While essentially you are right about buying a refurb
M3, there are a few exceptions which I think I laid out in an earlier
reply thread. I bought a refurbished
Mavic 2 Pro and even down to the packaging there was no indication that it wasn't brand spankin' new.
In my case the difference between a refurb
M3 and the Classic is $257 as I would not have to pay sales tax on the
M3C (via B&H Payboo card). That $257 can buy another battery, or can help finance the Care/Refresh with is considerably more expensive for the
M3, which really only gives you that 7x lens. If you think about the combined cost of acquiring and insuring that 7x alone it becomes considerable. If the 7x is important to someone, then yes, it is a relative no brainer. But in doing the calculations, for 2 year Care/Refresh of the
M3 over the
M3C you have to add an
additional $140 premium. Plus if there is an incident needing repair you pay another $30 one over the other. So again, in my case there is a $400 difference to get a refurb
M3 over the
M3C assuming that I never crash and just have the insurance. If you do get an unfortunate fly-away the
DIFFERENCE in replacement cost is $200 more for the
M3... just because it has that 7x lens mounted on it.
But OTOH, it is important to note that if someone doesn't have the punitive sales tax that we have here (10%-10.25%), or even 0% sales tax, it does bring the
M3 more into a somewhat more reasonable price diffence IF the 7x is important to someone. It would be good to be able to try a
M3 7x lens. I could well change my mind. But at this time I can't visualze the importance in my head for it. JMO