Supermarket giant Coles is now selling old iPhone 8 devices in an expansion of last year’s refurbished iPhone scheme.
The used iPhones are going for an introductory price of $359 – $100 more than Coles was selling iPhone 7s for a few months ago.
Coles apparently misjudged demand for the used Apple products when it only shipped five devices to each participating store.
Non-food general manager at Coles, Jonathon Torr, said the retailer was pleased with how well the last promotion worked.
“There is clearly very strong demand for well-priced, high quality refurbished smartphones and we are happy to roll this out to be a truly national opportunity for our customers after our initial trial,” he said.
“We know that the refurbished iPhones sell out very quickly so customers’ need to get in early to avoid disappointment, there are no rainchecks.”
The iPhones reach Coles stores via Boost Mobile and come with a $10 pre-paid Boost sim card.
Boost sources its refurbished iPhones through wholesaler Alegre (a subsidiary of insurance firm Assurant) which buys used corporate phones in bulk when organisations do mass tech upgrades.
Alegre runs the phones through a “72-point inspection” to make sure they are up to scratch before selling them onto retailers like Boost or Sydney’s Green Gadgets.
Founder of Boost Mobile, Peter Adderton, said the response to last year’s iPhone 7 promotion was “phenomenal”.
“We want all Australians to stay connected without the unnecessary high costs and we are happy to once again deliver a versatile, quality and incredibly well-priced offering through the refurbished iPhone 8 as Australians seek cost effective options more than ever before,” he said.
Apple sells the base model of its budget iPhone SE for $679.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data on waste, Australia generated around 539,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2018-19 – 40 per cent of which was contributed by households.
The good news is that about half of Australia’s e-waste was recycled.
