Thrifty Gen Zers love used smartphones: ‘Software innovations aren’t doing a lot for me’

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Gen Zers are taking their thrifting obsession to the next level, this time with their smartphones.

The tech-savvy generation isn’t opting for brand-new iPhones — instead, they are settling for mint-condition refurbished ones for a fraction of the original sale price.

“With incremental improvements between new smartphone versions, a growing share of consumers feel that refurbished options are better,” Glen Cardoza, a senior research analyst at Counterpoint, told Business Insider.

“They don’t mind using a cheaper refurbished model that has most of the recent features.”

Anmol Aroz, 23, purchased an iPhone 13 Pro model secondhand just two years ago and told Insider that he saved $650. The IT sales worker, based in England, said he isn’t impressed by the latest and greatest features on new smartphone models, like integrating AI, and lamented the value loss of personal devices.

“The second you touch the wrapper, it’s £200 [$259.96] down the drain,” he said. “I’m pretty much set on sticking to the refurbished route.”

For Amy Maty Conrad, 34, the cutting-edge features just aren’t appealing.

The Washington, DC, resident said she and her husband purchased refurbished smartphones, with her on her second device, a Samsung Galaxy S21.

“I mostly use my phone for calls, email, work, and a camera,” the avid secondhand shopper told Insider. “A lot of the other software innovations aren’t doing a lot for me.”

Sales of the new iPhone 16 disappointed after its launch last month despite the cutting-edge capabilities, according to CNN. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told Insider that pre-sales of the next-gen iPhone slumped an estimated 13% compared to the first weekend of sales for the iPhone 15.

The refurbished phone market, however, has grown, Insider reported.

From 2021 to 2022, it increased 5%, according to Counterpoint Research data, and Apple comprised half of the resale market. Zion Market Research, per Insider, projects that the market for secondhand smartphones could soar 13% per year through 2032.

Thibaud Hug de Larauze, the CEO of the secondhand technology company Back Market, told Insider that within the next decade, he expects a majority of adults to be purchasing refurbished models and repairing the devices they already own instead of buying new.

“People start to actually realize there is not that much innovation in the next product,” he said, likening it to the market of used cars.

Back Market recently announced that it will turn a profit for the first time in 2024, with a customer base of 15 million, many of whom are repeat customers, per Insider, and while the company advertises all kinds of refurbished devices, phones are a bulk of the sales.

Hug de Larauze told Insider that customers care more about the bottom line than the model of smartphone.

Back Market previously ran a promotion offering customers a blind box experience with a new phone, where they could purchase a secondhand iPhone or Android without seeing the model for just $249.

The devices sold out in two hours.

Hug de Larauze questioned the so-called innovations hawked by tech companies, such as AI integration, that drive up the sticker price.

“What does it do?” he questioned. “What does it change in your life?”