Black Friday or Cyber Monday weekend is the UK’s favorite time to buy refurbished devices, according The Big Phone Store’s Managing Director, Steven Athwal, managing director of refurbushed phone retailer The Big Phone Store.
The Big Phone Store, the trading ame for Euro Communications Distribution extracted data sourced from Google Trends. To find this data, a list of 100 terms related to refurbished phones was tested using Google Search Trends and illustrates that search interest for refurbished iPhones almost doubles compared to the yearly average during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.
There are a number of factors at play. The most obvious one is cost which makes them particularly appealing to people looking for a good deal on Cyber Monday.
Another factor is model release dates. Apple and Google release their latest phones in the months leading up to Black Friday each year. By the time the sales are in full swing, people have had a few months to contemplate their options. For many who are unsure about whether to upgrade to the latest model or not, these sales will be a deciding factor. It also gives the refurbished market a chance to catch up. After all, nobody expects to be able to buy a refurbished iPhone 15 in the weeks of its initial release.
There’s another reason refurbished iPhones might be popular over the Black Friday weekend. “Green Friday” is an eco-conscious alternative aimed at helping consumers choose sustainable products. In recent years, some major brands have launched Green Friday sales.
This yearly spike in interest in refurbished phones is part of a broader national trend
Refurbished devices are uniquely well-suited to the idea of a Green Friday sale. Consumers are used to paying a ‘green premium’ for eco-friendly products, which doesn’t allgn well with trying to find a great Black Friday deal. Refurbished phones, on the other hand, are already discounted products, and what’s more, they carry almost no carbon footprint when compared to brand new phones.”
This yearly spike in interest in refurbished phones is part of a broader national trend. In the UK, Google searches for ‘refurbished’ have grown steadily since 2008. This shift is particularly noteworthy considering that in the United States, interest in the same search term has declined over the past 15 years.Green Friday highlights both of the growing social issues that we think are also driving the growth in the refurbished phone market: the cost of living and the environment.
At the same time, consumers are getting used to the idea of refurbished devices. While only a few years ago, refurbished phones were typically regarded with suspicion, today nearly every mobile network carries its own line of pre-owned phones. Already, there are people for whom buying a refurbished phone feels just as normal as buying a pre-owned car.