4 Reasons why it is always a good idea to buy used smartphones?
In 2021, 251 million phones were sold in the refurbished and used market, and this figure is expected to grow to 459 million phones by 2027. The used and refurbished phone market has grown significantly over the past years.
More people are moving towards the purchase of used or refurbished phones. The buying of used phones has numerous advantages. A crucial sector that has benefited from this is the carbon footprint left by device manufacturing companies.
Companies are producing fewer mobile phones because they acknowledge that not as many people are buying brand new phones. With more people recycling their phones rather than disposing of them when they upgrade, they also reduce their carbon footprint.
As a consumer, there are numerous reasons why it is always a good idea to buy a used smartphone. In this article, we highlight these reasons.
- Used Phones are Cheaper
Smartphones are continuously getting more expensive, especially with the recent chip shortage caused by the covid 19 pandemic. Flagship smartphones from leading companies such as Apple and Samsung cost more than $1000. These price points are too high, and in some countries, they cost as much as $1800 due to government taxes.
Buying used or refurbished devices gives people the chance to own expensive smartphones, at a fraction of the price. However, when purchasing a used or refurbished mobile, you should ensure you do not get a device with problems.
A trustworthy seller of used devices conducts multipoint inspections and background checks on all devices they sell to make sure that users do not encounter problems after purchasing. This also ensures that you do not buy a stolen phone or one that can compromise your experience with it In this regard, UpTrade is a good seller to consider.
- Environmental Protection
In 2019, the amount of e-waste contributed by smartphones was 10% of the global e-waste, which was roughly about 50 million tons. Such figures meant that everyone on the planet had to take action to ensure the survival of the planet. A report by the United Nations stated that the way to ensure the sustainability of the planet would be to avoid disposing of products by extending their period of use.
Buying a used phone is the best way to ensure that its lifespan is extended and that it is not prematurely disposed of. This means that buying a used phone not only saves your money but also contributes to the global green movement.
Buying used phones also reduces the number of harmful substances evicted from smartphones that are prematurely disposed of. Phone components such as lithium batteries require industry-grade disposal which is often not followed by people once they upgrade their phones.
By buying a used phone, you continue the usage of a phone’s battery until it fails. Buying used and refurbished phones offer numerous positive impacts on global planet preservation efforts.
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- Reduced Energy Consumption
Before the used and refurbished market picked up, phone manufacturing companies just aimed to push millions of phones into the market. This meant that a lot of energy, time, and labor went into manufacturing these new devices to sell. The mobile manufacturing process uses energy, thereby, the energy consumption of these companies was high.
With more people turning to buy used phones, companies have dialed down the number of phones they produce. The reduction in the number of phones manufactured has decreased the energy consumption of the manufacturing companies. This reduction has also reduced the overall volume of pollutants and toxic fumes released during the manufacturing processes.
An impact of the reduction of the number of phones manufactured is the reduced use of already limited resources. Resources such as lithium, cobalt, gold, tellurium, tungsten, etc., are rare across the world, therefore, they should be used sparingly.
- A Better Option for Recycling
Conservation experts always push recycling as a good method for planet conversation. This is true to a good extent. For consumers who dispose of everything, adopting the recycling of products will greatly help to boost planet conservation efforts.
However, the process of recycling electronic devices is much more complicated than that of mere cans used for storage. In electronic devices, recycling entails reducing the items to various materials and then reusing the materials. This, therefore, means that the recycling process for electronic devices also consumes energy.
A better option for the recycling process for phones is the buying of used phones. Buying used phones breathe life into devices considered “dead”, that would have otherwise required energy for their recycling process.
With this in mind, it is evident that buying a used phone is better and more efficient than recycling smartphones.
Conclusion
When buying a used phone, you should be keen on checking the state of the device. Different sellers use different grading levels for their devices. The most common grading levels used by dealers are pristine, excellent, really good, good, and fair.
These grading levels describe the level of wear and tear on the used smartphone and their overall state in terms of visual appeal. Generally, items listed as pristine are in a condition that is similar to new. The visual appeal and perfection of the device reduce as you go lower to toward fair, which often shows wear and tear with deep scratches on the screen. However, the visual condition of the phone does not affect its functioning at all.
When working with a strict budget, most people compromise on the quality of the device by choosing devices rated good or fair. This allows you to buy smartphones that would have cost an arm and a leg at throw-away prices.
