faster than our general waste output, with around 88 per cent of televisions and computers ending up in landfill. Some retailers, such as Officeworks and Woolworths, have created dedicated ‘e-waste drop off points’, but many customers are taking matters into their own hands – and are looking for refurbished tech where they can find it.  Customer redirects toward refurbished goods According to data from Similarweb, traffic to consumer electronics websites fell during Q4 for FY23, with customers increasingly shunning the segment across both Black Friday (16.3 per cent down year-on-year) and Boxing Day (2.3 per cent down year-on-year).  Meanwhile, traffic to sites specialising in refurbished electronics rose. For instance, Singaporean-based tech company Reebelo saw traffic jump 129 per cent year-on-year.  “Declining traffic to consumer electronics and home appliances is another example of Australians being more judicious with their purchasing decisions,” Simlarweb’s head of account management ANZ Holly Joshi said. “The rise in traffic to marketplaces offering refurbished electronics points to a shift in consumer behaviour, with Australians seeking to save money wherever they can.” And the industry has noticed – several large electronics retailers have verticals within their businesses dedicated solely to refurbishing, repairing, and reselling returned products. Amazon, for example, launched its Renewed range in Australia in 2019, which features ‘like new’ products such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets and other electronics. In the UK, electronic retailer Currys is trialling the sale of refurbished electronics on its website, with the brand  selling all refurbished goods with a 12-month technical guarantee. Previously, Curry’s only sold second-hand products through its Currys’ Clearance eBay store, but due to growing demand, it has brought the offer inhouse.  “As much as we all love brand-new tech, we need to address [the challenge of e-waste],” Currys’ head of development for circular economy Mandeep Gobindpuri said.  “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.” Likewise, online retailer Kogan has long sold refurbished units of phones, laptops, and associated products, and electronics business Mwave also sells repaired and refurbished parts, as well as ‘open box’ deals. Repair, reuse, resell In Mwave’s case, reselling refurbished parts isn’t just a matter of cutting down on e-waste – it also makes sense from a business perspective. Mwave’s CEO Patrick Rechsteiner told Inside Retail that the business’ after-sale warranty is a huge part of its customer proposition, and segues into new opportunities for resale.  “If you send clothing or footwear back, it’s usually received in their warehouse. The retailers put it back into stock or get rid of the [items] that are ruined, and they write it off,” Rechsteiner said. “In our world, because a lot of the stuff is so expensive and a lot of it can actually be fixed, we have an entire after-sales warranty division in our customer service department that is purely about servicing computers, fixing them, validating the problems and then dealing with them.” According to Rechsteiner, the business will quite often lodge warranty claims for parts and will receive a whole new item to return to the customer. This creates an opportunity to fix the ‘faulty’ part, and resell it. Mwave doesn’t yet have a dedicated ‘refurbished’ department, but this is something Rechsteiner is toying with moving forward in a smaller, leaner scale. “From our perspective it’d just be a huge waste for these products to end up in landfill, and also from a business perspective, to not maximise everything we can,” Rechsteiner said.