It’s here – your refurbished Baratza! Packed up in a sturdy, cardboard box with the Baratza logo is the grinder you ordered just a few days earlier.
Our refurbished grinders, in their previous life, are often used for a short period before being returned – either due to buyer’s remorse or warranty claims. We try to make every single grinder work like a champ, but sometimes parts break prematurely. That’s why we offer a comprehensive warranty and have a stellar support team just a phone call away.
On opening the outer box, you’ll find the retail packaging for the model you’ve chosen. A few scuffs, or tears, or otherwise less-than-shiny marks might catch your eye at first, but look further to find a sticker.
Sustainability is at the core of Baratza’s values and mission- check out our blog post #Don’tDumpItFixIt. From building machines meant for repair instead of replacement, down to reusing packaging, we aim to minimize our environmental impact on the landfill. This includes using functional but scuffed boxes and refurbishing grinders without replacing parts that have small cosmetic blemishes. All while maintaining their full functionality so that your refurbished machine works just like a brand new one.
What’s on the retail box?
These refurbished machines come back to us in their original packaging – but sometimes boxes get scuffed, scraped, or otherwise marked up. They’re in perfectly good condition structurally, but don’t look quite as nice as a brand new box. That leaves us with a choice – use a new box for every refurb we sell, or re-use boxes that maintain their structural integrity, even if they don’t look quite as nice as we’d maybe like.
A look at our cardboard recycling bin here at HQ made the decision easy – although recycling is great, re-using is even better! In the spirit of repairing grinders rather than replacing them, we chose also to re-use shipping and retail boxes rather than replacing them.
What’s on the grinder?
When a machine comes to us for refurbishment, it’s often got a little coffee in it, still from a previous life. In transit, this coffee shakes out of the grinder and can create small scratches on the surface of the machine.
In some cases, the damage can be pretty drastic, but the vast majority of units see no trouble at all, or maybe a few tiny scratches and scuffs.
To remove a blemish like this, the whole outer case of a Sette (for example) needs to be replaced. We’re fine putting in the time to make sure our machines are in great condition, but the amount of waste produced by replacing these parts is hard to justify when considering our goals to reduce environmental impact. Our goal is to provide a refurbished grinder that works as well as a brand new machine, and a slightly scratched case functions perfectly.
It’s important to us to reduce the amount of waste we as a company create. It’s good business but it’s also good stewardship. So, the decision is easy: if a grinder has minor cosmetic blemishes that A) don’t affect performance and B) won’t diminish the user experience, there’s no good reason not to reuse those parts.
What’s -in- the grinder?
Our refurbishment process is thorough – we check every part for wear, damage, or any other signs of trouble. While we’re at it, we make sure a grinder has the latest and greatest when it comes to internals. That way, a refurbished grinder is barely distinguishable from a brand new one.
Refurbs experience a rigorous two-stage Quality Check. The refurbishing technician ensures that every part is in good shape and fully up-to-date. Then, the Service Manager runs through the machine from top to bottom, making sure that not one part of the process was missed.
A refurbished grinder might have its original burrs still. Although the burrs are technically a “wear part” it’s important to remember the expected lifespan of a burr set – 500lbs of coffee. This works out to about one pound every week for ten years! A refurb might have seen a few months of use before coming to us, which means the burrs have tons of life ahead of them. An older or more used grinder in for refurbishment gets new burrs installed.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
At Baratza, we are constantly striving to do better – whether by providing exemplary customer support, building advanced and innovative grinders, or keeping those grinders in use rather than in the landfill. Part of that process means reducing waste, re-using materials, and recycling what we can’t salvage.
If you’re someone who wants a grinder that works great, and looks almost perfect (and you like a little savings while you’re at it), then a refurbished machine is an excellent choice. If you prefer a grinder that looks as great as it works, then a new machine is the better choice.
Either way, you’ll have fresh ground coffee whenever you want it!