Brand New, Like New, and Used: What's the Difference?
November 4, 2019 | 3 Min Read
Picture this.
You’re scrolling through Craigslist and see an item you’re interested in. The seller has listed it as Brand New. You decide to buy it so you meet the seller and pay for it.
When you get it home you go to open it and realize that it’s already been opened.
What the heck?
They listed this item as ‘brand new’ but it’s clearly been opened already.
We run into this problem all the time. Most people are confused as to what ‘brand new’ means.
In fact, they’re three phrases that get misused all the time in the pawnshop: brand new, like new, and used.
What’s the deal? These words are pretty self explanatory right? Let’s find out.
what does ‘brand new’ mean?
Brand new means just that. Brand spankin’ new. It’s an item that has never been opened and never been used. The shrink wrap is still on it. The box is still sealed. The tags are still there. It’s as if you took the item out of the store without touching it and listed it for sale. That’s brand new.
So why do people get this confused?
People misuse this word for two reasons:
They honestly don’t know the difference.
They’re being dishonest in order to sell it for more money.
Some people actually don’t realize that if you open an item it is no longer brand new. It’s like when you drive a brand new car off the lot. The minute you drive it off the lot, it’s a used car. Done. If you try to sell that car the very next day, it’s not brand new. It’s now used.
In other cases, people who sell items will describe it as ‘brand new’ in order to get more money. They know that if they describe it as new, more people will look at it and be willing to pay more.
The bottom line is this: If you buy something, as soon as you open it, break the seal, pull the tag, or whatever else - it’s now used.
But that brings us to our next point - ‘like new’ merchandise.
what does ‘like new’ mean?
Remember when we talked about driving that brand new car off the lot? The minute you drive that brand new car off the lot, it becomes a used car. It’s the same way with other merchandise, once you buy it, it’s considered used or secondhand.
But, instead of using the words used or secondhand, if your item is still in immaculate condition, you can describe it as ‘like new’.
‘Like new’ items are items that may be opened, seals might be broken, and tags might be missing, but they have never been used and are practically new. These items are not ‘brand new’ because you couldn’t take this item back to the store you bought it from, sit it on the shelf and sell it. But they are ‘like new’ because they haven’t been used yet.
In short, ‘like new’ is a phrase that’s used to tell someone that the item has never been used or could pass for a brand new item if it was sealed.
what does ‘used’ mean?
Probably 80% of secondhand items fall into the ‘used’ category. Used means the item is just that, used. It was purchased, used for its purpose, and now it’s being sold. It still functions fine, but it is no longer ‘brand new’ or even ‘like new’.
Used merchandise might be missing pieces, have scuffs or marks, or show wear and tear. Everything on a used item should still be functioning perfectly fine.
Bonus: what does ‘as-is’ mean?
A term that you’ll see often listed on an item is ‘AS-IS’. This basically means that the seller does not guarantee the item to work OR the seller does not want to give a refund on the item for some reason.
The majority of items that are sold ‘as-is’ are not functioning properly. A piece to the item is missing, a part doesn’t work, or it doesn’t function at all. These items are typically sold ‘for parts only’ and at a steep discount.
You should be aware that items sold ‘as-is’ are probably broken. We do, however, sell some items at our shop ‘as-is’ because we do not want to buy the item back for a particular reason. For example, the item could be outdated, but still functioning.
Wrap-up
People misuse the words brand new, like new, and used all of the time. Sometimes they are misused in order to make the item sound more desirable, other times they are misused simply because the person does not know the difference.
The short version is this:
Brand new means the item is still sealed in the package and never opened. You could literally go sit it back on the shelf where it was purchased and sell it for brand new price.
Like new means the items was bought from a store, opened, but never used. Or at least used so gently that it shows zero signs of wear.
Used is just that. Used. It’s a secondhand item that was used and still functions.
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