With the environmental cost of the tech industry getting higher every year, from over-mining the Earth’s non-renewable resources to the air, water, and soil pollution from the manufacturing process, tech users are becoming more eco-conscious. As a result, sustainability is the number one factor on the minds of more people when the time comes to change or upgrade their mobile phones.
The second-hand and refurbished market is rising as more people choose the less-guilty option when it comes to buying new smartphones or any other type of electronics. This mindset is now expanding to all avenues of buying tech, including gift-giving. While it’s easy to make the refurbished decision when you’re buying a device for yourself, it’s not quite settling to buy a refurbished smartphone for someone as a present; it does not look good and puts you at risk of looking cheap instead of eco-aware.
However, when you’re choosing refurbished for environmental and sustainability reasons, rather than saving money and being cheap, the decision is not only justified, but reasonable as well.
In this post, we’re giving you important rules to stay eco-friendly in your tech buying decision while keeping the social etiquette of gift-giving without having to give the eco-lecture to justify your choice.
Rule 1: Prioritize “Pristine” or “Like-New” Grade Electronics
When it comes to gifting, looks are ALL that matter. When you buy a refurbished mobile, you can usually find it in one of three conditions: excellent, also known as pristine, very good, or good. The naming may differ depending on what the seller chooses to name the conditions of their phones, but the principle is almost the same across the board.
These conditions vary in the wear signs showing on the phone, like scratches, dents, or cracks, in lower quality grades.
When you’re buying a refurbished mobile for your personal use, you can choose to buy any of the grades since you’re 100% aware of your needs, how well you can take care of the phone, and what you will and will not accept in the looks department. So, you can go for a grade B or “good condition” phone for yourself, where the cosmetic imperfections can be covered with a phone case, and you get to save more money on it.
When you’re giving the refurbished smartphone as a gift, however, it MUST look as good as new. This can easily be achieved with a pristine or like-new device. These devices usually have either a microscopic scratch that can’t be seen from a 30cm distance or none whatsoever. This condition is also reflected in the performance, speed, and battery health of the phone.
Rule 2: Master the “Unboxing” Experience
Unless you’ve been 100% off of social media over the past 10 years, you know the influence of an unboxing and how happy it makes people. For some people, they get more excited to unbox something than for the item inside the box itself.
With a refurbished smartphone, you can’t give the unboxing experience, as they don’t come in the manufacturer’s box.
Since the main idea behind refurbishing electronics is to avoid additional environmental costs, refurbishers usually package their phones in plain biodegradable boxes. The idea here is to have a refurbished device in a branded box with flashy colours and plastic in it, which defeats the purpose to a degree.
So, when gifting someone a refurbished device, a good rule is to package it in a gift box and maybe add a phone case and other essential accessories if the seller doesn’t already include them with the phone. You’re a gift-giver, not a delivery person, so don’t just give the phone in the box it was shipped in. This shows a lack of care and consideration.
With the proper wrapping and presentation, the recipient of your gift can have the best unboxing experience and enjoy your present even more.
Rule 3: Quality Over “Newness”
It’s no secret that you can get a refurbished flagship for the price of a brand new mid-range phone with lower specs. For example, you can get a refurbished iPhone 14 Pro for around the same price as a mid-range Samsung A series. Additionally, since your reasoning for gifting a refurbished device is environmental and not financial, you can even go for a more recent iPhone flagship with a little extra money. A tech-savvy gift recipient would be over the moon to receive a refurbished flagship rather than a brand-new midrange phone, as they can tell the true value and capabilities of each device.
Even with non-technically-inclined people, a flagship’s design speaks for itself and shows the device’s higher value, not to mention the obvious difference in camera quality and other apparent features that reviewers usually call “bells and whistles”. These features are specific to flagships to signal their higher value to users who don’t care to know about battery, chip performance, memory spaces, and other technical specifications.
So, as a principle, when you’re gifting refurbished tech, always go for the flagship to show value and consideration to the person you’re gifting it to.
Rule 4: Verify The Battery & Warranty For Peace of Mind
The biggest misconception about a pre-owned phone is that it’s a broken or worn-out phone. While most people do think about changing their phones when their old ones start to get older or slower, there is a significant segment of the tech market consumers who upgrade through trade-in programs every 1-2 years. This is not to say that you should get the phone second hand from a previous owner as this comes with its own set of risks. Rather, to explain how you can get a like-new phone with all its original parts perfectly functional, refurbished for a significantly lower price.
So, when you decide to gift a refurbished mobile, don’t gift a to-do list. The person receiving the gift shouldn’t worry about finding a battery replacement within a few weeks or start looking for a repair shop to fix “the gift”.
So, make sure to choose a refurbisher that guarantees at least 80% battery health and offers a decent warranty for a sufficient time. This way, you ensure the performance condition of the phone from the start and provide the repair or replacement backup through warranty if needed.
Rule 5: Lead With the “Why”
While environmental awareness is growing, it’s still more conventional for gifts to be in brand-new boxes with the brand’s boxes and plastic wraps. So, handing over the gift with no explanation might feel awkward.
This is why a refurbished gift needs to come with an explanation or narrative that shifts the perception of refurbished electronics. Unlike the eco-lecture we mentioned earlier in this article, we’re talking here about a sweet, short explanation of why you chose this route. You’re not explaining that the manufacturing of a new phone emits over 50kg of CO2, or talking about the heartbreaking conflict in Congo in a special and, presumable joyous occasion, you’re talking about the positives of giving electronics a new life, and the cool features and advantages of having a flagship instead of a mid-range phone, for example. Perhaps an eco-themed card with a message inside along the lines of “This gift is from me to you and Mother Earth” could be seen as funny and considerate.
At trusted UK refurbishers such as QwikFone you can find a wide collection of flagship refurbished phones at great prices with a 12-month warranty and an 85% battery health guarantee. This is a perfect place to buy your refurbished tech gifts, as all accessories are added automatically with each device, so you don’t have to buy them separately. You also get a 30-day return period with a refund guarantee. So, if the person wants to change the phone for another model, they can do that with no worry or fuss.
Conclusion
The main thing about gifts is to make the other person feel happy and appreciated. 90% of the effect of this feeling happens at the moment of opening a gift. A nicely wrapped, pristine flagship smartphone will guarantee that your present is valuable and appreciated, and your loved one is happy with it and feels valued by you.
A refurbished smartphone helps you achieve this at a lower environmental cost. So, start making your loved ones and the planet happier with refurbished tech!
