Can we just agree on what NOS means please!

I have lots of old parts lying around that I purchased new and never got around to using for one reason or another. If I choose to sell any of it, It's not "Stock" to me when I'm just a bloke with a bicycle addiction having a clear out. It's secondhand shiny clutter that I'm happy to part with which often ends up being resold as "NOS" after the buyer has had their mitts all over it, sometimes even fitted and ridden.
 
Seems the practical implication of the term is getting lost in the semantics/pedantics? There’s also often a gulf between the theory and practice -
I’ve collected loads of NOS bits over the years, some of which is quite badly scuffed or ‘shop soiled’ (grrr!). I’ve also a bunch of parts removed from brand new bikes. Many of these are pristine and in better shape than the NOS stuff.

As I can’t always remember the provenance of each part I’ll describe them all as ‘unused’…

I bloody hate shop-soiled, storage-marked NOS bits, and it seems ridiculous to have a ‘superior’ designation of NOS purely on the technicality

There was a similar debate to this a while ago. A few people assumed and expected NOS is the same as "factory fresh condition". If that's what people assume no wonder people find it lucrative to add NOS willy nilly. Noted too that some people expect NOS only applies to retail boxed products rather than loose bulk parts for assembly or spare part supply.

A good point was made about what essentially today we call a Stock Keeping Unit. Strictly, a NOS wheel would have an SKU corresponding to a wheel, not several SKUs corresponding to the BoM.
 
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