Prime Day is as good as it gets!? "Amazon Outlet" was a super bargain

Do you know the "Amazon Outlet" where Amazon itself sells second-hand goods?　Since there are no photos of the actual product, people tend to be skeptical because they can't confirm the condition of the product, such as scratches, etc. The price is often 20 to 30% cheaper than a new product, and the bargain price sometimes exceeds the sales on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. Let's check out the charm and points to note about the Amazon outlet, which can be said to be a treasure hunt every day.

It's hard to know the condition of the product, and it's hard to get your hands on it

After Amazon's Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday sales have ended, "I'm saying goodbye to the excitement of looking for bargains for the time being..." Some people may have dropped the . However, in fact, Amazon secretly prepares bargains every day.

That is "Amazon Outlet". Amazon itself sells used items that have been sold but are returned, or items that cannot be sold as new due to scratches or stains on the packaging during the distribution process. In addition to being able to refer to a list of products from the Amazon Outlet page, you can easily search by specifying "Amazon Outlet" in the search window.

However, second-hand items on the Amazon outlet do not have photos of the actual product, and only state the condition of the product in comments along with the four-level condition description. The comments are also very terse and hard to grasp. I felt uneasy about whether there was a problem with the condition, and felt that it was difficult to get my hands on it.

I'm worried about "small scratches in several places on the product", but there is no way to check

Since looking at the information on the screen doesn't help, I actually went to the Amazon outlet I decided to buy the product and check it out. I purchased Dell's 27-inch 4K liquid crystal display "U2720QM" that supports USB Type-C connection. It is an Amazon exclusive product of the company's "U2720Q", and has the same contents as the U2720Q except that the attached cable is partially different.

It is usually sold at 59,800 yen including tax on Amazon, but I found a second-hand item that is handled by Amazon Outlet for 46,505 yen including tax! With a discount of more than 13,000 yen compared to the regular price, the price was set quite bargain.

Although I thought, "This is an instant purchase!", my fingers stopped just before I tapped the "Add to Cart" button. condition notation. The listed condition is "acceptable", and there is also a comment that "the product has small scratches in several places".

Amazon Outlet has four levels of condition: "almost new", "very good", "good", and "acceptable", with "acceptable" being the lowest condition. According to the help page of the Amazon Outlet, the product that is "acceptable" is "the packaging is damaged. The product has scratches, but it does not interfere with use", giving the impression that it is a "scratched item". Amazon Outlet does not post photos of the actual product, so we cannot confirm the condition from the photos. I wondered if the price was so low because the screen was scratched.

However, I thought, "Even second-hand stores such as Sofmap and Janpara can't sell the latest popular models so cheaply!" The order flow, such as payment, is the same as a normal new product, and if you have registered an account, the procedure will proceed smoothly. Since it is an Amazon product, shipping is free. The order was completed quickly.

I was worried when the box arrived in tatters, but it turned out to be a big turnaround

A few days later, the long-awaited product arrived. It is clear that the cosmetic box is a second-hand product that has been handed over to a third party in the past, as there are many marks of the courier slip and packing tape left on the box. I suddenly became uneasy, thinking, "If the box is so worn out, does the contents look like that?"

In addition, when I cut the rare transparent tape printed with "Amazon Outlet" and opened the box, I saw that the cardboard and packing vinyl were sloppily stored with traces of being opened once. I entered and sighed again.

However, a miraculous reversal began here! When I removed the protective vinyl in which the main panel unit was stored, I was surprised to see a clean and shiny panel unit. The same is true for the stand, and there is not even a single scratch, let alone a feeling of use. It's like brand new. When connected to a MacBook, not only does it work fine, but there are no missing dots. The gloomy feeling I had when I saw the tattered makeup box had already blown away, and I was filled with the feeling of being overwhelmed when I caught an unexpectedly big fish while fishing.

We don't sell products with scratches or signs of use!? You can see that the comment "There are small scratches in several places on the product" was quite exaggerated. It's true that the cosmetic box was damaged, but the product itself had no scratches or stains.

When I asked Amazon Japan about their sales policies and notation standards, they replied softly, "We have established certain standards for notation of prices and product conditions, and are striving to improve the customer's purchasing experience." I got only one answer. Although it is a guess, it is thought that the condition is intentionally set lower than the actual condition in order to avoid complaints such as "the condition was not as good as the condition described". Only Amazon, which is headquartered in the United States, a litigious country, is likely to have such a standard to avoid unnecessary claims.

It is possible that the second-hand goods were as good as new, because they do not sell second-hand goods with scratches or signs of use (Amazon Japan did not respond to this point either. ). If you look at the help page of Amazon Outlet, it states that among the returned products, ``We sell products in good condition'', which suggests that they have set high standards for selling second-hand products. It is likely that items with scratches or stains are rejected at the inspection stage by Amazon personnel, and are sent to second-hand dealers and other routes instead of being sold at Amazon outlets.

In the first place, there is a possibility that all the returned products in Japan are as good as new. This is because many Japanese people seem to have a humble opinion that it is rude to return an item that has been slightly used, especially if it is scratched or soiled.

You can estimate the frequency of arrival to some extent with "Keepa"

Although you don't know what kind of products will be in stock at Amazon outlets and when, you can estimate the frequency of arrival and sales price to some extent. . It is to use "Keepa" which allows you to check the transition of sales price on Amazon with graphs. Since the inventory history of the Amazon outlet is indicated by "x" in the price transition graph, you can look back at what time and how much it was sold in the past. Since you can grasp the general trend, you can make decisions such as ``It's worth checking every day because Amazon outlets have stock about once a week'' or ``It's not stocked at all, so let's give up''.

In this way, we found that Amazon Outlet is quite attractive because you can purchase like-new products at low prices. Of course, not all products are exactly like this, and they are not always in stock, so it is not suitable for shopping for "I need it right now", but it is cheaper and safer than buying from flea market apps or online auctions. It can be said that the sense and satisfaction are definitely high. We also have a return policy similar to new products, so you can rest assured that if you are not satisfied, you can return it.

If the timing is right, an Amazon Outlet where you can buy like-new used items at discounts comparable to Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday, and Prime sales. If there is a product that you think you want to get someday, check it out and you won't miss it.