A refurbished gift bought online has two deadlines, the time to return it without giving a reason and the shop's warranty. The first counts from delivery or from signing the contract, whichever happens last, and the second from delivery. Neither waits for someone to open the box on 25 December. This guide puts those deadlines on the December 2026 calendar, says what to ask for in writing before you pay and explains how to test a phone, tablet or console and get it ready to give. The articles of the law and the deadlines come from our guides on your rights when buying a refurbished phone and what to check when it arrives, where their sources are. The example offers are from 29 October 2026, in Mexican pesos.
The plan in seven steps
- Choose the gift and find out what you need to know about the recipient: whether they use an iPhone or an Android, which carrier they have and whether the SIM is physical or eSIM.
- Buy with room to spare. An exchange can take time, so do not leave the purchase for the last week.
- Before you pay, ask in writing for the condition, the warranty, the company name, the battery, the IMEI and the return policy.
- When it arrives, do the full check in the first few days, not on the night of the 24th.
- If something fails, use the return window or the warranty straight away.
- Remove your accounts and reset the device.
- Keep the box, the accessories and the invoice, and wrap it.
When to buy and when your deadlines start
On a purchase online or by phone, article 56 of the law says the contract "is perfected five business days after delivery of the good or the signing of the contract, whichever happens last", and that during that window you can revoke without liability. The provider must refund the price you paid, and the cost of return shipping can be charged to the buyer. On a purchase over the counter that right does not apply and it depends on the shop's policy. If the listing says "Solo entrega en sucursal" [pickup at a branch only], ask the shop whether it counts as a distance purchase or an over-the-counter one.
Those five days create a practical problem for gifts. If you buy early and keep the package sealed until Christmas, the window has already closed by the time anyone tests it for the first time, and what is left is the shop's warranty and, if you bought on a platform, whatever protection it offers. Our conservative count treats the delivery day as the first and counts Monday to Friday only. The shop or PROFECO may count differently, so ask how the shop counts and get it in writing.
- If it is delivered to you on Monday 7 December, the window closes on Friday 11.
- If it is delivered on Friday 18 December, the window closes on Thursday 24.
- If it is delivered on Wednesday 23 December, you have that day and the 24th to test it, and there is almost no room for an exchange before Friday 25.
So test the device as soon as it arrives, while the window is still open.
The warranty also runs from delivery
Article 77 says "the warranty may not be less than ninety days counted from delivery of the good". A device delivered to you on 10 December has a minimum warranty until 10 March 2027, and if it is unwrapped on 25 December, 15 of those days are already gone. Our rights guide says no shop or platform can offer less than 90 days, whatever its page says, and that Mercado Libre requires its refurbished sellers to give 90 days or more.
What each shop writes in its listing varies a lot. These are five of the ten shop offers for the same 128 GB iPhone 15 on 29 October 2026, ordered by price and in each shop's own words. "Sin dato" means no data.
| Shop | Price | Condition according to the shop | Warranty according to the shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reuse | $7,099 | sin dato | "13 meses" [13 months] |
| Mercado Libre | $7,749 | "Excelente (Reacondicionado)" [Excellent (Refurbished)] | "Garantía mínima de 90 días del vendedor (reacondicionados)" [minimum 90-day seller warranty, refurbished] |
| Tienda Dondé | $7,776 | "Seminuevo" [pre-owned] | "Garantía de 5 días" [5-day warranty] |
| Doto | $8,749 | "Reacondicionado" [refurbished] | "6 meses" [6 months] |
| Liverpool | $9,499 | sin dato | "12 meses (texto del vendedor en la ficha)" [12 months (seller's text on the product sheet)] |
A 5-day warranty does not fit the 90-day minimum that our rights guide cites, so ask the shop in writing how many days it really honours before you pay. Another case is Spinmobile, which writes "Todos los equipos garantizados 90 días contados a partir de tu fecha de facturación" [all devices guaranteed 90 days counted from your invoice date], when the law counts from delivery. On the 256 GB Galaxy S24 FE, the CeX offer, with "24 meses de garantía CeX" [24-month CeX warranty], cost $428 more than the Tienda Dondé one with "Garantía de 5 días".
What to ask for in writing before you pay
Ask in the chat or by email, and keep the answer.
- That the device is sold as used or refurbished, and the grade with the shop's definition.
- How long the warranty lasts, from which date it runs and what it covers.
- The company name and address of whoever answers.
- The battery health percentage.
- The IMEI and the model number of the device they will send you.
- The return policy and who pays return shipping.
- What the box contains, including the cable, the charger and, on a Galaxy tablet with a pen, whether the S Pen is included.
- Whether the shop will handle a claim from the person who receives the gift, and not only from the buyer. This is a question for the shop, because our guides do not cover it.
Ask for the invoice too. Keep it with the written warranty somewhere you will find it in January, and not inside the gift.
What to check, by gift
- Phone. The first-hour list is in what to check when it arrives. It covers the IMEI, account lock, battery, screen, cameras, charging, sound and SIM. The IMEI is checked with this guide, and phones from another region or with a mandatory eSIM are in US, Chinese or European iPhone.
- Tablet. What to check on a refurbished iPad explains Activation Lock, company supervision, the iPadOS version and which Apple Pencil fits each generation.
- Console. What to check when buying a refurbished game console covers bans, the previous owner's accounts and region.
- Watch and earbuds. The guides to the Apple Watch and to wireless earbuds explain Activation Lock and resetting.
- Laptop. How to buy a refurbished laptop and, for a Mac, what to check on a MacBook or Mac.
How to get a device ready after you tested it
To test a phone you have to use it with your SIM, your fingerprint or your face, and sometimes your account. Before wrapping it, all of that has to go, and that cleanup doubles as a test.
iPhone and iPad. Do the first-hour list first. Then, according to Apple, go to Settings, tap your name and choose Sign Out. With iOS 26 or later, Apple asks you to choose between erasing the device or signing out without erasing. Then go to General, Transfer or Reset, and tap Erase All Content and Settings. Apple says erasing turns off Find My and Activation Lock, and that if the device uses an eSIM you should choose the option to erase the device and the eSIM profile. When the device turns on again, it must not ask for anyone else's Apple ID or password. If it does, according to our arrival guide the device is still tied to another account and only that person can release it, so claim it from the shop. Do this test while the window is still open.
Android. Google says that to turn off device protection you remove your Google Account from the device, and that to factory reset a protected device you need the screen lock or the account password. Remove your account, factory reset and confirm that at startup no screen asks for someone else's Google account. The menu route changes by brand.
Console. Test with your own account the day it arrives, as the console guide says. Before wrapping it, on a PS5 deactivate it under "Uso compartido de consola y juego offline" [Console Sharing and Offline Play], and on a Switch restore or initialise it to unlink the accounts, according to that guide. Deactivating a PS5 does not delete data, so also remove your user and your data from the console's settings. Test every stick and trigger on the controllers too.
Afterwards. Put the device back in its box with the cable and accessories. Do not connect it to your account again. The recipient sets it up from scratch with their own account, and they should know it has been tested and reset, and which shop sold it.
If it fails after Christmas
You have three windows, according to the arrival guide: the shop's warranty, the five business days of article 56 if they are still open, and the platform's protection, such as Compra Protegida on Mercado Libre. If the device does not match what was advertised, or was repaired within the warranty and still does not work, article 92 lets you choose between a replacement and your money back. Gather the invoice, the photos of the package, the written warranty and screenshots of the listing, and write to the shop first. Go to PROFECO only when the shop and the platform have already said no. The full route, with the Buró Comercial and the two conciliation channels, is in your rights when buying a refurbished phone.
What to give
If you have not chosen yet, see which phone to give, which tablet to give and tech gifts by person.
Sources
- Deadlines, warranty and claims: your rights when buying a refurbished phone and what to check when it arrives, which cite articles 39, 56, 77, 92 and 92 TER of the Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor.
- PROFECO, compra en línea sin problemas
- PROFECO, Buró Comercial
- Apple, what to do before you sell, give away or trade in your iPhone or iPad
- Google, help prevent others from using your device without permission
- Example offers, conditions and warranties: read by Reacondi on 29 October 2026.
The prices in the text are those of 29 October 2026 and change daily. Prices are rounded to the peso. The deadlines in the examples are our own count and not a rule of the law. We did not test the devices.