Samsung shifts Galaxy sales to refurbished listings on Amazon

Samsung has begun selling its own certified refurbished Galaxy phones on Amazon.com, a move that comes soon after the company raised prices on the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy A series in the United States. The two measures together create an effective price relief for buyers without lowering the official new-phone price.

Refurbished lineup, pricing and support

Samsung's certified refurbished selection already includes seven models drawn from the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S25 lines, with prices ranging from $489 for a Galaxy S24 FE to $1,029 for a Galaxy S25 Ultra with 512 GB of onboard storage. Refurbished versions of the Galaxy S26 series are also listed. Despite the recent price increases for new S26 phones, Samsung has not raised the refurbished S26 prices, leaving a gap of roughly $240 between a certified refurbished S26 and a brand-new S26. The price difference for the S26 Ultra has widened from about $200 to about $300.

Samsung says each refurbished unit undergoes an extensive series of quality checks, receives a new battery and is sold with a one-year warranty. The company also says refurbished devices receive the same level of software support as new devices, meaning a refurbished Galaxy S26 is eligible for the same number of Android operating system upgrades as a fresh unit.

Business rationale and limits

By listing certified refurbished phones, Samsung can extract more value from devices it has already produced, since the memory chips and other components were purchased at the time of the original build. That matters for Samsung's device business: the company is on track for its first ever annual loss and has cut its device shipment projections for the year. Offering more compelling refurbished devices should help sell more units without producing as many new phones that require costly memory chips.

There are practical limits to this approach. Refurbished units come from trade-ins, and trade-ins depend on new-phone sales. As new-phone volumes fall, so will the supply available for refurbishment. The timing of additions to Samsung's certified refurbished program has already accelerated: previously, the company waited at least 12 months before adding its latest flagships; the Galaxy S25 arrived in the program about nine months after launch, and the Galaxy S26 series reached the program in roughly six months.

For customers who want recent Galaxy flagships without paying new-phone premiums, certified refurbished units on Amazon provide a lower-cost alternative while Samsung maintains warranty and software support policies.