Fix It, Then Pass It On: iFixit Joins Forces with Back Market

Let’s say your phone starts slowing down. Battery life’s tanking. The screen’s got a few, uh, character lines. You could toss it in a drawer, start browsing for a shiny new upgrade—and boom, the cycle of overconsumption rolls on.

But maybe instead, you trade it in with Back Market. You get a discount on an already-cheaper refurbished device (up to 70% less than new!). Meanwhile, your old phone heads off to a refurbisher, who gives it a deep clean, swaps in a new battery, polishes up the screen, and posts it online. It finds a new home with someone who just wants a solid device without the premium price tag. A win for your wallet, their wallet, and the planet.

Now fast-forward a year. That new owner drops the phone. Cracks the screen. And instead of panic-buying a replacement, they grab an iFixit kit and fix it themselves. Suddenly that phone’s pushing a 10-year lifespan, instead of heading to the shredder after just a couple years.

That’s the loop. That’s the magic. Refurbishment gives devices a second life. Repair keeps that life going. And now, iFixit and Back Market are teaming up to make that loop easier, smoother, and way more common.

Starting today, Back Market customers can get iFixit cleaning kits, repair tools, and parts right when they need them—no extra tabs, no parts scavenger hunts. Need to swap a Switch joystick? Revive your iPhone battery? Clean your crusty headphones? We’ve got a kit for that. (Yes, even your keyboard. Please clean your keyboard.)

If it’s dirty, slow, or busted, we’ve probably got the fix.

We want to make fixing and maintaining your tech just as easy as clicking “Add to Cart.” Because if we want our gadgets to last longer, repair and maintenance can’t be an afterthought. It needs to be baked in from the start.

Back Market Is Joining the Repair Association

At iFixit, we’ve been pushing for a world where repair isn’t just possible, it’s normal. We’ve spent over two decades writing free repair guides, cracking open new gadgets to see how fixable they are, and fighting for laws that put repair power back where it belongs: in your hands.

We’ve had some big Right to Repair wins recently. We’ve passed bills in five states and the European Union. And those wins we’ve had in the Right to Repair movement don’t just help DIYers. They help the professional refurbishers that power Back Market’s entire marketplace. With better access to parts, tools, and manuals, those refurbishers can give more devices a second life. And now, with our kits and know-how in the mix, we’re making sure those second lives aren’t short ones.

We’re also still fighting to unlock the final boss of refurbishment: Activation Lock. It’s meant to prevent theft, but it also bricks perfectly usable devices—locking out even legitimate refurbishers.

That’s why Back Market joined the Right to Repair Europe campaign back in 2021. This year, they have also joined The Repair Association, where we’ve been organizing since 2014 in the United States. We’re even more fired up to push for a better solution for refurbishers around the world.

The 10-Year Phone Would Save Over 21 Million Tons of CO₂e

Together, iFixit and Back Market are making a call for consumers to keep their phones for five years. And we’re calling on manufacturers (Apple, Samsung, Google, Huawei, Xiaomi, all of you!) to commit to providing ten years of software and security updates. If the hardware’s fine, there’s no good reason a phone should become a doorstop.

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. We produced 62 million tons of it in 2022—and we’re on track to double that by 2050. The U.S. alone only recycles about 15% of its e-waste. The rest? Landfills, incinerators, or collecting dust in junk drawers.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Keeping your smartphone for five years instead of two and a half cuts its annual carbon emissions nearly in half. Stretch that to 10 years with the help of repairs and refurbishment, and emissions drop by 68%. Scaled globally, that could save over 21 million tons of CO₂e every year. That’s about the same as the annual energy use of the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

All that from just… not upgrading so fast. Pretty powerful, right?

Three Easy Steps to a Circular Economy

This is what people mean when they talk about the circular economy—a system where we keep resources in use for as long as possible instead of chewing them up and spitting them out. In the tech world, that means:

• Buying refurbished instead of new
• Fixing what you’ve got
• Doing the required maintenance, so that you can pass it on when you’re done

And supporting policies that make all of the above easier.

This partnership is about connecting those dots. On both sides, we’re working to make sure that our customers are thinking about extending their device lifespans at every point.

What We’re Really Saying

We don’t need a new phone every two years.

We don’t need to toss our headphones when the battery dies.

We don’t need to buy new just because it’s easier than fixing.

What we do need is a cultural shift. One where we take care of our tech the way we take care of our bikes, our cars, our houses. Where we make thoughtful choices, not just convenient ones.

This partnership is one step closer to that world. And we’re proud to be in it together.

Let’s fix the future.