Noa Moussa, edited by Romain Rouillard 06:16, June 19, 2022

Back Market, the site for the sale of refurbished electronic devices, is in the sights of the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir.

She accuses the platform of misleading commercial practices, which the site defends, which ensures that it demonstrates complete transparency.

More and more French people are turning to the refurbished market to save money or for ecological reasons.

According to a study by Kantar, three quarters of French people say they are ready to take the plunge into this new mode of consumption.

To buy a new smartphone or a new computer, the Back Market platform is one of the popular alternatives.

However, this site, which offers refurbished electronic devices, is in the crosshairs of the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir. 

The association even filed a complaint on Wednesday for misleading commercial practices, denouncing surprises when paying for the product online, as explained by Raphaël Bartlomé, legal manager of UFC-Que Choisir: "Back Market displays a price on its advertisements who will not be the one who will be paid. As the process progresses, there is a commission that is added without any information. Then Back Market suggests that this product is on promotion, -30, -50%, while 'this is simply a comparison of a used product with a new product'

>> Find Europe weekend morning - 6-8 in podcast and replay here 

Back Market refutes the accusations

On the side of Back Market, we ensure to play the card of transparency during all the stages of the purchase of a product.

Marine Libond, responsible for the communication of the site, therefore refutes the accusations of the association.

"It should be made clear that this is a price comparison that is made against the same new product. So the consumer is fully aware that this is not a promotion. The service charge ranges from 0.49 to 5 .49 euros, therefore always calculated on the total price of the basket."

In addition, the refurbished products site ensures that it does not track the purchasing habits of these customers, if the latter have objected to the use of their data.