Why are refurbished laptops so cheap?

It isn't because something's wrong with them. It's mostly about how companies buy and replace computers.

• Corporate refresh cycles: companies replace laptops every three to four years, often all at once, for accounting, warranty or policy reasons. That puts thousands of working laptops on the market at the same time.
• Depreciation: laptops lose value fast on paper, even when they're still in great shape.
• No launch premium: you're not paying for marketing, retail margins or the "newest model" price.
• Refurbishing costs less than manufacturing: testing, a new battery or keyboard and cleaning cost far less than building a new laptop.

So you pay for the laptop's remaining useful life — which, for a business model, is often several years.