Why South Africa’s largest iPhone retailer is doubling down on certified pre-owned sales

“The next wave of competitiveness, sustainability, and consumer value in South Africa’s retail will not only come from selling more devices but from keeping existing devices in use for longer through repair, refurbishment, and trusted pre-owned pathways,” Dodd told me.

Refurbished phones are already mainstream

Refurbished and certified pre-owned devices aren’t a niche anymore. Globally, refurbished smartphones made up nearly 23% of smartphone sales in 2023; more than 310 million units moved that way. For iStore, certified pre-owned devices now represent 20%–30% of weekly iPhone sales, according to Dodd. What began as a way to clear demo units or bulk trade-ins has matured into a major revenue stream.

From pawn-shop stigma to premium resale

Dodd says South Africa’s resale market has shed its “pawn shop” image. Instead, it’s becoming formalised and more trustworthy, more like the certified market for luxury goods, with warranties and quality guarantees from established retailers.

“It has become a really formalised resale market, moving from a ‘Cash Converters’ type scenario to credible brands that offer warranty,” Dodd explained. “This formalisation, driven by established retailers offering quality guarantees, has been crucial in driving adoption among South African consumers.”

Local research and initiatives back up the pivot. Organisations such as Circular South Africa and the CSIR’s 2022 Circular Economy report emphasise that keeping materials circulating reduces environmental strain and lowers business risk.

How circular retail widens access to premium tech

Dodd highlights three ways certified pre-owned models improve accessibility and inclusion:

1. Lower price of entry without compromising quality. Buyers can access premium models say, a two-year-old iPhone 15 Pro at a fraction of the new price while still getting a high-quality experience.
2. Customer lifecycle onboarding. A consumer might start with a pre-owned iPhone 13 today and later upgrade to newer models as their finances change, bringing them deeper into the retailer’s ecosystem.
3. Sustainable market segmentation. Circular pathways allow retailers to serve customers across income tiers in a financially and environmentally sustainable way.

 Making refurbishment profitable: the industrial approach

Refurbishment can be costly if handled sloppily. iStore treats it like a product category that needs industrial rigour: systematic checks, stringent quality control and end-to-end processes. That discipline, Dodd says, is how retailers protect margins.

Owning a trade-in pipeline gives iStore predictable device inflows, enabling competitive resale pricing. Profit is also reinforced by adjacent services: battery swaps, repairs, insurance and other ecosystem offerings that turn circularity into a healthy business unit rather than a CSR footnote.

“Refurbishment is a business where you can easily make mistakes and lose money, so you have to take it seriously,” Dodd said.

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Embedding sustainability into the core business

Dodd urges businesses to stop treating circularity as charity. Instead, companies should find the commercial value in circular models. Once circularity becomes a genuine product category that benefits the company, customers, and the planet simultaneously, it becomes self-sustaining and strategically essential.

“Circularity has to be a product category, not a CSR line item. It’s got to be something that works for the business, the customer, and the environment at the same time.”

Outlook: consolidation and specialised pre-owned stores by 2026

Dodd expects the circular retail sector to consolidate after rapid growth. Some early entrants likely struggled, but the survivors will be stronger and better positioned to scale.

iStore already runs four dedicated pre-owned stores and sees scope for more as trade-in volumes grow. If trade-in supply keeps rising, specialised pre-owned outlets could become a regular part of retail footprints across South Africa.

Why this matters

• Consumers get access to premium devices at lower cost without compromising on warranty or quality.
• Retailers create new revenue lines and customer lifetime value using repair, resale, and services.
• The environment benefits from devices staying in circulation longer, lowering resource strain.

Circularity in tech retail is no longer a novelty it’s a fast-growing business model. For South Africa’s iPhone market, selling fewer new devices isn’t the risk many feared; instead, the resale and refurbishment economy is expanding the market, unlocking new customers, and creating a durable competitive advantage for retailers who treat circularity as a proper product category.