This Firm Sells Stunning Refurb Custom iPhones For Less Than Apple

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Repairing, restoring and then reselling a used car is pretty common business. But, one French company is applying the same concept to the iPhones to offer custom refurbished iPhones.

Refurbished custom iPhones at affordable prices

Going for a refurbished iPhone from a trusted seller is always a good idea to save some money. On the other hand, if you want to customize your iPhone, then you need to pay a premium to the third-party company. Now, both the options are possible at an affordable price.

You can get refurbished custom iPhones for less than what Apple charges for them. All thanks to a French company, called Remade, whose slogan is “Better Then Refurbished,” says Macworld, who spoke with the company representatives at the MWC.

Buying a refurbished iPhone from a less trusted source is always risky. But, Remade completely rebuilds each iPhone to ensure that every component of the phone is working perfectly. Offering a fully functional iPhone, however, is not its only selling point.

Remade makes these iPhones available in colorful custom shells and at a very attractive price. These custom shells are painted green, raspberry, blue, yellow and other attractive colors. Along with the custom shells, Remade sells iPhones in the usual color options as well.

Currently, the French company is offering custom shells only for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 7. It is planning to bring the same customization to the iPhone 8, iPhone X and others.

Remade sells the 32GB iPhone 7 for €450 ($508), compared to €530 ($569) for the new unit and $479 for a refurbished unit from Apple. In the U.S., Remade phones will sell for about 30% to 40% less than Apple’s price, one Remade representative told Macworld.

Looks and feels like the usual iPhones

Explaining its business model, the French company says that it buys “busted” iPhones in bulk from the electronics recycling plants. The company then disassembles the devices and any broken component or part is replaced.

Moreover, all the batteries are swapped with new ones “built to the same specifications as Apple’s,” Remade told Macworld. Apple’s recent change in its repair policy related to phones with third-party batteries makes such custom iPhones even more feasible.

The aluminum unibodies of these refurbished iPhones are genuine Apple parts, but are stripped and repainted. Like Apple, Remade also offers a one-year warranty on its devices. The company has briefed about its production process in an informational YouTube video.

Owing to such attention to details, Macworld says that these iPhones look and feel just like the usual iPhone, but prettier.

Remade doesn’t sell these iPhones outside of France for now. But, it is in talks with Verizon to sell its devices in the U.S. The company also opened a plant in Miami and hopes to start with U.S. sales this year.

It will be interesting to see how Apple reacts once Remade starts selling them in the U.S. Apple won’t want any other iPhone seller cutting its sales, especially at a time when the sales are slowing. The French company hasn’t received any push back from Apple for now.

Second Round of iPhone Discounts

Though the change in Apple’s repair policy is a good thing for Remade, recent news from China may be seen as negative to Remade’s business (if it plans to sell in China). Several online retailers in China are dropping the iPhone prices again (the second time this year).

Several sellers offered massive discounts in January, and now again, they are dropping the prices of the iPhones, notes a report from Reuters. One retailer, Suning.Com revealed its intentions to lower the price of the iPhone XS by around 1,000 yuan ($148.95) from its official price. Suning slashed the iPhone prices in January as well but no discount was given on the iPhone XS at that time.

Another e-commerce site, Pinduoduo, also plans to lower the price of the 64GB iPhone XS by about 1,000 yuan from the official price. Meanwhile, Chinese online giant JD.com plans to offer discounts on several Apple products, including the iPhone XS and XS Max.

Apple witnessed a drop in sales in China during the holiday quarter last year. This possibly forced the company to go for the price cuts in an attempt to boost the sales.  To push sales further, Apple also partnered with the finance arm of Alibaba Group – Ant Financial – and many state-owned banks to allow users to buy the iPhones via interest-free loans.

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