Back Market's Exclusive Supply Partnerships

These partnerships matter because in refurbished electronics, the hardest thing to win is not demand, it is supply. Back Market already has scale on the demand side, with 15M consumers and an asset light marketplace of 2,700 vetted refurbishers, so deals with Sony and Visible help it pull higher quality devices closer to the original sale or upgrade moment, where the best inventory first appears.1 2 3 4

• Sony gives Back Market a cleaner source of devices. The company has been described as Sony’s exclusive trade in partner, which means Back Market can capture devices through Sony checkout and stores instead of competing later in the open secondary market, where supply is tighter and quality is less predictable.2 5
• Visible is less about refurbishing rights and more about making premium inventory easier to sell. Back Market and Visible bundle discounted wireless service with refurbished phones, which raises conversion on unlocked devices and helps Back Market monetize carrier distribution and revenue share, not just marketplace take rate.2 6 7 8
• This supply advantage is a real differentiator versus Swappie. Swappie buys and repairs iPhones itself and keeps the full resale price, but carries the operational burden of running refurbishment in house. Back Market instead uses partner inventory and takes commissions and fees, which scales better when phone replacement cycles lengthen.2 4

The next step is likely more OEM and carrier pipes into Back Market, especially in laptops, tablets, consoles, and other categories beyond phones. As refresh cycles stay long and used device supply stays constrained, the winning refurbished marketplace will be the one that controls the earliest, highest quality trade in flows before rivals ever see the inventory.2 3 4 5