I'm thinking about buying a used kindle paperwhite. I bought my kindle keyboard used about 3 years ago & last year the wifi chip quit working.  So my previous experience with used was well. I'm thinking of buying from a pawn shop or just a local individual just because they look to sell fairly cheap.  Although ebay is always an option too. So does anyone have any helpful advice for buying used devices?

I haven't done so, but if I did I'd want either some kind of 30-day warrantee or it be dirt cheap. You'd also want to know that it's been sucessfully deregistered by the past owner. You want to make sure it wasn't stolen or lost, because a stolen or lost Kindle is permanently banned by Amazon and they won't turn it back on to download books. It can be side-loaded, but nothing else.

I'm not sure how you'd go about making sure, though. With eBay you might have some protection if you ask in email and get good answers before buying. Privately, it may be harder to be sure.

On eBay check the feedback of the seller.  Have they sold a number of Kindles, and have they gotten good feedback?  eBay offers buyer protection if the Kindle is misrepresented.

If buying at a pawn shop, or from a local person, ask to connect it to WiFi there and register it.  Once it has been registered into a new account, the previous owner can't have Amazon block it.  If you decide not to buy it, deregister it before leaving.  Note: generally you just get an error message when you attempt to register a banned Kindle.  It doesn't tell you it is banned.  You can use the serial number and contact Kindle Support and they will tell you if it has been reported stolen.

I presume you are looking for an eink Kindle, not a Kindle Fire. The above advice is very good.

A caution to anyone wanting to buy a used kindle fire....be very careful. Many, many of the sellers on ebay, and even on Amazon, have NO idea which model they are selling. If YOU can't tell from the pictures, don't buy it. It is INSANE how mixed up people are, especially between the kindle fire HDs.

I have bought all kinds of used devices, and sold them, too. As far as Kindles....I have bought 2 used Kindle Touches, one from an Amazon seller, one from an online forum. I have bought 2 used Kindle Fires, one from an online forum, one from ebay. All good experiences. My mom has one of the Touches, and I still have one of the Fires. I had pictures of all of them so I could see what they were.

Unless it's cheap enough, I would be more inclined to get a refurbished kindle direct from Amazon. This page shows the prices for them.

I am like the queen of buying used ereaders....here are some that I have bought in the last year or so (not including the kindles above)....all resold or given away after I played with them. Astak EZ Reader Pro 5", Jetbook Lite, Aluratek Pro, Onyx Firefly, Nook S Touch, Nook HD 8gb. Bought these used and still have - Kobo mini white, kobo mini black, kobo glo white, kobo aura, kobo aura hd, Nook HD 16gb.

These are good tips. Thank you! I never even considered the possibility of receiving a stolen kindle. 

As Anne said too, there are many people that don't know the difference in not only kindle fires but also alot of sellers calling their kindle touches paperwhites. I found a seller that had a brand new sealed "kindle paperwhite" for $40. After meeting him it turned out he actually had the original kindle touch version & was shocked when I told him it actually wasn't a paperwhite.

Wow, Leann. How ridiculous. 

Did you get it anyway? That was a good price.

IF you want Used Why not go REFURB thru Amazon....   They come with 1 yr warrenty.

The price on ereaders has dropped so low, I really can't see a reason not to just buy a new one. I bought the boy's Kindle (the $69 version 18 months ago. it's still the same price. The refurb is only $10 less.

I think the Kindle Touch, in many ways, is better than the Paperwhite. More storage, and I don't think they've screwed it up with the cloud collections update (as they did to the paperwhite). I would get that before I'd get a paperwhite. Though I got rid of all my kindles and just use a Kindle Fire for Amazon Prime stuff.

For eink, I've gone 100% Kobo. Their readers meet my needs much more so than Kindle ever did.

Kobo Downsizing employees  ... I bet they closing their doors in a yr.  

Kindle Basic sell for $49 at time keep an eye open for the next sale!

Kobo Downsizing employees  ... I bet they closing their doors in a yr.  

I certainly don't think so. But I guess you never know. I do think they should get out of the tablet business, and stick to what they do  better than anyone else, their e-ink readers. (My opinion!) There are so many tablets out there, there is no compelling reason to get a Kobo, unless maybe yo live in Canada, there could be some reason to, there.

I can't wait to see what eink reader they will produce next!

Just got an email from Amazon....  Ereaders are on sale the Basic is $49 NEW!   Not sure when the sale ends ...for Mothers day.  But I suggest you buy asap! 

Well contrary to what I posted a month ago, I did get another Kindle eink reader. I gave the Fire to my girls, after deciding I just didn't like reading or anything else on it. (Girls were delighted). Amazon had refurbished PW1 on sale for $69, so I got one, rooted it, locked it down, added some modifications. I also have to convert books with a larger embedded font size in order to have a comfortable size on the device. Now it's quite nice.

Since this is a thread about used devices  I'll confess. Yesterday I received a used Nook Simple Touch. Charged it up and rooted it with NookManager, and added Cool Reader and my font. It is astonishing how much faster it is than the Kindle. Mind-boggling, really. I use Calibre to side load my books, with series information. Search is very fast. It is really awesome. I'm keeping it!

And tomorrow I expect to receive a used Sony T1. I had one 2 years ago, but decided to get another. I mean, $28, why not? Amazon has a great return policy for marketplace purchases, so I am not at all worried. I am not going to root this one, just add a little tweak to the home page. Although it's possible Kobo will be releasing an update to the T-series readers, since they've taken over from Kobo. If I like it, I will get it. If not, I'll use it stock. Or maybe I will root it :) I'll have to see if stock is suitable or not. I can't remember what fonts it has.

ETA well the T1 is going back, if they send me the money to ship it back. If not, I will get a refund and keep it. Gouges on the screen, which has damaged the eink, does not equal "very good condition." Glad I bought it from Amazon instead of ebay. Less hassle.

ETA Seller got back to me and sent me the link for a prepaid return label. Nice! I'm disappointed I don't get a new toy though. 

I would suggest going through Amazon's refurbished site, just do a search for whatever kindle model you want and add the word refurbished to it.  I would suggest going to the kindle outlet link on their site.  http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sv_kstore_7?ie=UTF8&node=8497978011 

Got my money back on the Sony.  I like Kobo better, anyway. I opened up 3 of them and replaced and/or increased the size of the storage card. Now I have a Glo with 16gb internal storage, a Mini with the same, and a Mini with 4gb internal storage. I'm in love!