If you want to find out about the vacuum from the seller on ebay send an email requesting the serial number from the product that you might win. He is gonna love your inquiry but you need to know before you bid. Call the manufacturer with the info they will tell you exactly when the item was made and the status (preowned, refurbished, etc.) Don't forget to ask about the warranty. Kohls department store has a website. If you register to receive sale notices you will autoatically get a 10% discount. If you get a kohls charge card you get a higher discount. Many times they offer free shipping over 75 dollars and sometimes you can buy any 1 item for 99 cents shipping. There vacuum prices are good. I bought a eureka and it is still working well. refurbished items come with a warranty.

Dysons are great! I still get excited everytime I use mine LOL. I've had several refurbished products and never had a problem. Something went wrong with the initial manufacturing and someone else had the displeasure of discovering that. Your unit will have been fixed and tested, as you said, unlike most of the other ones that got shipped out.

I've purchased several different things from Woot, but they've all been new. If you read the full description of the items offered, if there is a warranty it will always be stated as to the duration, and who provides the warranty. For example, today's Woot is a (new) Kodak EasyShare 5100 All in One Printer, Scanner and Copier (for $49.99 -- but it's already sold out). In the Product Info section it shows "Warranty: One Year Kodak" -- so there is a one-year warranty and any claims/service, etc., through the warranty would be made with Kodak, not Woot.

I just bought one from Costco for my wife for Xmas. It is the Professional 550 model with 575 Watts. $50 off from Costco, $30 off from Manufacturers rebate, so final price is $250 plus tax. Plus if anything happens to it can take it right back no questions asked. I bought it before looking at reviews because I always thought the KA mixers were supposed to be good so didn't really think otherwise. The reviews I have seen are "mixed" at best, about 50% love it, about 50% hate it. Seems as though the quality has dropped considerably over the years and might be better off trying to find an old one that is 30-40+ years old that some fool is selling for cheap, probably last longer than a new one.