Why used Xbox, iPhone, and Macbook sales are surging

The chip shortage has sparked a secondhand tech boom.

Angie Cardona-Nelson has been recycling tech waste and selling refurbished laptops, smartphones, and tech accessories for nearly two decades. When she lists laptops on eBay, they sell within 24 hours. "Everything is selling," she said. "It's a seller's market."

Cardona-Nelson runs a small recycling business in the Pacific Northwest. She collects e-waste from local drop-off sites, tests and repairs what she can, and resells working devices on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Her inventory turns over in days, not weeks.

She is not alone. Across the country, refurbishers and resellers report surging demand for used electronics. The reason is straightforward: new devices are hard to find. The global chip shortage has constrained production of everything from game consoles to laptops to smartphones. Apple and Microsoft have both warned that supply constraints will hit sales. Sony sold fewer PlayStation 5 units than expected. Nintendo cut its Switch production target.

Buyers who cannot find a new Xbox Series X or a current-generation iPhone are turning to the used market. Prices for refurbished and pre-owned devices have climbed. On eBay, a used Xbox Series X routinely sells for above its $500 retail price. A refurbished iPhone 12 Pro sells for roughly the same as a new iPhone 13, when the 13 is available at all.

"The calculus has shifted," said James McGregor, a supply-chain analyst at Tirias Research. "Normally you buy used to save money. Right now you buy used because there is no new."

The surge in secondhand sales has ripple effects. Repair shops are busier. Parts suppliers are seeing higher demand for replacement screens, batteries, and charging ports. Shipping volumes for refurbished devices are up.

Cardona-Nelson said her biggest challenge is finding enough inventory. She used to pay $5 to $10 for a discarded laptop. Now she competes with larger refurbishers who are offering $20 or more. "The scrap guys know what they have," she said. "They're not giving it away anymore."

The chip shortage is expected to persist into 2023, according to most semiconductor executives. That means the secondhand boom has legs. For now, the best place to find a current-generation console or a recent iPhone is not a retail store. It is eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or a local refurbisher like Cardona-Nelson.

"I've been doing this 18 years," she said. "I've never seen anything like this."