Category
Undercounter refrigeration is the cheapest thing in the kitchen to buy badly, because a failing compressor looks exactly like a working one.
A cabinet that pulls down to temperature in a cool warehouse can fail on a 32 °C service line. The things that decide whether it will are the compressor's duty history, the refrigerant charge and the gasket — and only one of those three can be photographed. Here is what to demand instead.
At a glance
| Typical new price | $2,400 – $4,200 new |
|---|---|
| Expected service life | 10 years, shorter on heavy-duty prep lines |
| Live on site | 1 unit |
| From | $1,690 |
| Grades listed | Grade A. Serviced, near-new. |
Roughly 8% of catalogue price a year, floored at 15%. Refrigeration holds value poorly after year seven because the compressor risk compounds.
What to check when buying used
Named for this category, with what you can actually see from a photograph, what you have to ask for instead, and what putting it right costs. Price the fault in before you bid, not after you have collected.
You cannot see it and you cannot hear it in a warehouse. Ask for the service history and the ambient the unit ran in. A cabinet that spent five years against a hot line is not the same asset as one that sat in a cellar.
Cost to put right$620 – $1,100 for a compressor swap — often more than the cabinet is worth
A leak check dated within the last eighteen months is the evidence. An oil stain around a joint or on the compressor deck is the visible symptom, so photograph the deck.
Cost to put right$180 leak test and regas · $700+ if the leak is in the evaporator
Photograph the gasket along its full closing edge. A gasket that has taken a set at the corners will not seal and will run the compressor continuously.
Cost to put right$70 – $130 per gasket
Photograph the condenser grille. Flour, grease and fluff in the fins is the single most common cause of a fridge that will not hold temperature, and it is often the whole fault.
Cost to put right$90 clean · free if you do it yourself
Check the shelf-pin mouldings and the corners at the base. A cracked liner lets water into the insulation and the cabinet never recovers.
Cost to put rightNot economically repairable
Read it off the nameplate. R290 hydrocarbon units — most modern EcoPro cabinets — must stay upright in transit and cannot be laid down.
Cost to put rightNo cost, but a laid-down R290 cabinet needs 24 hours standing before power-up
The condition report
The grade is A to D with a confidence percentage, built from eight photographs and the unit’s own service invoices. Nothing is powered on at any point. So on undercounter refrigeration the faults above that a camera cannot reach — compressor wear and duty cycle, refrigerant loss — are named in the gaps panel on every listing rather than left for you to find after collection.
Live now
Two-door undercounter from a refit, not a closure. Gasket replaced last year, condenser clean, R290 leak check passed.
$1,690No buyer commission
+$1,350Recovered
Related categories
A closure rarely produces one unit. These are the categories that most often appear on the same clearance.
Filter by grade, age, distance from your postcode and whether a service history is on file. Funds are held in escrow and released to the seller 48 hours after you have collected the unit and plugged it in.
