The refurbishment of smartphones is increasingly becoming big business – as this milestone for recommerce companies proves: By its own admission, Rebuy breaks the 200 million euro revenue threshold. The new annual sales record could be broken as early as mid-December 2022. The provider of used electronic products and media thus once again achieved double-digit revenue growth in the past fiscal year – despite the difficult macroeconomic environment.
While the majority of online retailers had to contend with declining sales in 2022, the recommerce provider can look back on the most successful year in its corporate history. The record sales are proof of the continuing demand trend for used electronic equipment and media such as books. Particularly in the grading and refurbishment of smartphones, rebuy manifests its status as a quality leader.
rebuy has the most modern grading site in Europe, where electronic devices such as smartphones are checked and categorized quickly and with high precision using robots and automated processes. Since all grading and refurbishment processes are carried out in-house, rebuy has control over all process steps to ensure both the quality and sustainability of the refurbishment. As a result, the Berlin-based company was able to recycle well over 200 tons of electronic resources last year alone, with over 430,000 electronic devices remaining in the cycle thanks to refurbishment.
Handy recycling is good for the climate
“To overcome the crises of our time, we need sustainable and feasible business models. Our growth figures prove that the circular economy is a functioning concept in terms of sustainability – low-threshold and resource-saving,” says Philipp Gattner, CEO of rebuy. The concept is as simple as it is understandable: what works for a long time doesn’t have to be bought new. What can be repaired does not have to be disposed of and manufactured anew in a raw material- and energy-intensive way. “Due to limited resources as well as changing consumer behavior in terms of sustainability, we have seen an increasing demand for remanufactured products for years, especially for electronic devices. The potential is huge, we want to continue to grow with the market and are preparing for further expansion,” said Gattner.
rebuy has been profitable since 2019 and now employs over 600 people at five locations, three of which are in Germany. The profitable growth is to be continued in 2023, among other things by expanding the various logistics locations.
