Back Market
Marketplace for certified refurbished electronics and business device procurement.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- BACK MARKET, Inc.
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Founded
- 2014
- Headquarters
- France
- Company size
- 201–500
- Market role
- Retailer & Marketplace
- Official website
- backmarket.com
What Back Market does
Back Market runs a platform marketplace model in refurbished electronics. It creates value by aggregating demand from consumers and business buyers, aggregating supply from professional refurbishers, and reducing trust friction through standardised quality checks, warranties, returns, and marketplace governance. The platform does not primarily depend on taking ownership of stock; instead, it facilitates transactions between third-party sellers and buyers and extends the model with a reverse marketplace trade-in flow that helps refurbishers source devices.
Category differentiation
Back Market is not itself primarily a device manufacturer or a single refurbisher; it is a marketplace connecting buyers with third-party refurbishers. It is distinct from general electronics retailers because its focus is certified refurbished inventory and trade-in supply aggregation.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
Back Market is a French recommerce company operating a two-sided online marketplace for certified refurbished electronic devices. Rather than owning inventory, it connects consumers and business buyers with professional refurbishers and sellers, while standardising trust through inspection criteria, warranties, returns, and seller management. Its core catalogue spans categories such as smartphones, laptops, and other electronics. The company makes money primarily from seller-side fees: recurring subscriptions and commissions on transactions facilitated through its platform. It also runs a business-focused procurement portal, Back Market Pro, and a trade-in service that helps source used devices from consumers into the refurbisher ecosystem. Its paying customers are principally professional sellers and refurbishers, with additional demand coming from business buyers using the B2B portal and consumers purchasing refurbished devices.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
Back Market continues to build consumer trust through the global rollout of its "Swear on Our Mom’s Life" campaign, which secured a finalist spot for Ad Age's Best Campaign of July 2026. Building on its engagement with the "slowtech" movement and retro-device advertising, European marketing head Luke Forshaw outlined the brand's full-funnel strategy, emphasising rigorous quality assurances alongside a disciplined 80–90% human and 10–20% AI split in creative execution to protect brand authenticity.
Business model & monetisation
Back Market uses a two-sided marketplace monetisation model. Professional sellers are charged a recurring monthly subscription fee and a commission on completed transactions, with the extracted data indicating fees around EUR 50-75 per month and commissions around 10-15% depending on category. Additional revenue may come from ancillary services such as protection plans and marketplace support services. Consumers access the marketplace without a platform subscription, so monetisation is primarily seller-funded and transaction-driven.
- Seller transaction commissions
- Percentage take-rate on marketplace sales
- Seller subscription fees
- Recurring monthly marketplace access fee
- Protection plans and ancillary services
- Attach revenue on device transactions
- Business procurement marketplace activity
- Marketplace commissions and seller fees tied to B2B transactions
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Media Channel
Technology
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
Back Market's Forshaw: AI Slop Would Make Us Look Like Idiots
Brand Marketing & AI · Recorded impact score: 2/5
In an interview with The Drum, Back Market's head of European marketing, Luke Forshaw, discusses how the refurbished-tech marketplace builds consumer trust, why sustainability alone doesn't drive sales, and where AI should be used in marketing. Forshaw stresses that refurbished devices are professionally tested, repaired and resold with warranties, distinguishing Back Market from general secondhand sellers. Price remains the biggest purchase driver in the UK, while sustainability functions as a 'cherry on the cake'. He warns that using AI too heavily in creative work could produce 'AI slop' and damage brand trust, advocating an 80–90% human, 10–20% AI split focused on reporting and audience data interpretation. He also highlights Back Market's full-funnel growth strategy, its Tribeca X entry 'Silly Little Plastic Cat', and lessons from its Earth Month campaign.
- Back Market sells refurbished tech that is tested, checked, repaired and resold by professionals, with warranties and returns guarantees.
- Luke Forshaw spent eight years working on Apple marketing at Media Arts Lab, part of the OMD network, before joining Back Market as head of European marketing.
Best Creative Ads: Back Market, Roku, Honda
Creative & Production Services · Recorded impact score: 1/5
Ad Age published a feature on July 20, 2026 by Tim Nudd highlighting this week’s most notable advertising campaigns, spotlighting creative work from Back Market, Roku and Honda. The piece describes standout spots and creative approaches—one caption notes an ambitious Honda Europe spot by Pablo featuring shapeshifting visual elements. The article is an editorial selection of notable creative ads and includes related recommended stories and links to other agency and brand coverage on the site.
- Ad Age published an article on 2026-07-20 highlighting top creative ads from Back Market, Roku and Honda.
- The article was written by Tim Nudd.
Back Market Founder Stakes Mother's Life in Ad
Creative Production · Recorded impact score: 1/5
Back Market has launched a global creative campaign titled "Swear on Our Mom’s Life" to build consumer trust in refurbished devices. Created with agency Mother and directed by Harold Einstein (Packer Productions), the campaign features founder Thibaud Hug de Larauze alongside his real mother, Valerie, and uses a tongue-in-cheek pledge — “We swear on our mothers’ lives — and if we ever break our promise, her life is yours.” The ads emphasize Back Market’s quality assurances (30-day free returns, one-year warranty, 100-point inspection) and will debut in July 2026 in New York across TV, video-on-demand, out-of-home, social and audio before a wider US, UK and EU rollout. Credits list Mother as creative agency and Packer Productions as production company.
- Back Market launched a global campaign called "Swear on Our Mom’s Life" created with agency Mother.
- Founder Thibaud Hug de Larauze appears in the commercials alongside his real mother, Valerie.
Explore company relationships
Questions about Back Market
What is Back Market?
Back Market is a marketplace for certified refurbished electronic devices, connecting buyers with professional refurbishers and sellers.
Who uses Back Market?
Consumers buy refurbished devices and trade in old ones, while businesses use Back Market Pro to source refurbished IT equipment and refurbishers use the platform to sell inventory.
How does Back Market make money?
It mainly earns from seller-side monthly fees and commissions on transactions, with some additional revenue from ancillary services such as protection plans.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
13 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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