Buy refurbished devices instead of brand-new
Graded, tested and warrantied second-hand electronics give you a near-new phone, laptop or tablet at a lower price — and dodge most of the carbon cost of building one from scratch.
New gadgets are sold on the promise of newness itself — the latest chip, a slightly better camera, a fresh box smell. But for most of us, last year’s phone or laptop does everything this year’s does, and the difference you’d actually notice day to day is close to nil. What you don’t see on the shop floor is the enormous upfront environmental cost of building any of them: the mines, the energy-hungry chip fabs, the global shipping. Buy that device second-hand, professionally restored, and almost all of that cost has already been paid — you’re simply extending its working life.
The refurbished market has grown up a lot. Platforms like Back Market and Refurbed grade devices, replace worn parts, wipe them clean and back them with a real warranty, so you’re not gambling on a stranger’s hand-me-down. You get something that looks and behaves like new, minus the premium and minus most of the footprint.
The honest caveat: “refurbished” isn’t a regulated word everywhere, so the source matters. A trusted refurbisher with a warranty and a return window is worth a few euros more than a vague marketplace listing. Check the battery condition, confirm the device isn’t network-locked or reported lost, and you’ll get years of service from something that would otherwise have gathered dust in someone’s drawer.
How to do it
- Decide what you actually need — last year's model is usually plenty, and the savings are biggest one or two generations back from the latest release.
- Buy from a proper refurbisher (Back Market, Refurbed, Rebuy, or the manufacturer's own 'certified refurbished' store) rather than an unknown marketplace seller, so the device is tested, cleaned and reset.
- Check the cosmetic grade: 'good', 'very good' and 'pristine' usually differ only in tiny scuffs you'll cover with a case — the cheaper grade often works just as well.
- Confirm there's a warranty (12 months or more) and a return window, and that the battery health or capacity is stated.
- On arrival, check it powers on, holds charge, and that the IMEI isn't blocked — then do a factory reset and set it up as your own.
Pro tips & pitfalls
- Pair a refurbished phone with a fresh battery or a battery-health guarantee — it's the one part that wears, and a strong battery is the difference between a bargain and a frustration.
- Avoid 'as-is' or 'for parts' listings unless you can fix it yourself. A few euros saved isn't worth a device that arrives faulty with no recourse.
What it's good for
Good for the planet
- Saves resources Reusing an existing device means no fresh mining of cobalt, lithium, tin and gold — the materials already pulled from the ground keep working.
- Cuts CO₂ Since most of a gadget's footprint is in the making, a refurbished phone can carry roughly 75–85% less embodied carbon than a new one.
- Cuts waste Every refurbished sale is a device kept in use and out of the e-waste pile a little longer.
Good for you
- Saves money Refurbished phones and laptops typically cost 20–50% less than new, often for a model that's barely a year old.
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