German firm to promote extra refurbished home equipment – DW – 12/28/2025 | EUROtoday

Three years in the past, German high-end home home equipment maker Miele started promoting refurbished washing machines within the Netherlands alongside its common merchandise. This includes amassing Miele washing machines which were returned, together with these with scratches or simply repairable faults, fixing them up and reselling them on-line.

The German firm selected the Netherlands as a result of Miele merchandise have confirmed common within the nation and since customers there are comparatively open to refurbished merchandise. The agency hopes the challenge will attain new buyer teams. Max Wagner, who heads Miele’s sustainability staff, say the sale of refurbished home equipment has not cannibalized his firm’s sale of recent fashions, as was initially feared.

“We have been able to expand our customer base to include younger, digitally savvy groups who might otherwise have opted for a competitor for cost reasons,” Wagner instructed DW. Polls had discovered that sustainability concerns comparable to saving assets and defending the atmosphere are of secondary significance to clients buying refurbished merchandise, he added.

Refurbished circuit boards

Another Miele pilot challenge focuses on refurbishing circuit boards. When repairing their washer, dishwasher or espresso machine, clients can select between having a brand new circuit board put in, or having a refurbished one fitted. Often, purchasers go for the cheaper, refurbished variant when fixing older home equipment.

Miele refurbished round 12,000 digital elements in 2024, with its pilot challenge operating in 5 European nations, together with Germany. Giving purchasers the selection between new and refurbished elements means somewhat extra work for customer support brokers, nevertheless, who convey each with them to appointments in order that they’ll perform repairs on the spot, in accordance with buyer’s needs.

Washing machines are notably appropriate for re-use as a result of they’re comparatively costly and bought in giant portions, so there are many returns. This means spare components can be found for a very long time. Customers are additionally not too bothered about scratches, as many hold washing machines within the cellar.

Miele’s Dutch refurbished wasching machine challenge is supposed to function a blueprint for different equipment teams and markets. Running such a system requires a nationwide infrastructure and enough returns to satisfy demand, says Christoph Wendker, who heads Miele’s sustainability and regulatory affairs unit. After all, it’s virtually unimaginable to move discarded washing machines throughout European nationwide borders resulting from EU waste laws.

This is one purpose why professionally refurbished items at the moment solely have a really small market share. Nejc Jakopin of A.D. Little, a know-how consultancy, estimates that such items make up lower than 5% of the general market. By comparability, one quarter of European smartphones are purchased second-hand.

Reselling massive family home equipment will be sophisticated

Smartphones lend themselves effectively to the second-hand market. They are small, simple to ship by mail, are sometimes changed each two to 5 years, and have a comparatively excessive residual worth. Getting family home equipment again into circulation is rather more sophisticated, not least as a result of it takes two technicians to gather a washer, and a water connection to check its varied features.

“Professional refurbishments that come with a product warranty require their own logistics chain,” Jakopin instructed DW. The first problem is getting maintain of used however usable home equipment. “You have to collect them directly from the customer or create collection points.” Premium producers comparable to Miele, who’ve their very own distribution channels, are better off right here.

“Other producers need to think about how they work with retailers,” stated Jakopin. This is as a result of retailers turn into a part of the method. “If returns become part of a cycle, new sales are generated. You can make it appealing for customers to switch to a device that is cheaper but a little more stylish and energy-efficient than their previous one.”

Growth market

MediaMarktSaturn, Europe’s largest shopper electronics retailer, affords round 260 “like new” family home equipment, comparable to extractor hoods, mini fridges and hobs. This is alongside its vary of hundreds of second-hand smartphones and laptops.

Thermomix, a flexible kitchen equipment made by Germany’s Vorwerk, ranks amongst one of the crucial sought-after pre-owned merchandise. Even objects which are a number of years previous nonetheless command three‑digit costs on second‑hand platforms comparable to refurbed.de, erneuert.retailer, and backmarket.de. That’s due to the sturdiness and good repute of those merchandise, together with the provision of spare components, not not like Miele washing machines. Yet these compact Thermomix gadgets are far simpler to ship my mail than massive washers.

There are corporations that now specialise in refurbishing previous home equipment. These embody I-Project, the corporate behind erneuert.retailer, which buys, exams, cleans and resells Vorwerk kitchen merchandise. The course of is just like promoting used smartphones. Clients go to an internet site, choose their mannequin, make an evaluation of the situation of their system, and obtain an preliminary non-binding provide. After the system is inspected, the corporate both confirms or adjustments the provided worth and the deal will be carried out.

While customers who need new merchandise with none indicators of earlier put on and tear are nonetheless within the majority, the refurbished phase is rising, stated Jakopin.

This article was translated from German