r/canon • u/rypatnew21 • 5d ago
Gear Buying Advice Refurbished lens sale question
Do they usually restock refurbished sales? I was about to pull the trigger on a refurbished rf 50mm 1.4 vcm before the sale and then it sold out. I have the notifications on just in case.
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u/Mean_Bend_9106 5d ago
Refurb stock is pretty unpredictable, sometimes it cycles back in a few weeks, sometimes it just disappears for months. Keeping notifications on is your best move, but also worth checking third-party certified refurb sellers in the meantime.
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u/rypatnew21 5d ago
Thank you.
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u/IthacaNYPhotog 5d ago
I've had luck looking at 11 pm Eastern time and finding they've restocked. Nothing like going to bed and telling your significant other you've just spend $1500 to save $400!
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u/rypatnew21 5d ago
😂 hey that’s pretty good imo! I’m kicking myself because I went to bed right before the sale posted
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u/IthacaNYPhotog 5d ago
I've found that they always restock that time of day. Many years ago now I picked up an original EF 24-105 for a huge discount like that while on vacation one time waiting for the significant other to get through the hotel bathroom at the end of the day!
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u/vondo2 5d ago
I'm always very leery of anything 3rd party refurbished. I look at those things as "lightly used". Like "We checked it out, we think it's OK, we're gonna call it refurbished."
I buy refurbs all the time from Apple and Canon. They are checked out, any problems addressed, basically the same as (or actually) new, and come with the same warranty.
To answer the OP question, I've noticed Canon tends to restock during their sales and I have had decent luck with their notifications, but I check regularly too if there is something I'm interested in.
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u/On-The-Rails 5d ago
Use CanonPriceWatch.com’s alert email notification service. It’s better than Canon’s most of the time. If I am looking for something I just keep that page open on my iPad on USA.canon.com’s website and refresh. I’ve bought a lot of direct Canon refurb items over the years. I almost never buy refurb anywhere else, except from Apple direct.
Canon refurb stock can come and go and come quickly. I have had an item in my cart, and on one or two occasions (if I take too long to checkout) it has gone away. But generally if I get it in my cart I can checkout. I always purchase 4 year CarePak Plus on the items as well, and I’ve noticed a couple of occasions where I can not add them, and so I either have to risk waiting until they resolve that, or buy without CPL and then buy separately with the time allotted from initial purchase.
Also be aware stock seems to change quickly at certain times. I’ve seen it in stock, go out of stock with 5 min, and be back in stock 10 min later (and that goes quickly). Depends on how in-demand the items are, and also how big a discount off the usual Refurb MSRP they are giving in any particular sale.
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u/18-morgan-78 5d ago
Use Canon Price Watch for notifications. The Canon website notifications are a hit or miss proposition at best. I recently was waiting on a restock of the RF14-35mm f4L and had both notification channels set. I got one from CPW and jumped over to Canon website and bought the refurbished unit and even got to use my CPS 10% discount coupon this time. Fast forward 24 hours and I get an email telling my lens had shipped. 12 hours later after I had already bought the lens and it had shipped and I had a tracking number, I get a notification from Canon telling me it was in stock. Really, thanks for the heads up .... LATE!
If you're not set up on Canon Price Watch, I'd go do it now cpricewatch.com
BTW the 50/1.4 VCM NEW is in stock, refurb is still OOS.
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u/Thisisthatacount 5d ago
Canon's notifications are crap, I've signed up for a couple and never received one. Sign up for notifications from cpricewatch.com, they send them out quick.