[nextos]

What freaks me out is that clearly many large manufacturers design boxes so that it is easy to resell returned products as new. Lots of mobile phones are packaged with weak seals that do not damage the cardboard once taken out. Google does this and it looks intentional to me. Apple, which I don't like for other reasons, seems to be an exception.

I am very uncomfortable buying electronics and hygiene products from many places because of this problem. For example, years ago, on what became my final Amazon purchase, I received used underwear (yuck!). Knowing that Amazon tends to sell returned products as new, I had explicitly bought a brand that is sealed, shrink wrapped, and promises to dispose returned items, but that wasn't enough.

Recently, I was reading a newspaper article where they described how a criminal gang bought Google Pixel and high-end Samsung phones from reputable online and department stores. They opened them, installed malware, returned the product, and you can guess what happened next. Lots of stolen bank credentials. People tend to buy stuff, test drive it for a few days and return it as new abusing pro-customer regulations. Many shops are unwilling to take a loss and resell these things as new. Very dishonest, should be better regulated.

[ProllyInfamous]

>They opened them, installed malware, returned the product ... lots of stolen bank credentials.

Absolutely terrifying.