Claire Hennessey

Wow! This is an awesome company! I have long suspected that Apple was sabotaging my iPhone to work more poorly. In 2018, I had an iPhone 7 whose battery immediately started draining much quicker once the iPhone 8 was released. I remember having to charge my phone multiple times a day and dreaming of a new one – even though the phone I had was less than a year old. Back Market seems like the perfect way to alleviate these issues while also benefitting the environment. I’ve also never thought about where your phone goes when you trade it in. The amount of waste from millions of people are replacing their phones every single year must be tremendous. Maybe next time I think about upgrading I will shop refurbished first!

Claire, this is super! I have always been one that worries about the environment and always try to do my bit to help towards recycling and give to particular charities. I cant believe 151 million cellphones are thrown away each year in the US. I never know what to do with my old technology, and most of the time it just sits in a drawer that never gets opened. I don’t want to throw my iPhone into the trash just in case my information is still accessible in some way but perhaps thats just my anxiety.

I agree that companies, particularly Apple, create software for their products that is only supposed to work for certain amount of time before it fails and you are roped into buying the next best thing.

Back market sounds like a fabulous company to me who are trying to elevate waste and also provide used technology at affordable prices. I have no problem using second hand technology as long as it does its job. The laptop I’m currently typing on, is in fact second hand and has worked a dream now for 5 years, no problem.

I like how quirky and current the Back Market youtube commercial is and how it tells its story in a humorous way.

I think that this sort of company can definitely affect big brands like Apple, as they are able to refurbish products and sell them at great prices. This is ideal for parents who cant afford as much for their children but still want to treat them or for students like ourselves, who need technology to execute work and communicate.

Im on the lookout for an Apple Watch and may consider buying from here as I really don’t NEED the newest technology. Its not like the time will change for the series 6 versus the series 3 ha.

The amount of electronic waist you bring up is unbelievable. That much stuff going into land fills and NEVER going way is crazy. Even more so when you think of all the rare medals that now have to be dug up to make new phones, instead of doing like Back Market and reusing those resources. I think COVID will actually help Back Market, as supply chains start looking for ways to be less reliant on single overseas sources.

I also don’t think this is a new practice. I have not looked into it but I think auto-manufactures do the same thing. They knowingly build parts to fail early so you have to get them replaced or just trade up. We live in a consumable society. Companies have a large part of that, but it is also on the user. If they stop buying a product because it becomes waist after a year then the company will change its practices. People underestimate how much power they have over companies. If they truly wanted to make change they would say so with spending habits, not demands for change from the government or companies.

I remember back in 2017-2018 there were a lot of news articles about Apple replacing the battery for their iPhone 6 for free because of issues with the slow battery. This was around the time they were releasing their latest iPhone. I along with many people have suspected that Apple and honestly many other tech companies were intentionally building phones that would fail or have issues just as new ones were coming out, as a way to encourage people to buy the latest gadget, and the cycle continues. I have never really thought about the waste that happens when we upgrade and it’s definitely something to take into consideration. I know that Apple offers refurbished products as a way to cut down on environmental waste. They have also changed their packaging where they removed products like the charging brick, that was going to waste since most people have multiple as they trade in their phones. I do think that big tech companies have started to be active about the waste they produce but it’ll be interesting to see how far they go and what the interaction will be with refurbished tech companies.

I won’t lie, I definitely checked out their site for a dyson and some other electronics! Their prices are pretty competitive. However, I think what really stuck out to me was the e-waste. I remembered watching a 60 minutes documentary on e-waste and how all that electronic waste from the U.S is being dumped in small rural areas in China- Giuyu. Giuyu citizens were exposed to high levels of toxic metals resulting in long-term health conditions and destruction to their environment/food.

https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/index.html

All in all, I like the cause. I love second-hand products and cheaper prices. Hopefully their business model will help larger tech companies to adopt a more sustainable business model.

Claire! I am so glad you chose to post about this company, because I’ve seen ads everywhere in my neighborhood in Brooklyn and hadn’t fully cracked who they were until now! Thank you so much.

Here’s my opinion: I love ubiquity and democratization of goods and services, and this (to me at least) is another way to do that. If air, water, clothes, and food can be recycled/repurposed, why can’t tech? Does reused/recycled clothes pose a threat (or thread, hah) to the retail industry?

I think what it demands and ignites is more competition and fair pricing; tech used to be able to get away with premium prices because the markets weren’t saturated and consumers were not as exposed (and our homes/lives were not fully run by tech or digital).

Re the campaign/brand positioning: I love the name, tagline, and some of the ad copy. I think they may push the counter-culture thing too hard to the point it makes me a little skeptical and less trusting; I think they could tone it down and speak more to their how + why (where their products come from, how they clean them up, what their promise is to the consumer), and I’d probably be less hesitant to buy in… just a thought!

Again, thanks for sharing this!

Wow this hits home. I feel like every year these products prices are sky rocketing more and more. When I first started school back in 2013, I had bought the newest MacBook Pro. Fast forward 6 TOUGH years of art school and freelancing on it and it really started to struggle. Opening up a file took ages, let alone trying to design something. I took it in to Apple, hoping to get some trade-in value for a new MacBook Pro and the price was around $300…. definitely not what I had paid for it. What really stumped me was the price of a NEW MacBook Pro, a little less than $5,000 with all its bells and whistles. Not to get too much into the cost of everything but I feel like reading your post proves my point. One year has gone by since I purchased my new laptop and due to COVID, my company was looking into providing an even newer model for us designers so I thought, why not see how much mine is currently worth? Maybe I can get some money back on it! …. My 1 year old, $5,000 laptop is worth a whopping $1,300 to Apple right now. How does a 1 year old machine, used but truly not battered in ANY way, depreciate so quickly?

These companies are jacking prices up on their products, making it really hard to pay for something up front especially for young creatives. I’m excited to see a company like Back Market break into this market and be able to provide trustworthy, refurbished electronics, especially with how quickly this digital age is growing.

Fashionnova does wonder these days. Sears for sure failed because they were late in the game on their online catalog. Often, I go into department stores and see some cute items and then see the price overly high. When I shop, I’d like to get more than one thing. One store that does well to me is Primark. I feel like their the Ikea of clothes and keep trends affordable. When I go there, I love seeing their windbreakers for $15 that give me a 90’s vibe. Department stores center around too many things, and I think of them mainly for home goods and make-up counters. When you mention they carry clothes, I almost forget unless it’s a suit or business attire.

It has been amazing to see the slow decline of department stores. I remember when Lazarus went out of business, and now Sears has been following them. Companies like Zara and Forever 21 led the fast fashion industries for years, only to see themselves decline as well when competing against online only fast fashion companies. Zara decided to re-brand themselves as high-end fast fashion and Forever 21 recently declared bankruptcy.

While I do think companies like Fashionnova and Shein are starting to take over, I worry about the impact that they have on people and on the world. There was a fantastic episode produced by Hasan Minhaj on the Patriot Act on how these fast fashion companies are creating more waste then we have ever seen, while consuming enormous amounts of water. Maybe department stores weren’t cool or easy, but there has to be some middle ground between old technology and creating trash.

As a long time Facebook user, this is definitely tough to think about! I think personally that my issue with the way social media/tech companies are using our data is the lack of transparency. For years, these sites have been compiling this information and creating profiles about me to sell to advertisers without my explicit permission (besides what’s buried in the site’s terms and conditions). I don’t mind having tailored ads, but I think it would have been more ethical for these companies to tell us upfront what they’re doing with the data. Even now, is there anything stopping Facebook from selling my data to more harmful parties than advertisers? I also have concerns about the older generations/anyone not tech-savvy. I mentioned this in another comment, but my mom is always calling me confused about how Facebook seems to be tailoring the ads she gets based on what she’s just been talking about. I think it’s more predatory to take advantage of people like that who really don’t know what they’re signing up for.

Maybe we should be able to explicitly opt in or opt out to data collection. Would that be more ethical?

I agree in that I think it is essential that we question how our data is being used and if it is ethical or legal. I opened a Facebook account back in 2008 – that was my first experience with social media. It was only in the past few years that I really began to think about the implications of a business having access to our personal information, how it is being used and what this means for the future. Not to mention how these companies can influence our decisions, politics, what we read, what we share, etc. Nowadays I am more likely to reconsider before downloading a new social app. I’ve decided not to put TikTok on my phone, even though I am curious to see what all the hype is about. With that said, I may be naive, but I buy into the stance that Facebook is offering their services for a price. Although it seems free, nothing is free. We are paying with information about ourselves in order for Facebook to sell advertising, and we can keep using their service for free. I know that I have the ability to quit Facebook. To a great extent, our lives are being made easier through means of using our data for businesses to make decisions about consumer habits.

When the internet first came out, the average person never thought about a device that could collect information on them. That was something of SyFy, not the real world. As more of this data breach cases happen more and more people are realizing how important it is to protect their data. I think there is a shift about to occur in the market place where online security will out weight the current focus on speed and convenience. Also, the Government just announced that the big four companies have and do act in a monopolistic way, but have not announced any plans on how what they will actually do.

I fully believe that tracing apps will continue to being used. One area that comes to mind is law enforcement. In the future there could be an app that goes onto registered sex offenders phones that alert parents when there is one in the area. While these apps are good for public health and safety, this is a double edge sword.

How much freedom and control of their data are people willing to give out to companies. Data is the new raw material for the information revolution. Companies have a large market of legal data that they buy and sell.

Thank you for bringing up this important concept that I do not think a lot of people think about.