Ever notice how many refurbished Nikon's you see listed?
Do you actually know why or just prefer to take a shot at Nikon?
Nikon has a strict policy regarding returns. You can go to your local retail store, buy one, get to the door and decide you really shouldn't have spent that $$. So you walk back to customer service and return it. The scope has never been opened or out of the box, but per policy, it has to go back to Nikon. They do not allow returned/exchanged goods to be resold by stores. So it goes back.
Then, they give it a thorough diagnostics check, re-box it and then sell it as a refurb, even though -- technically -- it is brand new.
As an aside, some stores have things like a 30-day no-questions-asked return policy. Cheapskates -- some whom have bragged about it on the web -- buy a scope at the beginning of deer season, get their deer, return them and then get their money back. Hence, you get refurbs with handling and occasionally ring marks.
