Currys says its boom time for refurbished tech

Currys has expanded its refurbished technology range as customers continue to snap it up.

The retailer launched a trial of second-hand items on its website in November to meet a growing demand for eco-friendly and cheaper products.

It already offers trade-in and recycling services at its 830 UK stores- including the branch Eastern Avenue Retail Park in Gloucester.

Now it leaning further into the secondhand tech sector after the trial saw a boom in sales. It said 80% of refurbished product lines sold out within the first week. Items up for grabs include pre-owned mobiles and Chromebooks with laptops in particular demand.

Until now, customers have only been able to buy second-hand tech graded as being in ‘excellent’ condition. This week it expanded the trail to include a range of items in ‘very good’ and ‘fair’ conditions available at even lower price-points.

All the products are individually checked over, restored if required and repackaged by Currys.

It guarantees that each refurbished item is sold with charging power outlets and leads and regardless of their condition, all items are sold with a 12-month technical guarantee.

Currys processed 600,000 individual tech items in the last twelve months at its Newark tech repair centre – which is the size of three football pitches.

Previously it sold secondhand items through its ‘Currys Clearance’ eBay store. The new website trial means buyers now have all the same payment options as when buying new items via currys.co.uk, including ‘buy now, pay later’ options.

Mandeep Gobindpuri, Currys head of development – circular economy, said: “In the UK we produce the second highest amount of e-waste per capita in the world. As much as we all love brand-new tech, we need to address this challenge.

“E-waste is a core reason why we are committed to our ‘Long Live Your Tech’ campaign, which helps customers make more informed environmental decisions when buying and disposing of technology.

“Buying refurbished saves customers money and saves good tech from landfill. This trial is a win for customers, and a win for the planet.”

Currys will collect old, redundant products when a new one is delivered or they can be dropped off in-store. In 2021/22 it collected 103,000 tonnes of e-waste from customers which was then recycled or reused. Punchline