One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or at least it is for MusicMagpie. The brand, which was acquired by AO World for £10m in 2024, has increasingly witnessed shoppers turning to more affordable second-hand and refurbished options.

Tech giant Apple’s recent decision to raise the price of existing iPhones has given the refurbished market an unexpected lift, with musicMagpie reporting 30 per cent to 40 per cent growth in sales of some models around the latest iPhone launch.

The usual September pattern, where refurbished iPhones typically see a 10 per cent to 20 per cent drop in sales around Apple’s launch as customers wait to see the new range before deciding whether to upgrade, has seen the reverse happen.

Immediately after the announcement of the iPhone 18 model, Apple increased the UK price of its iPhone 17 by £100, from its original launch price of £799 to £899. The company has also raised prices across parts of its existing range, while its new foldable iPhone Duo starts at £1,999. For Joe Armstrong, head of trading at musicMagpie, the effect was almost immediate.

“Overnight our pricing has become significantly more competitive against new,” he said, explaing MusicMagpie prices its refurbished products against the recommended retail price of new devices. Armstrong said that, with some Apple models increasing by £100 and higher-storage versions by significantly more, the gap between new and refurbished has widened.

“Just becoming more competitive overnight is what’s driving that more intent from the customers coming to the secondary market,” he said.

The squeeze is moving down the supply chain

However, the opportunity comes with a problem – refurbished devices are not an unlimited resource, and rising demand makes sourcing stock harder.

“The biggest issue you would have within sellers like ourselves and our peers is absolutely sourcing the products and obviously sourcing it at the right price,” Armstrong said.

MusicMagpie’s main source of stock is consumers trading in their old devices.The business currently offers prices across about 4,000 products, with customers able to arrange a trade-in through its website and send items through Royal Mail or its partnership with Timpson.

The Timpson network gives customers access to more than 1,300 stores across the UK, while musicMagpie also supplements its consumer supply with business-to-business stock from trading programmes. Those B2B purchases come at a premium because the company knows what product and condition it is buying.

“You do have to now pay a premium to acquire the product, but also we do sell it for higher price,” Armstrong said. “In terms of our profit margin in that instance, we’re not really seeing much difference.”

That means the price rise is being felt on both sides of the refurbished market. MusicMagpie is paying more to acquire devices, but can also sell them for more. It is a departure from the normal depreciation cycle.

“Depreciation is what all the talking point is at this time of year,” Armstrong said. “We’re talking about things depreciating 10 per cent overnight, whereas this year we’ve got things starting to already increase in price, which is just a very unusual trend for this time of year.”

The effect is not confined to smartphones. Armstrong pointed to the PlayStation 5 as another example of rising prices across consumer technology. He said musicMagpie had seen the trading price move from roughly £370 to £380 to around £500 following Sony’s price increases.

“That isn’t us taking profit. That is the trading market also increasing,” he said. “We do have to pay more to source that product, but we are also able to sell it for a premium as well.”

He does not expect the market to return to its previous pricing levels. “I don’t think I would see the pricing revert back to the current levels,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think that ever really happens.”

From second-hand to refurbished

The supply chain at musicMagpie runs through its Stockport operation, where more than 40 technicians work on repairs and refurbishment.

Devices arriving through the company’s consumer and B2B channels are tested, graded and checked before being made available for sale. Phones go through a 90-point check, with repairs carried out in-house where required.

Armstrong said phones with battery health below 80 per cent are repaired before being returned to the market. That process is also changing how refurbished products are presented to consumers.

MusicMagpie no longer categorises its products simply as “second hand” or “used”. Instead, products are sold as refurbished, with different grades reflecting their condition.

“Whereas it’s a refurbished product now, it’s an industry that people are much more aware of,” Armstrong said. “They do realise now they are getting a product that works like new.”

That distinction is becoming more important as refurbished goods move beyond the traditional bargain-hunter. Armstrong said consumers aged 35 and above remain MusicMagpie’s strongest demographic, but the business is now focusing more heavily on under-30s and Gen Z through social media and other marketing.

The company is also seeing refurbished technology become more acceptable as a gift. Black Friday is a major trading period, followed closely by Christmas, when Armstrong said demand typically “completely outstrips supply”.

“We fully expect some huge growth again this year across the whole industry, across all of the platforms, but also for us ourselves at MusicMagpie,” he said.

The business had already begun its Christmas planning before the latest iPhone launch, with Armstrong expecting the Black Friday and Christmas peaks to be shaped by how much stock is available.

A bigger recommerce market

MusicMagpie’s growth comes as recommerce becomes a larger part of mainstream retail. Vinted reported a 47 per cent increase in gross merchandise value to €10.8bn in 2025, while revenue rose 38 per cent to €1.1bn. Net profit reached €62m.

eBay, meanwhile, reported $79.6bn in global GMV in 2025, up 7 per cent, as it continued to build its recommerce proposition.

AO’s latest results also show the increasing importance of the market following its acquisition of musicMagpie. AO reported group revenue of £1.267bn for the year to 31 March 2026, up 11.4 per cent, while recommerce revenue rose 180.5 per cent to £119.5m. AO said the increase largely reflected a full year of musicMagpie being included in its accounts.

The wider trend is creating an unusual situation for refurbishers. More consumers are being pushed towards cheaper alternatives as new technology becomes more expensive, but the same economic pressure can make it harder to source the devices those customers want. That tension is likely to become more important if manufacturers continue to raise prices.

Apple has pointed to higher memory and storage costs as one reason for rising prices, with demand from AI data centres putting further pressure on the semiconductor supply chain.

For the refurbished industry, the question is whether that makes consumers more willing to keep older devices in circulation for longer. Armstrong said affordability remains the biggest reason customers choose refurbished, although sustainability and reducing electronic waste are also factors.

Regulation could add another element. EU rules covering smartphones and tablets now include requirements around durability, battery performance, repairability and spare parts, while the bloc’s wider right-to-repair agenda is intended to extend product lifecycles. Armstrong did not want to comment on the detail of the regulations, but said battery life was an example of an issue the refurbished industry had already had to address.

“Battery was always one of the biggest concerns,” he said. “So as an industry, we take that and we try and find a solution to then give consumers confidence.”

For now, though, price remains the biggest driver. “Being honest, I think affordability is the one biggest reason that people would come and look at refurbish,” Armstrong said. “But you do also have things surrounding that in terms of sustainability and preventing e-waste and things like that. That are all huge factors as well.”

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