New
Purists love the exciting unboxing experience that comes with buying a brand new product. Personally I don't care for the unboxing experience so I usually don't aim for new Chromebooks. The only time I can justify buying a new Chromebook is if it was just released and there are no used or refurbished ones for sale online. There is nothing wrong with paying full price for a Chromebook, as long as your financial situation permits it.
Refurbished / Re-certified
This is my favorite type of Chromebook to purchase in order to save money and get a great looking product. The best refurbs are the ones refurbished by the manufacturer as they [usually] come with a warranty (about 90 days). Refurbished products tend to look brand new. The way I see it, it's as if someone already tested the product for problems, the problems have been fixed, and now you're getting the best version of the product at a lower price. Next best are seller refurbished Chromebooks. When buying seller refurbished, make sure you read the description thoroughly to understand the condition of the item and what it comes with.
Used
I tend to stay away from used Chromebooks. Exercise caution when buying a used Chromebook. I have had a mixed bag of experiences with used Chromebooks. You can save a lot of money, but it comes with risks; no guarantees how long the product will last, wear on it may be underestimated in the description, and there may have been some botched repairs on it. Sellers on eBay use letter grades (A-excellent, B-good, C-acceptable) to identify the condition of the Chromebook. Read the descriptions carefully regarding scratches screen/body, wear marks, screen dead pixels, screen marks, cracks on body, what it comes with, what it does not come with. Some will come with generic AC adapters.
Amazon Vs eBay Vs Craigslist
Amazon.com is the best experience for buying new, used, and refurbished Chromebooks. The return policy is a breeze, prices are reasonable, and if you have Amazon Prime you can get the Chromebook in 2 days. If you buy one from eBay make sure you read the seller ratings and comments. Shipping on eBay could be a few days or a couple of weeks. You will also find it more challenging to return something on eBay. I once bought a Chromebook from eBay that took 2 weeks to arrive, only to find out it doesn't work. I requested a refund and the seller waited to the last day to accept the return. Craigslist.com is another place where I have purchased Chromebooks from. The good thing is you can see the Chromebook in person and test it before you buy it.
One last word of caution...
When you are considering the value of a Chromebook, you compare it to identical ones for sale on the market. When comparing Chromebooks, you need to make sure you are comparing the exact same Chromebook. Just because two Chromebooks share the same model number doesn't mean they are the same. There are variations within models such as different processors, different screen resolutions, different capacity of RAM. For example, there's an Acer Chromebook 14 with a 720p screen and another with a 1080p screen. Then there's also the Acer Chromebook 14 "for work" which can come equipped with a Celeron processor, or a Core i3, or a Core i5 processor. I recommend you check out Zipso, this site has a long list of Chromebook models along with other useful information.
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