In Mexico, a refurbished phone is a used device that went through cleaning, diagnostics and, if needed, repair before being sold again. The shop is who calls it that, not an authority. Neither Apple nor Samsung has an official refurbished store in the country, so the warranty that counts is the one from the shop that sells to you. The law requires that you be told clearly when a product is used or rebuilt, and on Mercado Libre (the marketplace) the "reacondicionado" label has its own rules, among them a 90-day minimum warranty and a battery above 80% of its capacity.
The Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor (LFPC, the federal consumer protection law) does not define "refurbished". Its article 39 speaks of "used or rebuilt" products and requires that you be warned precisely and clearly, and that it be recorded on the item itself, the packaging, the delivery note or the invoice. That is all the law sets about the word. The rest, what was cleaned, what was replaced and what grade it carries, is decided by each shop and each platform.
That is why it pays to know who is behind each listing. In Mexico, five different things are sold under similar names.
This is the one the manufacturer itself repairs and resells. In Mexico it does not exist for phones. Apple's refurbished pages for Mexico (apple.com/mx/shop/refurbished) returned a 404 error on 25 September 2026, while the rest of Apple's Mexican store loads normally. Apple's program does operate in Spain, with a one-year warranty and a new battery and outer shell, but it is a store for Spain and does not ship to Mexico. The same happens with Samsung. Its Certified Re-Newed program is confirmed in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, France and Germany, and the Mexican page for the program does not exist either.
The closest thing in Mexico is iRenew, the refurbished arm of MacStore, an Apple authorized partner. It has its own grade scale and offers a 90-day warranty. It is a third party's program, not Apple's. If a listing says "refurbished by Apple" for a device sold in Mexico, ask who answers for the warranty, because it will not be Apple.
These are the shops that live off this. Reuse, Clevercel, Doto, Spinmobile, GH Celulares, Tienda Donde, Reniu and others. Each defines its own grade scale and its own warranty. Some examples of what their sites advertise: Reuse offers a 30-day trial plus a 13-month warranty, Clevercel 12 months plus a 30-day trial, Spinmobile 180 days, GH Celulares up to 6 months. None of them answers to the manufacturer. If something goes wrong, your claim is against that company and nobody else, so its record in PROFECO's Buró Comercial (the consumer protection agency's public register of complaints) is the lookup worth doing before you pay. How to do it is in your rights when buying refurbished.
On Mercado Libre, "reacondicionado" is a condition with written rules. To use it, the seller must have had experts examine, clean and repair the device, the battery must exceed 80% of its capacity, and the warranty must be 90 days or more. There are three mandatory grades, with these definitions in Mercado Libre's own words:
Mercado Libre also says refurbished items are "genuine devices (not copies)". The one who meets all of that is the seller, not the platform. A "Full" listing ships from Mercado Libre's warehouse, but the seller is still the merchant selling to you. What the platform does provide is Compra Protegida (its buyer protection), a refund if the product does not arrive, arrives damaged, different or incomplete, or if you change your mind.
Amazon Renewed arrived in Mexico according to El Universal. Amazon's Mexican help page could not be read when this guide was prepared, so its terms for Mexico are not confirmed here. The global version of the program speaks of a 90-day warranty.
"Usado" (used) is a device that had an owner and is sold as is, with no cleaning or diagnostics in between. "Seminuevo" (semi-new) is used by several shops as a synonym for refurbished, a device repaired with genuine or compatible parts, working, with cosmetic wear. Since there is no legal definition, ask what the shop means by the word it uses.
Open box is a new, unused product whose box was opened, through a return, an opened order or a counter piece. A display unit (exhibición) is a particular case, the device that sat in the store and was handled by staff and customers, with light wear. It is not refurbished and normally carries no grade. Movistar México, for example, sells open box at 30 to 44% off without calling it refurbished.
"Grado A", "Excelente" or "Como nuevo" (like new) mean whatever each shop says they mean. Sanborns, for example, advertises "Grado A" with a 180-day warranty. Mercado Libre defines its three grades. Each independent shop has its own. The only thing you can compare from one shop to another is what the shop writes in its definition, so ask for it in writing before buying.
Reacondi compares refurbished phone prices in Mexico. It does not sell, handle or open devices. When you see a price on Reacondi, it is the price the shop publishes, with the warranty and the grade that shop defines. How we filter listings is in how we compare.
If you are going to buy, continue with how to tell if an iPhone is original or fake and what to check when it arrives.
Article 39 of the LFPC is cited from reproductions of the official text; the original PDF could not be read directly when this guide was prepared.
