Two big names in the electronics repair and refurbishment space are partnering up to influence consumer and manufacturer behavior and create a world where circularity is the default.
Back Market and iFixit announced April 16 that the partnership will integrate iFixit’s tutorials across Back Market, and the secondhand seller site will also offer iFixit’s repair toolkits for sale. Meanwhile, iFixit will add refurbished technology options and information from Back Market on all its channels.
Thibaud Hug de Larauze, CEO and co-founder of Back Market, said in an interview with E-Scrap News that the duo has “known each other as companies and also as CEOs for a while,” and the partnership is grounded in the simple fact that “we’re fighting for the same thing.”
“We want to extend the life of products,” he said. Separately, Back Market focused on the circular economy, while iFixit “has been building all the knowledge and all the network of people to enable people to fix their stuff,” Hug de Larauze said. “I think actually those two value propositions should live hand-in-hand.”
France-based Back Market started selling verified refurbished technology in 2014 and has sold 30 million refurbished devices across 17 countries. Hug de Larauze said customers have been asking for years about repair options, and the new partnership will finally give them that access to both parts and instructions.
“If they feel like it, then they should go for the repair,” he said, and if they don’t feel confident in doing it themselves, they can work with iFixit and Back Market to trade in the device and get a refurbished one.
“We give you the best offer with the Back Market partnership for it, and you can upgrade to a refurbished one,” Hug de Larauze said. “This is really the two ways of the partnerships that we’re building.”
In addition, Back Market and iFixit are starting a campaign that asks consumers to keep their phones for at least five years and asks manufacturers to extend their support of device software to 10 years.
Kyle Wiens, iFixit CEO, said in a press release that “we can’t keep throwing electronics away at the same rate.”
“iFixit’s been helping you fix your own devices for over 20 years, and today, we’re teaming up with Back Market to ask you to buy refurbished and fix your phone when it breaks,” he said. “We’re also calling on manufacturers to make software and security updates available for 10 years. Our mobile devices can and should last that long. Our shared future depends on it.”
Back Market is launching device diagnostics in its app, allowing consumers to run up to 45 different tests of the health of their device to make a more informed decision. Hug de Larauze said changing consumer behavior is no easy feat, especially when smartphone marketers are so good at “giving you the feeling every year that you are outdated already, that you need to upgrade to the next version.”
“But if you just take a minute and think about what’s new, right, what value is it bringing you?” he said. Many of the upgrades – a stronger camera, AI integration – may not actually provide that much overall benefit, he said, and that’s the message consumers need to hear.
Extending the time people keep phones to five years is “going to have a massive impact,” he said. “In many places you have to pay for doing the right thing,” he added, but in this case they’re asking people to save money.
Looking at OEMs, Hug de Larauze said the average operating system maintenance support sits at seven years, but Back Market and iFixit are pushing for 10 years.
“If you want people to hold on to devices for five years, then you really need manufacturers to keep moving on, up to 10 years” for support, he said.
Beyond an ask to manufacturers, Back Market is supporting right-to-repair laws across the U.S. by donating $100,000 to Repair.org for its policy advocacy work. Lauren Benton, Back Market general manager, has also been named to the Repair.org board.
Hug de Larauze noted that the European Union has a broad right-to-repair law coming into effect in June: “That’s a big change within Europe, and we’re pretty confident now with scale that we can achieve that in the US as well.”
He’d also like to see the U.S. telecommunications space opening up and moving away from phone plans that are pricey and include regular device upgrades.
“I think there is FTC regulation that should come at some point to enable people to break free out of their contract more easily if they want to switch, if they just want to pay for what they consume,” he said.
The big picture
When Back Market started in 2014, secondhand smartphone market penetration was about 5%, and now it sits as high as 35% in some markets, Hug de Larauze said, reflecting the decade of effort that companies like his put into showing consumers that secondhand devices are just as safe and effective as new ones.
“It’s much better, but still, 35% means 65% is still new,” he said. “So it’s progressing, but it’s not there.”
Hug de Larauze hopes to see a world where the electronics market is like that of cars, with the majority of people looking to secondhand before considering new.
“This should be the case for electronic products as well,” he said. “The normal thing should be like I need something, I check on pre-owned or refurbished.”
Looking further into the future, Hug de Larauze said he sees opportunity to expand past smartphones, tablets and laptops into other technology, making a system where all electronics are brought into the circular stream.
“It’s a lot about bringing convenience to the people,” he said. “You know, within a few clicks, OK, I can have that much money for this product, it can go circular again. I can fix my product like this, boom, easy. So I expect also a lot of repair networks to develop.”
A version of this story appeared in E-Scrap News on Apr. 17.
