Second-hand cards

[teelions]

Amazon sells the SanDisk 2GB ULTRA II CompactFlash Card, new, for $27.43. On

the same page are items listed as Used for $14.44. This price is much better

when considering buying multiple cards, as I am. Have you ever purchase

second-hand cards from Amazon?

Were you sorry or would you do it again? Do you feel that it is a risk buying

these cards?

[JAPster]

Well, since these are used electronic parts, there is a risk that they have some defect, such as a hardware failure, which might be why they are selling them. On the other hand, they might be perfectly OK and nothing wrong with them.

 

Read all the fine print very carefully. Correspond with the seller, to try and get positive confirmation that there is nothing wrong with them. Ask him/her if the cards have been FORMATed recently, and if so, were there any problems or errors. Also, see if the Seller is going to give you a "Return Policy" if you discover there is a problem with part when you try FORMATing it in your camera. See if they will accept a Return and a Refund of your $$$, in case the part turns out to be a Lemon.

 

You typically cannot "repair" a part like this if it does turn out to be a Lemon or defect. So, if the Seller refuses to agree to a Return & Refund in that case, then you risk losing your $$$ if the part does turn out to be a lemon.

 

A simple test, that would confirm the health of a part like this, is to ask the Seller to see if he/she can do 3 sequential FORMATs of the card in their own camera. If the camera can FORMAT the card 3 times sequengtially w/o gettting any warnings, errors, or abnormal responses, then, to me, thats a very good indicator that the card is working fine and will function OK for sustained picture taking.

[jamesmck]

The new ones may be twice as much, but the absolute dollar difference is piddling when stacked against your confidence in them to carry your precious images. No contest IMO.

[craig_gillette]

I'd be very hesitant to go with used cards. Even if you had an ironclad return/exchange deal, you have no way of knowing the history of the card, any environmental exposures, etc. What do you risk losing when a latent defect pops up? Everything on the card.

[les_lammers]

I would not buy used cards. There is a great Sandisk rebate now.

 

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/834530/

[john_hanlon3]

For the sake of saving $13 I wouldn't waste my time. The problem with a used card is that you don't know where it's been. I have a Sandisk card which due to my forgetfulness in leaving it in my shirt pocket, was washed and dried along with the shirt. The card still works fine but I wouldn't dream of trying to sell it to anyone.