Currys trials sales of refurbished technology on its website

Currys will also offer a 12-month technical guarantee, to cover any potential product faults

The retailer first started selling pre-owned mobiles, laptops and Chromebooks on its website in November 2022. Demand for second-hand items saw 80% of the product lines sell out within the first week.

In response, Currys is extending its trial of refurbished and repaired technology on its website. While some items were previously only available via the ‘Currys Clearance’ eBay store, customers can now purchase second-hand products directly via Currys, with a range of specialised payment options available.

Customers were previously only able to buy second-hand teach graded as being in “excellent condition”. However, a range of items in ‘very good’ and ‘fair’ conditions are available at lower price points. Currys will also offer a 12-month technical guarantee, to cover any potential product faults.

The refurbished products are checked, restored and repackaged by Currys at Europe’s largest tech repair centre in Newark. Currys processed 600,000 individual tech items in the last twelve months, a proportion of which are then made available for resale.

Commenting on the initiative, Currys’ head of development for the circular economy Mandeep Gobindpuri 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’ parent brand Dixons Carphone had previously pledged to make all of its own-label products reusable or recyclable by 2023. The company will work with select suppliers to develop alternatives to packaging without plastics or expanded polystyrene (EPS).

In 2021, Dixons Carphone launched an in-store takeback scheme for EPS. The scheme was based on a successful trial at 14 stores over a six-week period that summer. Dixons Carphone has also created and published its Product Packaging Guidance to share best practice with the wider industry. The guide outlines preferred materials for use for both retailers and other suppliers.

The retailer has made an overarching commitment to become a net-zero business by 2040, as part of the British Retail Consortium’s Climate Action Roadmap. More than 60 big-name brands are supporting the collective transition to net-zero ahead of the UK Government’s national deadline in total.