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A new round of trade-in of household appliances is in full swing, and in this process, how to value old household appliances is an unavoidable topic. However, some consumers have reported that in the process of trade-in, old household appliances are recycled at a "fixed price" regardless of their condition and the degree of newness, and most of them are ultra-low prices of tens of yuan. In addition, some consumers said that the recycling valuation of old household appliances is low, which affects their willingness to replace them to a certain extent.
A consumer told reporters that a TV at home cost nearly 6,000 yuan when he bought it, and he plans to replace it with a new TV with a larger size in the near future, and he needs to sell the old TV. However, after consulting several Internet recycling platforms, the platform only gave a recycling price of 35 yuan, and the recycling price was too different from psychological expectations. In fact, in the trade-in process, not only the recycling price of the recycling platform is too low, but the recycling price of many home appliance stores is also not up. Some consumers said that the refrigerator that has been used for 5 years will be exchanged for the old one, and the recycling price of the old refrigerator is only a few dozen yuan. In this regard, many consumers complain that "when they buy electrical appliances, they spend a huge amount of money, but when they sell them, they feel worthless and have no sense of gain"; and some consumers question "why use one year and ten years at the same price", which is not attractive.
The reporter combed and found that from the perspective of the standards for mainstream platform companies to recycle old household appliances, low recycling prices are a common problem at present. Major appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, etc., regardless of the service life, brand, quality, etc., are often recycled at a "fixed price". In addition to the air conditioner can give a three-digit quotation, other major appliances are mostly between 30 yuan and 60 yuan.
This morning, Dragon TV reporters asked several businesses that recycle old household appliances about how to determine the recycling price of old household appliances. Some merchants told reporters that the recycling price of old household appliances is related to the brand and condition of the goods, but it has nothing to do with the purchase time, and most of the household appliances are "fixed price". However, most online merchants only do large-scale recycling similar to stores and restaurants, and refuse to recycle customers in small quantities by households.
So, why is the recycling price the same for household appliances that have been used for one year and those that have been used for ten years? Why can't the recycling price of old household appliances go up? A number of people in the household appliance recycling industry said: At present, the recycling channel for old household appliances is too single, and most of the old household appliances can only be dismantled after recycling, and only a few particularly new ones will flow into the second-hand household appliances market. The profit of dismantling is very low, so it is naturally difficult to recycle at a high price. In addition, there is a certain information asymmetry in the three links of sales, collection and dismantling, and there is no clear standard for the determination of the residual value of old household appliances, and each company has different standards. From the perspective of materials, air conditioners contain metals such as copper, iron, and aluminum, which are relatively more valuable when recycled, while household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and TVs have relatively little metal content, so the residual value is low, which is often said to be worthless.
In response to the problem that the recycling price of old household appliances is the same and low, Bai Ming, a member of the Academic Degrees Committee of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with Knews today that many old household appliances cannot be sold at a price because of the problem of information asymmetry between buyers and sellers. In this case, the pricing power is in the hands of the buyer, and second-hand buyers are generally only willing to recycle second-hand goods at the lowest value.
Bai Ming also said that recently, the State Council issued a notice requiring all localities to promote the implementation of consumer goods trade-in action, and a new round of green smart home appliance consumption subsidy policies have been implemented in certain places. However, some recycling companies are driven by profits, and do not return to consumers according to the state subsidy standards, but turn the subsidies given by the state into their own profits, which not only violates the rules and will be held accountable, but also harms the interests of consumers.
For the pain point of the low valuation of old household appliances when trading in the old for the new, some consumers have appealed, hoping to combine factors such as the brand, condition and functional integrity of the household appliances to carry out a more refined valuation, so that the preserved old household appliances are more valuable. In this regard, the relevant state departments have already begun to take action. In March this year, the State Council issued an action plan to promote large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods, which proposed to accelerate the development of the logistics system and new model of "replacement + recycling", and by 2027, the recycling of waste household appliances will increase by 30% compared with 2023. In addition, the notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and other 9 departments on improving the recycling system of renewable resources such as waste household appliances and furniture also clearly stated that the recycling system of waste household appliances and furniture should be improved and the recycling of renewable resources should be smooth. At present, some home appliance companies have established a recycling system.
In view of how to improve the recycling system of old household appliances, so that household appliance enterprises are willing to recycle, and consumers are willing to replace them, Bai Ming said that in order to solve the problem of single recycling channel, it is necessary to establish an efficient and smooth recycling system for old household appliances, open up the last mile of consumers' trade-in, and retain the value of old household appliances to a greater extent, so as to further increase the price of old household appliances recycling and make trade-in more attractive.
Bai Ming said that on the one hand, the recycling of old household appliances should not only recycle metals such as copper and iron, as well as glass and plastics, but also recycle some precious metals and other elements. Enterprises should also establish a closed-loop recycling system of "recycling, dismantling, and remanufacturing" to realize the dismantling and utilization of waste electronic appliances, and convert waste household appliances into resources for further utilization. Bai Ming also stressed that the trade-in strategy is essentially a direct expansion of consumer demand and a key part of stimulating economic growth momentum. However, trade-in is not simply discarded, but to transform waste items into valuable resources, build a complete industrial chain under the circular economy system, and realize the transformation of waste into treasure.
Take a look at the news reporter: Ruan Li Zhai Jing
Editor: Ruan Li Zhai Jing
Editor-in-charge: Peng Xiaoyan