Refurbished Hard Drives: Renewed, Recertified, and Used
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Prefer Amazon Renewed or maker-recertified drives over plain used listings, test each drive's SMART data when it arrives, and run refurbished drives behind redundancy, because their warranties are shorter and failure rates rise with age.
Toshiba 14TB SATA 512e 256MB Cache 7200RPM 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Enterprise Hard Drive - MG07ACA14TE (Renewed)
$349.00 · $24.93/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #1 at $24.93/TB — 3% below the typical 14TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
Toshiba MG08ACA16TE 16TB 7200RPM 512e 3.5" SATA Enterprise Desktop Hard Drive (Renewed)
$399.00 · $24.94/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #2 at $24.94/TB — 10% below the typical 16TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
Seagate 14TB HDD Exos X14 SATA 6Gb/s 7200RPM 3.5-Inch Enterprise Hard Drive (ST14000NM0018) (Renewed)
$349.99 · $25.00/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #3 at $25.00/TB — 3% below the typical 14TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
Western Digital 14TB Ultrastar DC HC530 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512MB Cache, 3.5" - WUH721414ALE604 (Renewed)
$349.99 · $25.00/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #4 at $25.00/TB — 3% below the typical 14TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 14TB 7200RPM 256MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5inch Internal Surveillance Hard Drive - 3 Years Warranty (Renewed)
$349.99 · $25.00/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #5 at $25.00/TB — 3% below the typical 14TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5", 3 yr warranty.
HP/Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 WUH721818ALE600 0F38492 18TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 512e 512MB Cache Power Disable 3.5in Enterprise Hard Drive MB018000GXLAV P37677-001 (Renewed)
$459.00 · $25.50/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #6 at $25.50/TB — 13% below the typical 18TB HDD. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
MDD (MD14TSATA25672NAS) 14TB 7200 RPM 256MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5'' Internal NAS Hard Drive - 5 Years Warranty (Renewed)
$359.95 · $25.71/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #7 at $25.71/TB. Renewed condition, SATA, 5 yr warranty.
MDD MAXDIGITALDATA MDD (MDD14TSATA25672E) 14TB 7200RPM 256MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Enterprise Hard Drive - 5 Years Warranty (Renewed)
$359.99 · $25.71/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #8 at $25.71/TB. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5", 5 yr warranty.
Western Digital 14TB Ultrastar DC HC530 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512MB Cache, 3.5" - WUH721414ALE604 (Renewed)
$359.99 · $25.71/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #9 at $25.71/TB. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5".
Basicnology Surveillance HDD 14TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5inch Internal Surveillance Hard Drive (BG14TSA256S) - 3 Years Warranty (Renewed)
$359.99 · $25.71/TB as of Nov 15, 07:14 AM EST
Ranks #10 at $25.71/TB. Renewed condition, SATA, 3.5", 3 yr warranty.
How the ranking and deal scores work
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NAS builders and backup buyers look at refurbished hard drives to get more terabytes for the money. The trade-off is warranty and age, and both vary a lot from one listing to the next. The list above ranks today's renewed and used Amazon offers — internal and external, every size — by price per TB, and re-ranks itself every time our price snapshot refreshes.
Refurbished is not one thing. It covers Amazon Renewed drives, which come with a 90-day return guarantee or a year for Renewed Premium; maker-recertified drives sold by Seagate and WD with their own warranties; and plain used or seller-renewed drives that carry only the seller's terms. Many are ex-data-center enterprise drives, which are CMR. Check which kind each listing is, then plan for age.
What to look for
Work out which kind of refurbished drive the listing is. Amazon says Renewed products are inspected and tested, with faulty parts replaced, cleaned, and graded from Premium to Acceptable; its Renewed Guarantee allows a return within 90 days, or a year for Renewed Premium. Seagate sells recertified drives directly with a 6-month limited warranty and WD with a 1-year warranty. Anything else is a used drive on the seller's terms, so read them first.
Check the drive's age and health the day it arrives. Run the maker's diagnostic first; Seagate's SeaTools reports an overall SMART pass or fail. The SMART attributes buyers commonly check on a used drive are Power-On Hours, which shows how long it has run, and Reallocated Sector Count, which climbs as bad sectors are remapped. Compare what you find with the listing, and return anything doubtful inside the window.
Match the drive to the job and assume it can fail. Enterprise lines such as Seagate Exos, WD Ultrastar, and Toshiba MG are CMR and rated for 550 TB per year with a 5-year warranty when new, but a renewed unit does not carry that maker warranty. CMR is what you want in a RAID array. Backblaze's fleet data shows failure rates rise with age, so budget for replacements and keep a separate backup.
Found a price somewhere else? Check it with the price per TB calculator →
FAQ
Are refurbished hard drives reliable?
They can be, but reliability depends on the model and its age more than on the refurbished label. Backblaze's fleet data shows failure rates rise as drives age; one 8TB model about seven and a half years into service failed at an annualized rate above 10%. Use redundancy and keep a backup.
What's the difference between renewed, recertified, and used?
Who stands behind the drive, and for how long. Amazon Renewed carries a 90-day return guarantee, or a year for Renewed Premium. Seagate's recertified drives have a 6-month limited warranty and WD's have 1 year. Plain used or seller-renewed drives come only with the seller's terms.
How do I check a refurbished hard drive?
Test it the day it arrives and return it inside the guarantee window if anything looks wrong. Run the maker's diagnostic tool, such as Seagate's SeaTools, for an overall SMART pass or fail, then look at Power-On Hours and Reallocated Sector Count to see how long it has run and whether sectors were remapped.
Are refurbished drives good for a NAS?
Yes, if the array has redundancy and the drives are CMR. Ex-data-center enterprise lines such as Seagate Exos, WD Ultrastar, and Toshiba MG are CMR and built for heavy workloads. Treat each refurbished drive as replaceable: run a redundant array and keep a separate backup.