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.

Wow, thank you for sharing. I have never heard of this company but will certainly look them up! The need for refurbished tech products is more critical than ever as so many of us have moved to the virtual space to conduct our daily lives across all sectors. Several schools were caught completely off guard when it suddenly became necessary to switch to distance learning. While most students at this point have access to devices, that doesn’t solve the upkeep and the number of loaners required to keep a device in a student”s hands at all time.
On a more personal note, I am not sure which comes first in these cases the chicken or the egg. At times I have been forced to get a new device just to be able to keep up with the latest version of apps and the ability to download them. Other times, I am just as guilty as the big tech companies, especially around Christmas time with the purchasing of new devices every year. A huge chunk of their marketing will have to include situation awareness similar to the eliminating plastic straws movement. This has sparked my interest to research the tech device refurb companies out there more.

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.