Product Life Cycles - Catch the Tail-End?

[Calenorn]

It was interesting to follow the recent Kobo Mini whirlwind. What looked (for a moment) like a new product turned out to be Kobo cleaning out the last demo units in their warehouse.

I also had fun watching B&N roll out their new NOOK. Seems like a nice machine, once they finish the software.

With the new NOOK in town I watched carefully to see what B&N would do with their previous Glowlight, that sleek Ivory soap model. Would there be a fire sale during Black Friday?

As it turned out, no. The price stayed at $99, even as the new model was on sale, at the SAME PRICE. Looks to me like B&N sees no need to move those old models; possibly because they don't have many left?

Now, my workhorse NOOK Simple Touch is running on a four-year-old battery. Time to plan for the future. A new Glowlight Plus would be nice, but budgets are what they are. What to do?

While B&N hasn't marked down the 2013 Glowlight, a business called Blue Proton is selling certified refurbished units on amazon.com for $70. That suits my budget, and the irony of buying a NOOK through amazon is somewhat amusing.

I'm gambling on the thought that 'refurbished' often means 'returned unused'. The reviews for the company were good. These Blue Proton folks seem to have a lot of these NOOKs to sell. I wonder if they've been engaged by B&N to liquidate the old stock.

At any rate, my new (used?) whitey-lighty will be delivered today, so I'll let you know how it goes.

[barryem]

I've bought a number of refurbished products, both from Amazon and Ebay and others, over the years. The very worse of them were okay. Most of them were indistinguishable from new devices.

I prefer new things, mostly because I assume I'll eventually get a bad refurbished one and have the hassle of dealing with it, but so far it's never been a problem. If it's something I want and the price is right I'm interested.

Barry

[Calenorn]

So far, so bad!

The NOOK that Blue Proton sent me was definitely not 'like new.' The box was sealed with a clear adhesive circle, not shrinkwrapped. No problem there, but the screen is scratched in several places. One particularly deep gouge is over half an inch long!

Bummer! If Blue Proton is willing I will exchange this for another one that's not damaged. If not it just gets returned. But that means a trek to a very inconvenient UPS office, and waiting for a refund.

Now I wish I had spent the extra $20 and bought new.

[cromag]

That's a bummer. I have two Nook Simple Touches that I bought "used" (not even a pretense of refurbishment) at the Goodwill auction site and both had very good screens. The cost was between $25 and $30 each. One has a very weak battery, but I plan to get a battery replacement kit and bring it back up to snuff.

Good luck with Blue Proton. I'd be interested in hearing how your experience pans out.

Note that the Goodwill site does not offer a return policy at all, so you have to read the description and examine the photos carefully! And I might just have gotten lucky. So, it's not for everyone.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by cromag

That's a bummer. I have two Nook Simple Touches that I bought "used" (not even a pretense of refurbishment) at the Goodwill auction site and both had very good screens. The cost was between $25 and $30 each. One has a very weak battery, but I plan to get a battery replacement kit and bring it back up to snuff.

Good luck with Blue Proton. I'd be interested in hearing how your experience pans out.

Note that the Goodwill site does not offer a return policy at all, so you have to read the description and examine the photos carefully! And I might just have gotten lucky. So, it's not for everyone.

Thanks, Cromag! I will report my experience here. Be sure to tell us about that battery replacement. That's a surgical procedure that I'm not brave enough to tackle!

I've found some very nice used books through Goodwill selling via amazon. Going through amazon provides some protection.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Thanks, Cromag! I will report my experience here. Be sure to tell us about that battery replacement. That's a surgical procedure that I'm not brave enough to tackle!

I've found some very nice used books through Goodwill selling via amazon. Going through amazon provides some protection.

The battery will probably wait until after the holidays, but I've replaced batteries in MP3 players, Android tablets, etc. It doesn't look too daunting. I'll try to post back.

[Calenorn]

Customer Service Update:

I received the refurbished NOOK Glowlight with the damaged screen from Blue Proton on Friday afternoon; sent them an email via amazon.com requesting a replacement on Saturday morning. By Sunday evening I had a reply from them with a link to a mailing label to return the damaged unit.

I give Blue Proton full marks so far. They didn't quibble over the return request, and clearly they had someone working customer service over the weekend. They said they would ship the replacement as soon as the postal service confirmed that I had mailed the other, and they made no attempt to charge a restocking fee.

So I mailed the damaged unit this morning, and we'll see what happens next. This is a difficult time of year to ship ANYTHING, but I still hope to get my NOOK by this weekend.

[AnitainTN]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Thanks, Cromag! I will report my experience here. Be sure to tell us about that battery replacement. That's a surgical procedure that I'm not brave enough to tackle!

You might try www.newpower99.com. For someone hesitant about battery surgery...(like...me!) ...they are great. They have all kinds of batteries, and it comes in a kit with tool to help open device without breaking anything and a DVD with instructions. You can watch the video online before ordering to see if you want to tackle it or not.

I found them when I was fretting about my old Nook Color which I still use for backups. That battery isn't new anymore, but it's not bad enough to replace yet. I have replaced my TomTom's battery which had completely died (TomTom model specific to my 2011 Subaru ) ....The video helped me know for sure I had the right battery, and it was surprisingly easy.

For the record, the only connection between me and newpower99 is happy customer.

[Calenorn]

Thanks, Anita. So far my NOOKs are plugging along. If one dies then I'll try to replace the battery - nothing to lose at that point!

Meanwhile the defective NOOK should arrive back to Blue Proton tomorrow. I haven't heard from them yet, so it appears that they are waiting to receive it before sending the replacement. Can't really blame them, but more delay - blah!

Xmas shopping yesterday at B&N; and the original NOOK Glowlight is no longer on display. The new Glowlight Plus doesn't grab me; cold and sharp-edged, it seems less friendly than the old, familiar NOOK shape and form. The more they make it look like a phone, the less reason there is to not just use a phone.

Oh well. If Blue Proton comes across with a decent refurb Glowlight, I'll be set for a couple more years.

[Calenorn]

Blue Proton customer service update:

Blue Proton shipped my replacement NOOK and provided USPS tracking numbers. These show the package arrived at their local post office facility on Friday night. The packages was 'expected' to arrive yesterday, but the tracking website shows no movement at all, and this is Wednesday morning! Oh well, it is the holiday rush, and Blue Proton can't be held responsible for the US Postal Service.

Meanwhile, the B&N website now lists the original Glowlight as 'temporarily unavailable.' Surely this is a situation that will become permanent, perhaps very soon. I've become very fond of that Simple Touch / Glowlight shape and form, so to see that era end makes me a little sad.

Back at amazon.com, where I placed my order, another customer has had a bad experience with Blue Proton. Check out the review with three photos here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...tronics&sr=1-6

Good night! Can that be real? Is THAT what Blue Proton calls 'Certified Refurbished'? Look closely and you'll see that the microUSB port has been completely ripped out of the ereader body!

I'm starting to have a great deal of trepidation about this transaction. I'll be sure to let you know how this all turns out.

[Calenorn]

I finally have my NOOK Glowlight, and all seems as it should be.

In the end the pre-Christmas rush delayed the US mail by three days. This gave me some anxiety, as the USPS tracking is somewhat imprecise.

This time the box was in better shape, and was sealed by an oval adhesive tag marked 'Certified Pre-Owned NOOK'. The first unit (the damaged one) did NOT have this decal, but was sealed with a simple clear sticker. So that's a good indicator.

And indeed, this NOOK has no visible damage! Thank goodness! Battery charged normally, and books transfer from the PC without any problem.

In my e-mail conversations with Blue Proton they let slip that they don't refurbish these products themselves, but that Barnes and Noble does it. So these are definitely products that have been returned to B&N and reset for sale by Blue Proton.

All in all I am pleased with Blue Proton's customer service, but I wouldn't put too much stock in amazon.com's 'Certified Refurbished' products. Definitely a hit-or-miss proposition. It took eighteen days altogether, but in the end I have what I wanted, a perfectly useable NOOK Glowlight for $70.