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Just after the rising price of bills has been announced, another blow; Forbes speculates that tariffs might increase the cost of consoles too.
That might have got me down if I’d bought full-price electronics in the past nine years (I’ve wanted to gift my partner a PS5 for ages), but I haven’t, so it didn’t.
I have relied on second-hand sites like refurbished electronics company Back Market for ages now.
Not only are they cheaper, but they’re kinder to the planet; and Back Market, my favourite since about 2022, allows you to trade in your old tech for their verified refurbished tech too.
I have previously traded in an unwanted old phone to help me cover the (already discounted) cost of a laptop, for instance.
And while I didn’t do that for the PS5, I was still paying significantly less than full price – like, almost £112 less than full price.
Despite that significant discount, the product’s running as good as new on our also-Back Market-sourced TV.
After all, the company has rigorous rules for their Verified Refurbished products. In the case of gaming consoles, that means they’re given a full reset and data scrub, checked to make sure they’re not stolen or locked, and tested by industry pros.
So it’s no wonder my partner (who’s a sterner judge than me on this front) wouldn’t have known the console was second-hand unless I’d told him; and if he had noticed something off, he’d have been covered by the company’s Verified Refurbished one-year warranty and free 30-day returns policy.
That’s only one impressive tech deal, though. I’ve bought phones, the aforementioned laptop, my smartwatch, and even a hot air styler and coffee machine from the site before; discounts can run as high as 50% compared to new.
I like the fact that I can choose the condition my tech’s in (I wanted an “excellent” laptop, but was more than happy with a “good” smartwatch, for which I don’t have many demands).
As someone who’s been all over refurbished tech pretty much as soon as I started buying my own electronics, though, the thing that keeps bringing me back to Back Market is the quality. I simply haven’t found anywhere else whose refurbished products are as reliably good.
So, whether you’re after beauty or gaming tech or just fancy an upgraded phone, I reckon you can’t save much more for a professionally refurbished deal.
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