Just like the odd eBay storefront that popped up last year, a new site called Factory Outlet eBay Store is selling refurbished Apple products and, despite the lack of any official Apple branding, is almost definitely the result of a partnership between Apple and eBay. And it's selling Apple Certified Refurbished…

Gizmodo Twitter friend Ben Dreyfuss. bought his mom an iPhone for Christmas. Ben is a good son! Christmas morning: Mama D. tears open the package, finds a shiny aluminum bundle of joy, and then decides to set it up. One problem: When she called Verizon to activate the thing, they told her that her new iPhone was…

It ain't easy getting Apple gear at a discount. That's why Apple's Black Friday deals cause a fuss, even if they're unspectacular compared to what other manufacturers offer up. But here's the secret cheat code: You can get those same deals, more or less, all year long.

What does Apple have in common with your stay-at-home aunt who loves cats and knits you sweaters in her spare time? They both sell their goods on eBay now. Apple has sneakily opened up a Refurbished Outlet on eBay to test out the online auction waters.

Refurbished Apple products are some of the best deals in tech. They get a thorough checkup, all new components for anything that's damaged, and the same year of Apple Care as new products. And as of right now, there are none to be had. Zero. Zilch. Zip. How come?

Even though the new iPad came out recently, the iPad 2 is still alive and kickin'. Hell, it's very probably the second best tablet out there right now. And if you can get the second best tablet for only $320? That's a sick, awesome, definitely worth every penny steal of a deal.

Attention cheapasses and bargain hunters: refurbished iPad 2s are now between $80 and $100 off at the Apple's online store. That's better than the previous $50 discount on refurbished iPad 2s, and Apple's $41-$61 Black Friday deals.

Apple is selling refurbished iPads (Wi-Fi only) for the "special limited time price" of $429 for the 16GB, $499 for the 32GB and $599 for the 64GB. That's up to $100 bucks off the retail price [Apple via MacRumors]

You've got a Flip cam and plenty of Hipstamatic filters to get you through your photographic day-to-day. But there's nothing like the experience of a Polaroid. And it's coming back, thanks to the skillful refurbishing of Impossible Project and Photojojo.

AT&T is getting aggressive with their refurb deals. Last week it was a 16GB iPhone 3G for $149, and this week it is a free HTC Fuze with a 2-year contract and new activation.

I've said it before and I'll say it again—buying refurbished can be a really smart move. And getting a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3G with a 2-year contract for $149 ain't bad. [AT&T via Phonenews]

Apple's set up an online refurbished discount store in China, lowering prices by up to 22% in order to combat secondhand non-Apple-approved sales going on in the country already.

It may be first gen, but even without the NVIDIA graphics and extra storage, finding a MacBook Air below $1000 is an absolute steal. Besides, refurbs are really the smart way to go. [Apple]

Amazon Kindles are back-ordered until February, but an interesting development popped up over there today if you're still holding out hope: Refurbished Kindles for $360. Our tipster says these Kindles are factory refurbs, and come with a 30 day return policy and one year warranty. They apparently have new packaging,…

Today's woot! is a factory-refurbished 500GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive, running at 7200 rpm with a 16MB buffer, for only $50. I know, I know, refurbs are risky, but for a backup drive you only use every once in awhile, this is a great price and should do you just fine. [woot!]

We knew that refurbished iPhones have their previous owner's data on it, but how do you protect yourself when Apple won't go through the trouble of wiping phones out before passing them on? By unsyncing everything, then loading it up with music and videos until the phone is full to overwrite the old data that was…

You might already know that performing a restore on your iPhone does not, in fact, completely wipe out your personal data. But it's cool if you take it to Apple, because if your broke-ass iPhone does become a refurb for some discount-seeking soul, Apple scrubs it to the bone, right? Nope. Using a standard forensic…

If you don't mind using a phone that's been face-greased by someone else over who knows how many months, AT&T's refurb store has some pretty decent deals on iPhones. The 8GB is $249 and 16GB is $349, perfect for buying now and then regretting one month later when the 3G iPhone is available. At least you got a good…