61% of Britons say thay would be willing to buy refurbished devices, though they’d prefer a brand new one
61% of Britons would be willing to buy a refurbished device.
younger Britons are a little more open to such tech, with 69% of 18-24 year olds willing to buy a refurbished device, compared to 56% of over 65s.
If they had the option, Britons would still prefer a brand new device over a refurbished one by 61% to 22%.
Most Britons would prefer to wait four years or longer between replacing their mobile phones.
Last week, millions of British shoppers snagged Black Friday deals, with offers on the latest gadgets likely to have been in some of the highest demand. But in recent years, refurbished technology has become a more attractive option, with previously owned devices that have been professionally cleaned, repaired and returned to full working order being a greener and often cheaper option for consumers. But how open are Britons to it?
Six in ten Britons (61%) say they would be at least fairly willing to buy a refurbished device, such as a mobile phone, including 22% who say they would be very willing to buy such a device. This does, though, leave a third of the public (34%) who say they are not very or not at all willing to entertain such a purchase.
Younger Britons are a little more likely to say they’re open to buying refurbished tech, with 69% of 18-24 year olds and 63% of 25-49 year olds saying they would be willing to do so, compared to 56-57% of those in over 50 age groups.
There’s also a particular appeal to the most environmentally conscious, with 37% of Green voters saying they would be very willing to buy a piece of refurbished tech, compared to 30% of Lib Dems, 23% of Labour voters, and 18% of either Conservative or Reform UK voters.
Nonetheless, despite a fairly large potential market, Britons are nearly three times as likely to say they would rather buy a brand new device (61%) than a refurbished one (22%), when the time comes to replace their mobile phone.
Despite the variation between voters in terms of their openness towards the idea of refurbished tech, the proportions of Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters who say they’d
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