Lots of headlines talk up the boom in used car prices. Not as highly publicized: IT asset remarketing is going strong, too.
You may have seen the news — E-Scrap News reports now is the “perfect time” to capitalize on refurbishing and remarketing your electronic assets. Which assets are the best candidates for resale? And what factors have contributed to making conditions so favorable for asset remarketing right now?
Let’s take a look at the dynamics in play.
Supply chain challenges fuel asset remarketing
No one has escaped the impact of the global supply chain chaos. While the trade war with China rattled supply chains a few years back, a string of fires in semiconductor manufacturing facilities worsened the situation. Then, pandemic restrictions set in at the same time as demand for home office electronics skyrocketed. And the supply of key electronic components and new products has yet to recover.
However, as difficult as the past two years have been, not all areas of the economy have suffered. The fact is the market for refurbished products has grown. Industry experts quoted by E-Scrap News note consumers have, in the face of electronic product shortages, become more accustomed to turning to resale markets.
“I think that refurb suddenly becomes a viable option where before it was not really considered,” commented a panel member during an E-Scrap and E-Reuse Conference seminar late last year.
In other words, among IT asset disposition services, asset remarketing makes more sense than ever.
Laptops — the used cars of electronic resale markets
Few markets have seen a bigger boom than that for used car sales. The prices for used cars have risen faster than the rate of inflation, already at record-high levels. While this may not be great news for buyers, it certainly is for sellers. Within a year, the average price of used cars and trucks for urban consumers has gone up by 40.5%, USA Today reports. Even so, consumers are clamoring for used vehicles as the number of transactions keeps growing, according to AUTO1, a used-car marketplace.
In the electronic resale market, laptops have been in high demand. Driven by the pandemic, global shipments of laptops reached 218 million in 2020, a 26% year-over-year bump. Even as we have put the height of the work-from-home days behind us, that figure has continued to grow.
IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, which gathers data in more than 90 countries, indicates that even as demand slows in 2022, the PC market is expected to see a five-year growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% in the long run, mostly driven by laptop sales.
Considering the life cycle of the average laptop spans three to five years, most companies tend to have a continuous supply in need of recycling. If asset remarketing has not been a priority, you now have reason to make it one.
Price hikes make consumers turn to used products
Price increases across all market sectors also speak to another dynamic. When prices on new goods shoot up, consumers will likely be more inclined to turn to secondary markets. So, even when the supply of new products is steady, rising prices favor asset remarketing. E-Scrap News concludes “that could mean more good news.”
Comments an expert in E-Scrap News, “No matter what happens in the economy, [the refurb] industry seems to be a little bit recession-proof. Volume can go way down but your values go way up.”
Safe to say is that there’s no shortage of electronic devices — or material — to recover. The right partner can help you navigate resale markets and turn asset remarketing into a potential revenue stream.
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