Refurbished Xbox Series X or Series S: is it worth it in the UK?

A refurbished Xbox can save you £100 or more, or nothing at all, depending on the console and who sells it. We read Microsoft's own refurbished store and every refurbished seller we compare on 21/10/2026, and set each console against the cheapest new one that day.

Is a refurbished Xbox worth it?

For the Series S, yes, if Microsoft has one in stock: its refurbished Series S 1TB was £99.01 under new on 21/10/2026. For the Series X, the saving was smaller: £70.

Read on each seller's own pages on 21/10/2026, in stock. Refurbished: an eBay business seller with a year's guarantee for the Series S 512GB, Amazon Renewed for the Series X, Microsoft Certified Refurbished for the Series S 1TB. New: Currys, the cheapest shop that day (Amazon matched it on the Series S 1TB). Back Market and musicMagpie read through a page reader, as both showed us a security check. On 22/10/2026 Amazon Renewed's £599, Back Market's £601 and Currys's £669 for the Series X read the same, and a £530 eBay console sold without its controller and leads was taken out of the comparison.

New Xboxes on eBay can cost less still: a new Series X from a private seller was £521.80 plus £11.76 postage on 21/10/2026, with no returns, less than the cheapest refurbished one. What each Xbox costs new is in Xbox prices in the UK.

Refurbished Series X or Series S?

By the saving, the Series S. On 21/10/2026 a refurbished Series S saved £99.01 (1TB, from Microsoft) or £129.05 (512GB, on eBay), and both came with a controller. A refurbished Series X saved £70.

The consoles are not the same, though. The Series X has a disc drive and more power for 4K; the Series S is digital only and aimed at 1080p and 1440p screens. If you buy games on disc, only the Series X will play them: do you need the disc drive? Choose the console first, then see whether refurbished saves enough on it.

Where is a refurbished Xbox cheapest?

On 21/10/2026, shop by shop:

• Microsoft. Certified Refurbished Series S 1TB £419.99 and Series S 512GB £349.99, both in stock; its Series X (£549.99) and Series X Digital Edition (£499.99) were out of stock. Microsoft says each one is repaired with genuine Microsoft parts, packed with all standard accessories and given its standard 12-month warranty.
• eBay. Its refurbished Series X listings on 21/10/2026 were sold as console only, without the controller and leads, so since 22/10/2026 we no longer count them as the Series X. The Series S 512GB from £299.95 (Good, with a controller and a year's guarantee). No refurbished Series S 1TB was in stock from a UK seller.
• Amazon Renewed. The Series X at £599, from a marketplace seller.
• Back Market. The Series X at £601 (Fair), £651 (Good) and £711 (Excellent); the Series S 1TB at £523 (Good), more than new at Currys. All with a 12-month seller warranty and free 30-day returns, plus a Quality Assurance Fee at checkout from 49p.
• musicMagpie. Both consoles out of stock on its own site, each listed with a free 12-month warranty and a 14-day money back guarantee.

The boxes show our latest check of each seller, so they can differ from the list above. On 21/10/2026 the Series S 1TB box's refurbished eBay console at £381.91 had sold out, and its Amazon "refurbished" row was a new console bundled with a game code. The Series X box showed Amazon Renewed at £559.99 against £599 on its page.

What do the grades mean on a console?

On a console the grade describes the shell: scuffs, scratches and marks on the case. It does not tell you whether a controller is in the box, how worn the controller's sticks are, or how much the disc drive on a Series X has been used. Back Market grades Fair, Good and Excellent on its Xbox pages, musicMagpie Good, Very Good and Pristine, and eBay sellers Good, Very Good and Excellent. A dearer grade does not always mean a better console: on 21/10/2026 Back Market's Series S 1TB in Good cost more than a new one.

What each grade means, on phones and consoles alike.

What should you check before buying?

1. The controller. Read the listing for it. The cheapest refurbished Series X on eBay on 21/10/2026 was "console only"; a new controller costs extra.
2. The model and the storage. The Series S comes with 512GB or 1TB, and the Series X with a drive or as the Digital Edition. Every in-stock refurbished Series S we found on eBay from a UK seller on 21/10/2026 was the 512GB.
3. The disc drive, on a Series X. Ask for a video of it reading a disc, or test one when it arrives.
4. The warranty. Microsoft gave 12 months on 21/10/2026, Back Market and musicMagpie 12 months, and the eBay sellers above a year by their listings. A private seller usually gives none.
5. The returns. Back Market gave 30 days free, musicMagpie 14 days, and eBay sellers set their own; read each listing's returns line. eBay's Money Back Guarantee, read on 21/10/2026, also covers you for 30 days from delivery if a console is faulty or not as described, though it "is not a product warranty".

What to do

1. Pick the console you need first: the Series X for discs and 4K, the Series S for the lowest price.
2. Check Microsoft's Certified Refurbished stock: on 21/10/2026 its Series S 1TB at £419.99 was the best refurbished buy we found.
3. For a Series X, compare like for like: a console-only refurbished one plus a controller can cost about as much as a new one.
4. Buy from a business with a 12-month warranty and at least 14 days' returns, and test the controller and the drive when it arrives.

Here is the cheapest price we have seen each day for the Series X, new and refurbished together:

Since we started tracking on 10/09/2026, the line has moved between £449.95 (20/09/2026 to 23/09/2026) and £567.69 (10/09/2026), always on a refurbished or marketplace console. The same check for a PlayStation is in is a refurbished PS5 worth it?