Back Market was founded on the idea of creating a safe marketplace, so that buying premium refurbished electronics would be easy, affordable, and safe. This is the reason we do everything we can to keep the fake duds out, but nothing in life is foolproof (no matter how hard we try).

We know how annoying it is to realize you’ve bought a counterfeit item, so we’ve made returns and refunds as easy as possible.

What to do if you have a doubt about the authenticity of your device?

Step 1: Log in to your Back Market account

• Go to “Orders”
• Click on “Get help”

Be sure to have photos of your item and any comments or notes about why you believe the item is counterfeit. Your concern will be duly reviewed by Customer Care.

Step 2: If applicable, send the item using our prepaid shipping label

If applicable, Customer Care will send a prepaid shipping label via your Back Market account allowing you to return your device for inspection. Once we receive the item, we’ll inspect the device within 2 business days.

If your device is found to be a counterfeit, you will receive a refund (that should appear in your account within 3 - 6 business days, depending on your bank or credit card company) and we will take all appropriate measures regarding the seller.

Devices that are checked and found to be authentic, and not counterfeit, will be shipped back to you for free.

How Back Market prevents counterfeit items from being sold

We prevent counterfeit in 2 key ways:

• During the vetting process of sellers
• Continuously with our Innovation Lab

Vetting sellers is part of our quality control process. Potential sellers undergo a rigorous process that assess their track record and quality of the items they sell. More concretely, only 1 out of 3 sellers that apply to sell on Back Market pass the test.

Sellers that make the cut can only sell items for the categories they were approved for. For example, only 20% of sellers are allowed to sell AirPods on Back Market. This percentage is especially low because AirPods are more susceptible to counterfeit than other devices.

But, of course, we don’t stop at vetting. Back Market’s Innovation Lab continuously assesses seller performance with mystery shopping, on-site refurbisher visits, and customer reviews. The lab also builds custom software to test and check the quality of refurbished devices, but also detect counterfeit ones.

Does Back Market ban sellers?

Yes. We have a zero tolerance policy for any seller caught selling counterfeit items in our marketplace. While we can’t banish counterfeit sellers to the End of Time, we 100% banish them from selling that category of items on our website. They can requalify to sell in a category only if they have an impeccable track record going forward and can show us that they have improved their authentication processes.