IT Hardware in a Time of Covid-19

Split shifts, home working, remote communication between teams… there was a lot to get used to during the early part of lockdown. Classed as an essential industry, Techbuyer continued to work at full capacity during what was one of the busiest periods since the company began. The number of new customers between March and July 2020 increased by 85% compared to the previous four months, with nearly 15% of those sales resulting in repeat business.

Techbuyer was not the only secondary market company to enjoy an upswing the early months of Covid-19 lockdown. Market commentators put the success down to immediate supply when new equipment manufacturers were finding logistics challenging. Intel chip shortages were reported in January, with predictions of a drought throughout 2020. With a massive need for extra provision from March onwards, organisations would need reliable local supply from companies that kept high stock levels on site.

There was also a feeling that cost would play a part given that companies were unexpectedly having to dramatically increase capacity. We wanted to look into the weighting between these two drivers and how this played against other factors. We surveyed our returning customers to understand more about what drove their buying choices.

What did we want to know?

The survey was issued shortly after Techbuyer gave evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on e-waste and circular economy. There is growing appreciation that refurbishment may be the highest appropriate level of remanufacturing for electronic products. Recycling technologies that can usefully extract all materials are some way off, so refurbishment and reuse are seen as the best option for making best use of resources.

One of the committee members had asked how much perceived risk was a barrier to the increased use of refurbished products. With mounting evidence proving the performance of refurbished products equals or exceeds that of new, I answered it was much more about perception than evidence. However, looking at our increased customer numbers –  many of whom had returned – set us wondering if attitudes were beginning to change as a result of lockdown. The survey, which was widened to all returning customers during lockdown, was structured to explore this.

What did people buy?

Storage and server memory were the highest selling items amongst survey respondents, with servers and server processors ranking highly too. 95% of the products bought were refurbished items, with the remaining 5% being new third party alternatives to the larger brands.

Structure of the survey and what it tells us

There were seven questions on the extent to which cost, a three year warranty, reliability, stock availability, sales support, quick delivery and environmental responsibility were factors in choosing to buy from Techbuyer. We also asked if customers had bought refurbished or third party new components and what confidence levels were in buying refurbished products from now on. 

92% of customers who had bought refurbished products had very high confidence in buying refurbished in the future, with the majority of others also rating highly (5 or 6 out of 7). In some cases this translated into more confidence in refurbishment in general. 47% of all respondents were now more confident about buying refurbished products such as TVs and mobile phones. More interesting still were the drivers towards that confidence.

Stock availability scored the highest, followed by reliability with an average of 6.1 out of 7 overall. Analysing this further, 82% of respondents stated that they either extremely or very strongly agreed that this was a factor in their decision making. Our repeat customers are saying that they come back because our products are reliable, turning perceived risk on its head.

A further surprise was that cost appeared in fourth place overall amongst survey responses, just behind quick delivery. Environmental considerations were in last position, confirming previous work that we had carried out by the University of Leeds. Techbuyer may be doing everything it can to become circular, but customers are buying based on availability, reliability and quick delivery. As Sustainability Lead, I find this really positive. It proves that there is a sound business case for making best use of resources, meaning it is all the more likely to become mainstream practice going forward.  


Techbuyer is a global specialist in buying, selling and refurbishing IT solutions. With sites across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, we have fast turnaround times and shipping, no matter where our clients are in the world. Find out more here.