What is meant by the term "B stock"?

Would you like to know if you were purchasing a "B stock" unit? I think the answer to that question for most would be yes.
A lot of times "B stock" comes in a white box, instead of the usual brown cardboard.

Yes, I bought a Sony B-stock refurbished piece and it
broke RIGHT AFTER the warranty expired. I sent it back
to Tweeter, THEY sent it to Sony to fix, and
SONY LOST IT!! 4 MONTHS LATER, STILL NO PIECE!
WHAT DO I DO?

It took me about 2-3 months to get my Sony SCD-777ES SACD player refunded from Sony. You have two options with Sony, if the item is a current item, they will replace it with a new one free of charge, option 2 is if the item is no longer in production, they will give you the replacement value or better yet, ask for another model that is current and then sell it on Agon for more then the replacement value of the old unit. That is what I did anyway.

You have to keep on the Sony service center at least every week and ask what your options and how long it will take. Keep up the faith, Sony will do the right thing even if it takes some effort on your part.

Happy Listening.

I once remembered "B" stock = cosmetically blemished unit,and 'Refurbished' was a seperate designation for a factory repaired item with a reduced warranty. "B" stock could have reduced warranty as well. Now "B" stock can mean many things;refurb,blemished,returned rechecked functional item,or even a maker clearing excess inventory by classifying as "B".This method can keep maker from upsetting established dealers.It can also give a dealer good stock to sell at reduced pricing with less chance of lowering product lines value.If it really works I do not know.It can be a way around signed dealer/seller agreements.

Sid42 – I believe that if you are selling an item that was originally B-stock, the fact should be disclosed. I have an old HK cassette deck that I purchased as a B-stock item (some 18 years ago) and, like you, I could not find a mark on it. If I were to sell it today I would disclose the B-stock designation even though it would hardly matter at this point. I wouldn’t want to be accused of attempting any sort of deception.

I can imagine how I would feel if I arranged an A-gon purchase and then unexpectedly received an item with a “B stock” label on the original box – I would be a little irritated at the very least. Naturally, anyone advertising a used B-stock item will probably not get a blue-book price, but the unit didn’t start out at full retail anyway.

Just MHO.