Avigilon Launches 'Renewed Products Program'

do you think that these are typically DOA cross-ship return units that are then refurbed?

or are they the result of field upgrades?

However, we are not aware of Axis, Bosch, Hanwha, Pansonic, Sony, etc. having such programs.

although you would think Arecont could have benefited from one, being fed from any “try and not buy” units:

It's an interesting program particularly if you are stuck in trying to get Avigilon product in overly price conscious buyers.  The drawback is that stock varies so widely from day to day that it cannot be counted upon for a project that is a couple months out.

This program makes me wonder what other manufacturers do with product we send back?  I wonder if there is a landfill out there full of Axis Q6000-Es.

I think this is a great idea - it'll be interesting to see how much this program is leveraged. Will customers prefer NIB units or will they be happy to take refurbs? Will it really give Avigilon a needed pricing edge in any meaningful deals? I don't know enough to speculate.

There's something about refurbs that makes me nervous though. Is it possible that someone could plant malware on one of these cameras that is not successfully removed during the normal refurb process? If flashing the firmware is not completely rewriting the OS, could someone gain root access to the camera, plant something low enough to persist through a firmware flash, and then effectively turn the refurb program itself into a trojan horse?

I'm not sure what the catch is. Selling used cameras cannibalizes new camera sales. Designing a product that meets profit goals but also strips features at  reduced cost is always better than discounting and devaluing a better product. I get selling old models at a discount, which almost all manufacturers do in some capacity, but it's less expense to have more accurate demand forecast than fire sell overstock. The risk of a repaired camera going bad again is exponentially higher than a new camera in my experience. Warranty or not, Avigilon isn't going to cover the labor and trip charge the integrator incurs and the end user is unlikely to agree to pay a $100 service fee to repair a used camera they paid $250 for within a year and will be especially unsettled if they have to spend another $250 plus install charge at month 13. Even at 60% discount off a $500 MSRP camera, the end user is still buying at $250-300 at minimum. As a consumer and supplier, that is not worth the risk. As someone said, 3 year is good, 5 year is best. After 5 years, the camera has depreciated most value and much greater technology is available around the same price they paid 5 years ago. I don't see how this is a good strategy to enter a cost-prioritized market. Very few end users will go for a used 1 year warranty product when there are many options for new and 5 year warranty for a similar price. Avigilon has always marketed an end-to-end solution. Are they selling preowned recorders and licenses, too?

I don't think we will use this much but it will be nice to have as an option for very cost sensitive smaller customers.  

Avigilons warranty processes great they overnight you a camera replacement if your camera is in warranty, but if you want to have a couple extra on the shelf just for temporary service I see no reason not to buy a few of these.looking through the list of renewed you can tell it some of the products that are less popular like 9-22mm 1mp cameras and a lot of box body cameras. I think it's a good way for them to get rid of EOL products to clear their shelves for the new inventory rather than having two revision back products.

Avigilon declined to comment about how end users would know if products were new or 'renewed' and about disclosing how old or used any 'renewed' product offered was.