ranked at the top of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index’s annual consumer satisfaction poll for the past 12 years and counting. So why don’t all people own one? Because quality doesn’t come cheap, blame the price.

We’ve already discussed why purchasing a Mac from the Apple store is a waste of money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a deal on an iPhone, MacBook, or iPad directly from Apple even if the physical shop doesn’t provide many (read: any) discounts on its products. How? Simply put, “refurbished.”

• What does the term “refurbished” mean here?

When you purchase an Apple Certified refurbished item directly from the Apple Certified Refurbished section of Apple’s website, it is guaranteed to be just as good as a brand-new item. Refurbished electronics have a reputation for being buggy, broken, or lacking any kind of meaningful warranty. Although purchasing Apple Certified Refurb things won’t be significantly less expensive than buying new (discounts typically average around 15%), doing so is still advantageous for a few key reasons.

Unlike the majority of companies that refurbish Macs (such as Mac Connection, B&H, Best Buy, and Abt Electronics), which only provide a 90-day warranty and charge you extra for a longer one, Apple provides a one-year warranty that is identical to the warranty offered on its regular products and also gives refurb customers the option to purchase Apple Care. You won’t be able to return a refurbished Apple device to Apple for repairs if you buy it somewhere other than the Apple Store because your warranty is tied to the place you got it, and you’ll need to take it there if anything goes wrong.

• What distinguishes “open-box” from “refurbished,” then?

There was a problem with a reconditioned item, thus it was returned to the seller. When this occurs, the retailer (or a third-party refurbishing company) disassembles the item, fixes the issue, and then puts it back together before reselling it under the refurbished label. Apple puts its used products through a lot of testing. And because they are the ones producing these goods in the first place, their testing will be much more thorough than that conducted by a company that sells them for resale.

• How can I purchase a reconditioned Apple device like a pro?

In a moment, we’ll break down the greatest refurbished offers we could discover on all your favorite Apple goods, but first, we thought we’d share some shopping insider secrets with you:

1. Make sure to compare pricing between Apple Certified reconditioned products and similarly-priced brand-new equivalents at other retailers before making a purchase. While the price of an Apple Certified refurbished item will be less than the Apple Store pricing for a new model, it may be selling for more than a new item that has been discounted at another retailer since new products are never discounted at the Apple Store. For instance, Walmart was offering the iPad Mini 2 — brand new — for $199 over the recent holiday season, but the Apple Certified reconditioned model was going for $229.
2. Don’t wait too long to buy once you’ve done your research and are certain that the reconditioned price is the best available. Apple refurbished products frequently go out of stock for weeks. Particularly in regard to laptops, iPads, and the Mac Mini.