A refrigerator that can still be used normally, regardless of its brand, appearance, and service life, is often recycled at a "fixed price" of 60 yuan, while range hoods and stoves are all 0 yuan, which is equivalent to "giving it away for free".

A new round of home appliance replacement is in full swing. In this process, how to value and price old home appliances is an unavoidable topic, and it is also directly related to consumers' replacement experience. During the interview, the reporter found that many consumers reflected that the current valuation of old home appliances is low, and the lack of sense of gain and attraction has affected people's willingness to replace new ones to a certain extent.

Current situation: 5-year and 10-year refrigerator recycling is 60 yuan

The refrigerator currently used in Ms. Li's home was bought when she renovated her house in 2014. At that time, a three-door refrigerator with a capacity of more than 300 liters cost her several thousand yuan. After 10 years, the overall function of the old refrigerator is still normal, but it occasionally gets a little "tantrum", especially in the dead of night, the "buzzing" working sound is really a bit noisy.

Ms. Li checked and found that the old refrigerator had reached the age of "retirement". According to the relevant standards of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, the safe service life of household washing machines and range hoods is generally 8 years, and the safe service life of household refrigerators and room air conditioners is 10 years.

"Why not change to a new one?" The country recently launched a policy of exchanging old appliances for new ones, and various subsidies and discounts made her think about it. According to the old-for-new program launched by home appliance sales companies, old appliances can be recycled at a price, which is equivalent to a deduction of part of the price of new appliances, which is more favorable.

Ms. Li looked around the store and was quite satisfied with several new refrigerators: not only large capacity and stylish appearance, but also intelligent networking, more energy-saving and "quiet" when working. However, when she heard that an old refrigerator could only be priced at 60 yuan when exchanging old for new, she was somewhat surprised: why is the recycling price so low?

"It would be fine if the old refrigerator was broken, but it can still be used normally and the appearance is well maintained. It is worth hundreds of yuan at least. Isn't it just throwing it away at this price now?" Such a low recycling price made Ms. Li feel it was not worth it. After thinking about it, she decided to "make do" for a while before making any plans.

Even if it is not "overused", the price of old home appliances will not go up. Feeling that the cooling effect is not as good as before, Ms. Zhao took the refrigerator she had used for 5 years to exchange for a new one, and the recycling price of the old refrigerator was only 60 yuan.

During the exchange process, old home appliances were "complained" because the recycling price was too low, which is not an isolated case. Some consumers complained that "it was a huge sum of money when buying home appliances, but it felt "worthless" when selling them", and they had no sense of gain; some consumers questioned "why the price is the same as that of ten years", which is not attractive.

Experience: Refrigerators, washing machines and TVs are all "fixed price"

The reporter found that from the perspective of the standards for recycling old home appliances by mainstream platform companies, low recycling prices are a common problem at present. Large appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, etc., regardless of the age, brand, appearance, etc., are often recycled at a "fixed price". Except for air conditioners that can give a "three-digit" quotation, other large appliances are mostly between more than 30 yuan and 60 yuan.

"Free door-to-door disassembly and transportation, regardless of brand, regardless of good or bad." Suning.com is currently promoting the replacement of old appliances with new ones. The reporter found out from the official website that air conditioners have the highest evaluation value among large appliances, among which wall-mounted air conditioners are 220 yuan and cabinet air conditioners are 400 yuan. The recycling price of old TVs over 20 inches and LCD TVs over 32 inches is 35 yuan; although refrigerators are classified according to types such as single-door, double-door, three-door, double-door, multi-door and freezer with more than 100 liters, the evaluation price is 60 yuan. Washing machines are generally similar, with drums and pulsators weighing more than 4 kilograms being priced at 50 yuan, while double-cylinder washing machines are even lower, at only 38 yuan.

The situation on another JD platform is similar. After evaluating the prices of old home appliances, the reporter found that, taking air conditioner cabinets as an example, regardless of the brand, the valuation was 400 yuan, and the price of wall-mounted machines was 220 yuan; pulsator and drum washing machines weighing more than 4 kilograms were 50 yuan; refrigerators weighing more than 100 liters were 60 yuan; LCD TVs weighing more than 32 inches were 35 yuan, and old-style cathode ray tube TVs were 35 yuan.

Most kitchen and bathroom appliances such as range hoods and stoves have "no residual value", that is, 0 yuan. Taking gas stoves as an example, when the platform participates in the old-for-new exchange, it will display "no residual value, disposal on behalf of", that is, the machine can be disassembled and transported for free, but no old machine payment will be issued.

The reporter also visited a home appliance store near the South Third Ring Road and found that the offline store's valuation of old machines was basically the same as that of the online store. For example, a new 1.5P wall-mounted air conditioner of a certain brand is priced at 4,799 yuan. With the replacement subsidy and various discounts from the store, the price can be reduced to 3,799 yuan. "If you have an old air conditioner at home, depreciation can save you more than 200 yuan." The air conditioner salesperson said that because there are copper pipes in the air conditioner, the depreciation price will be higher, but other home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines can basically not be recycled at a high price, "it's just a matter of tens of yuan."

Reason: Single channel, 80% of old home appliances are directly disassembled

How can there be a "fixed price" for home 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 home appliances go up? Industry insiders attribute the crux to the channel. At present, the recycling channel for old home appliances is too single, and most of them are used for direct disassembly, which makes it difficult for the recycled home appliances to have a higher value, and naturally it is difficult to recycle them at a "high price".

"From the perspective of materials, air conditioners contain metals such as copper, iron, and aluminum, which are relatively more valuable when recycled. However, home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions have relatively less metal content, so the residual value is low, which is often said to be worthless." Zhao Binghua, director of Beijing Suning Bangke After-sales Operation Center, told reporters.

In the case of low residual value, most old home appliances have no value in the second-hand market, so they naturally cannot be raised when recycled. Zhao Binghua introduced that from the current processing of recycled old home appliances, 80% enter the dismantling stage, including large appliances such as refrigerators and televisions, as well as range hoods, gas stoves, etc., which are finally sent to dismantling companies after being recycled from consumers. Only about 20% enter the second-hand market through cooperative recyclers, mainly in the fields of air conditioners and washing machines.

It is understood that the recycled washing machines and air conditioners may be reused after cleaning and disinfection. The recycling price of a wall mounted air conditioner is currently about 220 yuan per unit. After renovation, the second-hand market price can be sold for about 450 yuan, and a good one can be sold for 500 yuan, which will allow recyclers to make a certain profit. Refrigerators are different. Although some functions are normal and can still be used, the chance of being reused is actually very low. On the one hand, it is difficult to remove the odor of old refrigerators, and on the other hand, it involves food, and many people do not accept old refrigerators psychologically.

The reporter also found in the interview that compared with the old-for-new exchange, if consumers just want to sell old, for example, an old refrigerator, they can't even get a quote of 60 yuan.

Many recyclers said that due to the high transportation and labor costs, they have to carry them down from upstairs. If these old appliances are recycled separately, the recycling cost may be higher than the recycling value, so they are unwilling to go.

For example, according to the current situation, the disassembly cost of a water heater and a gas stove is about 20 to 30 yuan, and the transportation cost is about 40 yuan per piece. Old home appliances cannot be sent directly to the dismantling company on the day of recycling, so they need to rent a warehouse for temporary storage. The cost of labor, dismantling, transportation, storage and other costs are all calculated, and the recycling cost of each old home appliance may exceed 100 yuan, which is more than double the price of recycling an old home appliance.

Zhao Binghua introduced that for this reason, home appliance platform companies even have to take out part of their resources to subsidize the recycling of old home appliances, covering a series of recycling costs such as dismantling fees, transportation fees, and warehouse rental fees.

Suggestion: Improve the recycling system to make old home appliances "turn"

"The price of selling old and dilapidated houses is different from that of second-hand houses. The specific situation must be analyzed in detail." Regarding the pain point of low valuation of old home appliances when exchanging old for new ones, many consumers call for a more detailed valuation based on factors such as the brand, appearance and functional integrity of the home appliances, so that the well-preserved old home appliances can be more valuable.

Recently, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-Scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in", which proposed to accelerate the development of the "trade-in + recycling" logistics system and new models, and support durable consumer goods production and sales companies to build reverse logistics systems or cooperate with professional recycling companies to collect waste consumer goods on site.

To solve the problem of a single recycling channel, it is necessary to establish an efficient and smooth recycling system for old home appliances, open up the "last mile" for consumers to trade-in old appliances, and retain the value of old home appliances to a greater extent, so as to further increase the price of recycling old home appliances and make trade-in more attractive.

"The purchase price of old home appliances for trade-in is low because the current use of old home appliances is still very extensive." Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said that on the one hand, the recycling of old home appliances should not only recycle metals such as copper and iron, as well as glass and plastic, but also recycle some precious metals and other elements. In the future, if the recycling of old home appliances can be more refined, it will provide higher value.

On the other hand, the value of recycling old home appliances does not necessarily have to be achieved through scrapping and dismantling and recycling of raw materials. For those old home appliances that have market demand, they can be disinfected and their normal functions can be guaranteed to meet the needs of some specific sinking markets such as rural areas, so that they can continue to play their role. Zhou Mi said, "Dismantling and reuse should be effectively combined, but the current problem is that the information channels are not smooth and the recycling channels are very limited."

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