Baratza Vario "Refurbished" or spend extra $100.00 on new?

#1: Post by **BKSinAZ** » June 29th, 2015, 7:18 pm

Been wanting a Baratza Vario for quite some time now, but finances are tight.
What is everyone's opinion on buying a "Refurbished" off of Baratza's website? Is it worth the savings?
Also, I noticed that the current model of the Vario is the 886. Are the refurbished grinders repaired/updated to 886 specs?

#2: Post by **cmin** » June 29th, 2015, 7:56 pm

Refurbished is a great deal, and no worries, my Preciso and Vario are refurbs. Before their sold Baratza goes through to make sure anything that needs fixing or updating is done. Yeah if its an older one their updated to 886 specs I believe, mine was a 886 already. Heck of a grinder, you have to go way up in $$$ to get anything noticeably better than it in the cup. You can ask them about other shipping options to keep cost down also.

#3: Post by HB » June 30th, 2015, 7:24 am

BKSinAZ, for future reference, please don't cross-post questions to HB. Why is cross-posting strongly discouraged? provides the rationale for this policy. Moderators reserve the right to delete cross-posts (link). Thanks.

#4: Post by **Intrepid510** » June 30th, 2015, 1:20 pm

Just buy on it eBay with one of those best offer sellers and get it new for the same as a refurb.

June 30th, 2015, 1:28 pm

Sometimes these sellers have stock that are a number of years old. That means it could be a grinder that doesnt have the recent updates. In the Vario's case, Baratza has made a number of improvements over the years. A recently refurbished one from baratza would have these updates. An eBay purchase might not. I've seen posts from people who purchased on eBay, thinking they got a great deal, only to find out they have a grinder that sat in a warehouse somewhere for years and has an outdated serial number.

So I'd say buying refurbished, directly from Baratza, ensures you get the latest version, along with their great customer support and service.

#6: Post by **maxbmello** » June 30th, 2015, 1:43 pm

I'd second the suggestion to buy a refurb direct from Baratza. It has the same warranty as new, and will be guaranteed to be updated and tested. My Vario refurb has been running without a hitch for 3 years now.

#7: Post by **cmin** » June 30th, 2015, 2:18 pm

Intrepid510 wrote:Just buy on it eBay with one of those best offer sellers and get it new for the same as a refurb.

If you buy from Ebay or Amazon, you have a high chance of getting an older non updated model even if listed as 886. Almost everytime someone on here or CG has complained about their "new" Vario, a bunch of them I pm'd just to see where they bought, sure enough it was always Ebay or Amazon. Told them to check serial with Baratza, and their "new" grinder was years and years old, pry just been sitting in a warehouse. Someone on here recently was complaining about their "new" Vario, can't remember if it was Ebay or Amazon, told them on the thread to check serial code and sure enough it was the old non updated model.

The sellers on Ebay don't go low anymore either, only one did and they never sold the grinders again about 1-3 years ago, which led people to believe they were using fraud CC to purchase stock, similar happened in the whey protein world but can't really do much about it or prove (there were sellers that got caught selling far below prices for whey/protein even below cost with fake CC purchases as any price would just be straight profit for them). They were selling far below msrp, way lower then Baratza requires. I know that one place and I messaged them last year and they said their not allowed to sell them anymore and won't in the future either (which made me think the fake CC deal with purchases was true, as no company would unload them for like 350 shipped or they'd be losing money ever time like they were lol). A buddy recently tried buying on Ebay, and its all the same few sellers now and lowest buy it now they would accept was like 450 or 460 for a regular non-w one. Cheaper to buy a refurb.

#8: Post by **angman** » June 30th, 2015, 2:35 pm

Buy from Baratza direct. Refurb is as good as new when you buy it from them and Kyle over at Barazta deserves the business. They will look after you like no one else if something goes wrong.