The takeaway: The ongoing memory crunch has already led to price hikes and shortages of PCs and their components, so it is unsurprising that sales of second-hand devices are increasing. Analyzing European sales trends reveals that consumers are acquiring affordable hardware in any way they can, and upcoming right-to-repair legislation might make this easier.
According to market intelligence firm Context, sales of refurbished PCs in the United Kingdom doubled in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the same period the previous year. Their growing popularity might sustain retailers' profit margins as supply constraints impact memory and other components.
The figures place the UK ahead of Germany in refurbished PC sales for the second half of 2025. Across those markets -- along with Italy, Spain, and France -- second-hand sales rose 7% year over year., second-hand sales rose by 7% annually.
Notebook sales numbers provide further proof that affordability is driving the trend toward refurbished tech. The largest portion, 40%, consisted of devices costing between €200 and €300, while €300 to €400 notebooks expanded from 15% of sales in 2024 to 23% the following year. Meanwhile, one-third of second-hand desktops sold for between €100 and €200, and a similar proportion of tablets were under €100.
Since DRAM and NAND manufacturers began shifting their production capacity to AI data centers, RAM has become scarce, with prices skyrocketing. The effects have cascaded down to nearly every device that requires RAM, leading to widespread price hikes and shortages.
Valve recently admitted that the crisis will delay its upcoming Steam Machine and result in intermittent Steam Deck availability throughout the year. Meanwhile, prices of graphics cards have risen by as much as 40%, and laptops are also projected to become more expensive. Amid the panic, HP recently began offering an alternative to new or used devices – renting a gaming laptop for $50 per month.
The trend has also impacted CPU sales. Because DDR4 RAM has not risen in price as quickly as DDR5 memory, older processors that support DDR4 have experienced a resurgence, such as AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 5 3600.
In Europe, sales of refurbished laptops and tablets are expected to receive another boost this year from upcoming EU legislation. The bloc's right-to-repair law, which comes into effect in July, will increase the availability of replacement parts and second-hand devices.