Stu:
Here are some examples:
1. Units used as demos at shows such as CEDIA or CES are often sold as B-stock. For instance, every year right after CES there are tons of B-stock items that become available.
2. Units with blemishes (sometimes just scratches) due to mishandling during the manufacturing process or during shipping and sent back to the manufacturer.
3. Units that were D.O.A., often due to shipping damage. Sent back to the manufacturer. They repair them and sell them as B stock. Or units that were taken back by the manufacturer because they didn't work right in one way or another. The manufacturer fixes them and resells them as B-stock.
There is always a risk that some items under category 3 may have some type of endemic problem (it's a lemon) that the manufacturer fixed (or thinks they fixed) that will crop up again. Otherwise, B-stock items often represent a darn good deal, ESPECIALLY when it's because of "blemishes" or "demo". However, the truth of the matter is that dealers rarely knows that "this unit was B-stock because of blemishes and this unit was B-stock because of repairs". The manufacturer is under no obligation to say.