A piece is new if it comes from either the Factory or a retailer; anywhere else is technically the secondary market. The Factory is willing to sell time-limited pieces for a while, but then they may turn the rest of their inventory over to a retailer like FairyTales.
Personally, if I cannot distinguish a piece as being not new, it's new to me, and that's good enough.
I might add that some collectors are so picky about their pieces that if I ever have a chance to buy from one of them, the piece will probably be BETTER than new!