"You can feel assured" - Back Market's reaction to iPhone thefts

Earlier this month UK police recovered over 2,000 stolen smartphones, arresting a vast criminal network they say was smuggling up to 40,000 devices every year into China and responsible for 40% of annual iPhone thefts in London alone.

The Financial Times even claimed to have tracked the exact location of where these stolen phones ended up at: a store within the bustling southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. “This criminal network specifically targeted Apple products and that's because of their profitability overseas,” detective inspector Mark Gavin told the FT.

"We discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset and we also uncovered evidence of devices being sold for up to $5,000 in China.” The demand for refurbished second-hand phones in China is huge, with research firm Counterpoint suggesting it accounts for 20% of the country's total smartphone market.

In light of this news, Back Market wishes to reassure its customers that none of its devices have been sourced by this specific criminal network, and to reiterate we take authenticity and ethical sourcing extremely seriously. Back Market exclusively partners with 1800 audited sellers, who only source from verified channels such as OEM manufacturers, Telcos, and established trade-in programs.

Currently, we reject 40% of the sellers trying to join Back Market during our initial qualification process, while our defective product rate is currently at 4% per year (down from 15% in 2016); both concrete proof of a robust sourcing process. In fact, all sellers who operate on Back Market must be signed off on our Quality Charter and require their devices pass a minimum 25-point inspection.

“This includes verifying whether devices are blacklisted by carriers due to unpaid balances, as well as identifying lost or stolen devices,” explains Arnaud Berny, VP Seller Success and operations at Back Market.

“These are often iCloud-locked phones, and it is mandatory for our sellers to conduct these checks and provide the results upon request. It’s important to remind customers who have been victims of theft to lock their devices via iCloud, as iCloud-locked phones have no commercial value.“

Berny continues: "Our quality control doesn’t end with these initial checks. Once an order is processed, our continuous monitoring system tracks key quality KPIs to identify why customers may be reaching out. As a result of this ongoing quality review, approximately 15% of our sellers are removed from the platform each year for failing to meet the standards outlined in our Quality Charter.”

You can find more information on how to deal with a black listed phone here.