Understand in one article: The "resource machine" is 3000 cheaper than the original price, why not recommend you to buy it

If there is a mobile phone that comes from official channels, without any quality problems, and the price of a brand new phone is more than a thousand lower than the lowest price on the market now, do you think I'm joking?

If you've been following the iPhone market lately, you've probably heard of "resource machines" to a greater or lesser extent. Recently, this kind of resource machine has appeared in the live broadcast rooms of many big anchors, or other online and offline channels. The main thing about these machines is that they are cheap. Taking the original price of 11999 yuan iPhone 15 Pro Max as an example, the current price of the resource machine can be about 8800 yuan, which is directly discounted by 7% compared with the original price.

What's even more enticing is that these machines are not refurbished or second-hand phones, and some of them even have their original packaging. In other words, you can almost buy a machine with the same quality as the official channels at a price of about 7% off. Is there really such a good thing?

What is a Resource Machine?

First of all, we need to understand what is a "resource machine"?

As we all know, iPhone has a 7-day no reason return policy. Let's say that the user Xiao Ming bought an iPhone on the official website, but after a few days he didn't want the phone again. So Xiao Ming applied for 7 days to return the goods without reason and returned the machine. In most cases, the machine is only unpacked, and in many cases it is not even opened. But according to Apple's policy, the machine still can't re-enter the retail channel.

But these brand new machines, scrapping them directly is obviously not cost-effective and environmentally friendly. As a result, Apple recycled these machines and subsequently entered unofficial channels for circulation and sales, which is the so-called "resource machine". The so-called Foxconn machine, 1978 machine, and BS machine are actually the same type of machines as resource machines.

Different from the common second-hand phones and official phones on the market, the resource machine has enough advantages in terms of equipment quality. Even machines that have been unpacked have few defects due to the very short time of use themselves. The number of charges is basically in the single digits. There is a considerable proportion of machines that are simply unsealed machines before they are recovered. Since these machines are generally from official channels, in terms of quality, the "resource machine" can be said to be infinitely close to a brand new machine.

So how cheap are these resource machines?

Taking this year's iPhone as an example, the subsidy price of the 512GB version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max on major platforms is about 10,000 yuan. The same version of the "resource machine", the current price has reached 8550 yuan! Compared with the original price of the official website, it is directly lower than 3000 yuan. The 512GB version of iPhone 15 is currently subsidized at around 7500, and the price of the same version of the resource machine is currently about 6200 yuan.

However, not all resource machines are cheap. From the price point of view, the most preferential resource machine is still 512GB, 1TB such a large-capacity version, compared with the current preferential price can be about 1500 yuan cheaper. If it is the price of the 256GB version, the current price difference between the resource machine and the e-commerce platform will be narrowed to five or six hundred yuan. The 128GB iPhone15 resource machine is even roughly the same as the platform's preferential price.

Problems and risks of resource machines

So, is the resource machine worth buying?

My advice is: don't buy it!

Despite the price advantage of the resource machine, it also has a big problem: there is no official warranty. Because the distribution channels of resource machines are unofficial or unofficially authorized, Apple does not provide official warranty services for these machines. After the follow-up problem, even if you take the resource machine to the official Apple store to request paid maintenance, it is not supported. At present, the warranty service of the resource machine is generally provided by the merchant himself. If you encounter some problems in the future, there may be a risk of ripping off.

The trouble is that the source channels of the resource machine itself are not transparent. Some businesses sell some second-hand phones and refurbished machines in the name of "resource machines". These used, refurbished machines can have a lot of problems and flaws. Most consumers simply can't tell the difference between these machines, and it's easy to be pitted. It should be pointed out that many resource machines have no packaging and accessories, which also provides a lot of operability space for many businesses.

There is also a situation that some merchants will disguise resource machines as ordinary retail machines for sale. Especially this year, it is rumored that a large number of resource machines have entered the market, and you think you are buying a normal machine, but in fact it is a "resource machine" without a warranty. Especially for users who buy mobile phones in offline stores, they need to be vigilant.

A few more words: At present, a large part of the inventory of resource machines goes to second-hand recycling platforms, which will sell these machines in the name of refurbished machines or second-hand phones. In addition, many mobile phone rental platforms are also large customers of resource machines. Compared with traditional offline stalls, these platforms can more easily consume the inventory of resource machines. In addition, there are also some resource opportunities that will flow to overseas markets. The main reason is that some models in overseas markets only have eSIM, but the national version of the resource machine has a physical SIM card slot, which is also attractive to some users.

The price advantage of the resource machine is not obvious

Here's a way to identify a resource machine:

Click View Phone Settings - General - About Phone to view the model number. The model numbers of resource machines, equity machines, black machines, and supervisory machines all start with M. If you find that your model number starts with M, you are almost certain that it is not a normal retail model. At this time, you can use the serial number to query the whole machine report and see the product type. Tools such as Aisi can query the inspection report (it is really troublesome, and you can also go directly to a treasure to spend a few dollars to check). If your phone comes up with an activation date of "1978", this is a typical resource machine!

The most important thing is that the price advantage of the resource machine itself is not very obvious. As we mentioned earlier, only on some large-capacity models, the resource machine has a price advantage of more than 1,000 yuan. For the ordinary 256GB version, the resource machine is only about five or six hundred yuan less than the channel price of the retail machine. Five or six hundred yuan, you are sacrificing a complete official after-sales service, as well as possible defects and even supply risks. In my opinion, there is no need for ordinary people to choose resource machines because of this discount.

Another disadvantage of the resource machine that many people ignore is the recycling price. Today's recycling platforms will have options for purchase channels in the process of evaluating mobile phones, and models such as resource machines belong to "other versions". It is measured that under the premise of the same version and condition, the recycling price of the resource machine will be about 500 yuan lower than the recycling price of the retail machine.

Based on the factors of risk, price and after-sales, I personally believe that the resource machine is not suitable for most people.

If you are clear about the advantages, disadvantages and risks of the resource machine, you just want to buy a good machine at a very cost-effective price, and you are very interested in the resource machine. My advice is to try to buy it on some big platforms. For example, the live broadcast rooms of some big anchors or other relatively powerful and guaranteed large platforms buy resource machines. Offline channels, especially some small stalls, have unknown sources of supply for resource machines, and they are easy to be pitted. As for ordinary users, instead of choosing a resource machine, it is better to wait for a 618 to be cost-effective.