refurbed x byrd: sustainable e-commerce, scaled across Europe

refurbed: a marketplace with a mission

refurbed is one of Europe's leading marketplaces for refurbished products. Smartphones, laptops, tablets: consumers find high-quality, professionally restored devices on the platform at a fraction of the new-device price. The idea behind it is as simple as it is compelling: use products longer, conserve resources, save money.

Since its founding in Vienna in 2017, refurbed has expanded consistently. Today the marketplace is active in 24 European countries. While the DACH region remains the core market, refurbed's international presence, from Sweden to Italy, is growing fast.

From marketplace to own inventory: the accessories challenge

refurbed's core business is built on a pure marketplace model: the carefully selected merchants who refurbish the devices hold their own stock and ship directly to end customers.

To round off the customer experience and extend the lifecycle of devices further, refurbed wanted to strategically expand its portfolio. Its own accessories, such as protective cases, charging cables, and screen protectors, would be offered directly through the platform.

This is exactly where a significant logistical challenge emerged. While the cost of shipping an expensive laptop easily covers transport costs, margin-sensitive accessories worth around €15–25 leave no room for supply chain inefficiency. For this new business model, refurbed needed a highly flexible and scalable fulfillment solution that could deliver reliably across all of Europe, without bloating the company's lean operational setup.

Local DNA, European reach: why byrd?

Through the Viennese startup ecosystem, the two founding teams had been in contact for several years. When the accessories strategy was put under analysis, byrd was the clear choice thanks to its unique combination of fulfillment infrastructure and deep technological understanding.

Choosing byrd was above all a decision for strategic flexibility. Since both companies share the vision of democratising European markets through technology, the mindset fit was immediate.

The main reason we chose byrd as our fulfillment partner is their European fulfillment expertise and their approach to solving challenges with scalable technology. This partnership allows us to keep shipping costs and delivery times low across countries. That is a decisive factor in making this product category profitable at all.

— Kilian Kaminski, Co-Founder, refurbed

Data-driven logistics: how refurbed reduces shipping costs and improves NPS

refurbed is connected directly to the byrd platform via byrd's API. Orders flow automatically from the marketplace into byrd's warehouse management system (WMS), where they are allocated to the most appropriate fulfillment center. From there, byrd takes over: carrier selection is automatically optimized by destination country and product to minimize costs while delivering the best possible customer experience.

To make this possible, refurbed regularly reviews byrd's data and tests different shipping options against each other in close coordination with its dedicated account manager. Various shipping methods (such as with and without tracking) have been launched and their performance evaluated. The marketplace does not rely solely on its internal NPS (Net Promoter Score) metrics, but also uses byrd's detailed performance data to balance delivery times and customer satisfaction precisely.

Thanks to byrd's flexible logistics solution and its technical and logistical infrastructure, operational e-commerce processes can be optimized in exactly this way. The result is a setup that gives refurbed precisely what it needs: full control over the customer experience with minimal operational effort in the background.

The result: scalable infrastructure without fixed-cost risk

Thanks to the partnership, refurbed was able to establish its new accessories segment across 19 countries with a lean internal logistics team and without risky investments in its own warehouse infrastructure. byrd provides the complete physical and digital infrastructure, allowing refurbed to focus entirely on marketplace growth and the onboarding of new merchants.

We see ourselves as a partner and extended workbench for refurbed. Our job is to continuously review and improve the logistics processes to meet refurbed's requirements. We do this across every area, whether it is selecting the right shipping option or managing packaging processes. In the world of logistics, the conditions change almost daily, and that is why we work hand in hand with our customers to always stay up to date.

— Petra Dobrocka, Co-Founder, byrd

What's next: further growth with UK fulfillment

The next step is already planned. In the near future, refurbed will also start shipping from a local byrd fulfillment center in the UK. This will allow refurbed to bypass post-Brexit customs barriers, significantly reduce logistics costs, and cut delivery times in one of the world's most competitive e-commerce markets.

The partnership between refurbed and byrd shows that two European scale-ups can achieve more together than either could alone.

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