Home appliances ＂trade-in＂, but also need to get through these blocking points.
A few days ago, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in"; On April 12th, the Ministry of Commerce and other 14 departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting Trade-in of Consumer Goods. At present, the "trade-in" of household appliances is in full swing, and various household appliance chain enterprises have launched corresponding activities. How to trade in the old for the new? How much can old household appliances pay? How to deal with the old household appliances after recycling?
Status quo: The deduction of old household appliances is all "one price"
On Wenchang Middle Road in Yangzhou City, Huiyin Electric Appliances and JD.COM Electric Appliances are close together, which is a good place for local residents to buy electrical appliances. "Trade-in the old, save money and worry", "double subsidies from government and enterprises, change to a new stop" … During the interview, the reporter found that in the two major home appliance markets,not a fewMerchants have posted leaflets related to trade-in.
"A few years ago, I wanted to throw away the broken washing machine at home, and I had to call the master who collected the waste to carry it away. Not only was the broken washing machine worthless, I had to give them 100 yuan." In Gree Store of JD.COM Electric Appliances, the reporter met Zhu Yi, a citizen of Yangzhou who planned to change the air conditioner. He told the reporter that the air conditioner at home has been used for many years, and there will be a "click-click" sound when the blades rotate, so I recently wanted to change the air conditioner before summer. Unexpectedly, when I visited the shopping mall, I found that not only the merchants would tow away the old appliances when they came to install new appliances, but the old air conditioner could also be discounted for money. "The old air conditioner can reach 300 yuan, and it feels convenient and affordable, which is very good."
Gree store clerk said,1 horseOld air conditioners can be deducted from 300 yuan, 1.5 can arrive in 400 yuan, and 2 can be deducted from 500 yuan … In addition, you can enjoy 100 yuan’s "trade-in" voucher when you buy a new air conditioner and 200 yuan’s "trade-in" voucher. After conversion, you can at least save 400 yuan by participating in the "trade-in".
The same is "trade-in", but the experience of Nanjing citizen Meng Jia is somewhat different. "Recently, my home has been renovated, and I want to take this opportunity to replace all home appliances with intelligent ones that can be controlled by remote mobile phones." Meng Jia said, but after consulting the clerk, he found that no matter how good or bad the household appliances are, and how long they are used, they are all "a price" when they are traded in. "Air conditioner 300, refrigerator 200, washing machine 50 … The old household appliances at home have basically only been used for about 5 years, and they are still good, which is a price that others have broken down. I don’t understand why this is calculated."
During the visit, the reporter also found that although the conversion methods of old-for-new home appliances in different cities, different appliance stores and different brands are different, they are basically "one price".
In Nantong Wenfeng World (Nandajie Store), all kinds of household appliances, such as air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines, are labeled with "trade-in". The sales staff of Midea Air Conditioning told reporters that the "trade-in" activity has just been launched. No matter whether the machine is good or bad or the brand of the machine, one old air conditioner can be deducted from 200 yuan and 1.5 old air conditioners can be delivered to 300 yuan.
On April 11th, the reporter went to Suning.cn (Xinjiekou Store), where the slogan of "trade-in" was everywhere, and the atmosphere of "trade-in" was full.
When asked why they are all "one price", a shop assistant who has been engaged in electrical appliance sales for more than ten years bluntly said, "Trade-in is just a way of" letting the price go ",and the old machines are actually worthless. After recycling, the old machine can’t be taken to the factory for renovation, so it can only be dismantled as waste, so no matter how many years it has been used, it is the same price. Air conditioners contain metals such as copper, iron and aluminum, and the recycling price is relatively high, while household appliances with less metal content such as refrigerators, televisions and washing machines are worthless. "
Blocking point: it is difficult to recycle old household appliances.
Trade-in of old equipment is not only related to consumption upgrading, but also to establishing a virtuous circle system. It is equally important to deal with "old equipment" and stimulate "new demand".
"The key to recycling household appliances lies in dismantling. At present, there are 8 enterprises with dismantling qualifications in the province. The proportion of waste household appliances that are dismantled and recycled through formal channels is not high, and many of them have entered informal dismantling points, which invisibly increases supervision and environmental protection costs." Wang Sheng, general manager of Kaiyan Electronics Co., Ltd. told the reporter that according to the qualification recognized by the environmental protection department, the enterprise can dismantle 1.93 million used household appliances a year, but last year, the business volume of dismantling enterprises was less than 870,000, and it was the main problem that "second-hand goods" could not be obtained.
While Wang Sheng was worried about "not receiving" old household appliances, the second-hand platform was caught in the dilemma of "not receiving" valuable old household appliances and "no one collecting" old household appliances. "Most old household appliances have no value in circulation to the second-hand market. It is estimated that 80% of old household appliances enter the dismantling process, and only about 20% enter the second-hand market, mainly in the fields of air conditioners and washing machines." A person in charge of the second-hand platform revealed that in addition, in the process of resale of old household appliances on the second-hand platform, it is often difficult to reach an agreement because of the different bids of buyers and sellers and who is responsible for the freight, which leads to the low turnover of second-hand household appliances. There are still many blocking points and sticking points to be cleared on the road to turning the "old" into treasure.
How to solve the problem of single recycling channel of old household appliances and establish an efficient and smooth recycling system of old household appliances?
Liu Buchen, an analyst in the household appliance industry, believes that in the follow-up policy implementation process, we should avoid focusing only on market stimulus and neglecting product recycling, and form a complete policy closed loop from stimulating the market to product withdrawal to recycling. We should provide a formal channel for recycling old household appliances, establish a modern large-scale household appliance recycling system, encourage the fine dismantling of old household appliances, and make the best use of the value of old household appliances.
Zhang Chunlong, director of the Institute of Social Policy of Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, suggested that the first is to improve the recycling system and establish a sound recycling system for used household appliances, including setting up professional recycling points and carrying out door-to-door recycling services. The second is to establish a standardized treatment process to standardize the management of the dismantling, classification and treatment of used household appliances to avoid secondary pollution to the environment. The third is to strengthen supervision and law enforcement, introduce relevant policies and standards, strictly implement the disposal standards of used household appliances, and severely crack down on illegal dismantling and disposal. Fourth, encourage all parties involved to share benefits, encourage consumers to participate in recycling by setting up a reasonable recycling incentive mechanism and benefit sharing mechanism, and also encourage recycling enterprises to increase technical input and improve the recycling rate of household appliances resources.
"Promoting large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods is a systematic project, which requires a good combination of policies. It is necessary to strengthen publicity and guidance to raise public awareness of equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods. At the same time, it is necessary to introduce relevant policies, such as financial subsidies and tax incentives, to encourage enterprises to renew equipment and trade-in consumer goods, and to improve recycling channels and improve recycling efficiency. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the formulation and upgrading of standards to provide a better market environment for equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods. " Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, said.
In the recycling system of old household appliances, enterprises are the main body of innovation and development. "Haier has built 5,000 recycling networks across the country, covering 2,482 districts and counties, ensuring the production capacity of the dismantling end. In 2023, 6.73 million old household appliances were dismantled." The relevant person in charge of Haier’s recycling industry said that at present, Haier has built the industry’s first circular closed-loop system of "recycling, dismantling, recycling and reuse" around the consumer demand for health and greening. At the recycling end, the enterprise will co-ordinate the old machine resources to ensure the production capacity of the dismantling end; At the dismantling end, the enterprise will optimize the dismantling process and enhance the value of the dismantled products; At the recycling end, Haier will improve the quality of recycled products through technological innovation; On the reuse side, Haier has realized the high-value utilization of renewable resources.
According to the relevant person in charge of Gree Electric, since 2010, the company has established six renewable resource bases, carried out recycling of discarded electrical and electronic products, discarded automobiles, and deep processing and recycling of discarded circuit boards and discarded plastics. The amount of green and harmless treatment of discarded household appliances has been in the forefront of the industry for many years, with revenue of about 1.7 billion yuan in 2022 and over 3 billion yuan in 2023, with a year-on-year increase of 76.5%. By the end of 2023, Gree’s renewable resources had collected and dismantled 56 million sets of waste electronic and electrical products, and recycled 850,000 tons of main metals such as copper, iron and aluminum. According to the calculation, through the resource regeneration of Gree, the carbon emission has been reduced by 2.8 million tons.
At present, it is imperative to get through the possible difficulties of "trade-in". At present, the action plan of trade-in has been released one after another. The reporter learned that the relevant policies of trade-in in Jiangsu are still in the pipeline.
Peng Tao, general manager of Nanjing Environmental Resources Recycling Technology Co., Ltd. expects that Jiangsu’s "trade-in" policy will pay more attention to recycling and dismantling, strengthen the supervision of recycling and dismantling channels, prevent unqualified enterprises from dismantling waste household appliances privately, and avoid leaving "environmental problems" behind by the "green rejuvenation" policy.
It is reported that qualified dismantling enterprises will make the best use of waste household appliances according to the process requirements of the environmental protection department, and turn the old ones into gold: the waste parts are sold to steel mills, circuit boards to hazardous waste recycling enterprises, foam insulation layers, etc. They are sold to qualified raw material users, and harmful metals are sent to qualified enterprises for harmless treatment.
"At present, enterprises carry out the" trade-in "activity, and most of the recycled waste household appliances have nowhere to accept except air conditioners, and they are piled up in the open air, causing environmental pollution." Qian Zhengming, secretary of the Party branch of the Provincial Household Electrical Appliances Association, found in the investigation that some of the recovered household appliances flowed to the second-hand market, and many of them flowed into illegal dismantling channels. Even those who entered the formal dismantling enterprises went through many links, with high costs, and the enterprises were operating at a loss and lacked enthusiasm. She suggested that the government can give appropriate subsidies to this link and set up a special warehouse for used household appliances.
Prospects: The replacement scale of household appliances in Jiangsu this year is expected to be 15 million units.
Compared with the past, the new round of "trade-in" launched this year is significantly different in government-led, implementation areas and subsidy standards, and pays more attention to guiding consumers to "update" in the direction of greening, intelligence and informationization. Qian Zhengming believes that this round of "trade-in" policy is just the right time. On the one hand, with the technological innovation, there are a large number of new products with high technical content, strong personalization and good energy-saving effect on the market; On the other hand, with the continuous development of the market, China’s home appliance market has entered an era of paying equal attention to both increment and stock from the "incremental era", and some consumers urgently need to eliminate the old home appliances that have been "out of service" to reduce potential safety hazards; There are also some consumers who are experiencing the concept upgrade from "having to being excellent" and need to meet their needs with "new consumption".
In order to promote consumers to eliminate old appliances with high energy consumption and replace them with green smart appliances, more than 30 head brands, including JD.COM, Hand in Hand Midea, Haier, Gree, Hisense, Samsung, etc., have offered 15% subsidy for the old ones. "Consumers can participate in activities in self-operated stores under the national line of JD.COM MALL, JD.COM and JD.COM Wuxing Electric, and enjoy the’ one-stop free delivery of new and old’ service, without having to worry about the handling of old household appliances." Tang Hui, the brand department of JD.COM Wuxing Electric Appliances, said that since March, the trade-in business volume of JD.COM Jiangsu stores has increased by more than 200% month-on-month. Through investigation, it is found that this round of consumers’ demand for replacement is more focused on green smart home appliances, and the demand for large-capacity refrigerators, washing machines, fresh air conditioners and household appliances is very large, which is a rejuvenation of lifestyle.
Xu Zhibo, sales general manager and user experience officer of Haier Zhijia in China, said that in terms of product replacement, Haier locked in more than 400 trade-in models in 14 categories, including refrigerators, washing machines, dryers and air conditioners, and invested 1 billion yuan in special replacement subsidy funds to provide users with three subsidies: old machine residual value coupons, replacement subsidy coupons and green carbon points. The highest subsidy for single product replacement is 1000 yuan, which can also be superimposed with local government replacement consumption subsidies up to 15%.～20%； In the scene renewal, Haier provides users with local renovation and scene renewal services for balconies, kitchens and other family spaces, from changing a home appliance to changing a complete set of home appliances to changing a smart home scene scheme, and provides 20% ~ 40% subsidies for local renovation.
Trade in the old for the new to incite the big market. The reporter learned that in 2023, the sales brought by the trade-in of Haier China District will account for about 30% of the total sales. Since the second half of last year, Sanying Bird has focused on the renovation of old residential areas and second-hand houses, and the transaction volume of smart scene schemes has exceeded 5.3 billion yuan.
Promote high-quality durable consumer goods to enter residents’ lives, and a new round of "trade-in" action will open up a huge domestic demand market. How big is the space? According to the forecast data of AVC, in 2024, the channel scale of the national household appliances market will be about 483.86 million online, 127.02 million offline and 610.88 million omni-channel.
"This year, there should be about 30 million’ elimination’ units in Jiangsu that have only been in service for an extended period. Considering the situation that some consumers are frugal, the whole replacement scale should be around 15 million units, of which the replacement scale of empty ice washing and kitchen appliances should be around 7.5 million units." Qian Zhengming said that this large-scale equipment renewal and the trade-in of consumer goods showed the adjustment of the policy thinking of "tapping the increment from the stock", which not only helped to expand the effective demand and supply-side structural reform as a whole, but also consolidated the economic recovery and accelerated the green transformation of economic development.
Li Xin, director of the Electrical Testing Center of the Provincial Quality Inspection Institute, said that according to the Safe Service Life of Household Appliances, the safe service life of household refrigerators and room air conditioners is 10 years; The safe service life of household electric washing machines, clothes dryers, household gas stoves, range hoods, storage water heaters, household water purifiers, tableware disinfection cabinets and smart toilets is 8 years.
"It should be noted that the safe service life of air conditioners starts from the production date, and the rest products start from the sales date. Exceeding the above time is’ overdue service’. " Li Xin said that the use environment of many household appliances is complex. When they are used beyond the service life, the performance of the products will obviously decline, and the energy consumption of water, electricity and gas will also increase significantly. More importantly, the longer they are used beyond the service life, the higher the probability of safety accidents. Generally speaking, consumers are advised to replace household appliances in time in the following situations: household appliances that have exceeded the safe service life, household appliances with outdated technology, household appliances with outdated standards, household appliances with constant glitches, and household appliances with significantly increased energy consumption.
How to stimulate the demand for home appliance trade-in? The reporter learned that not only the market has acted quickly, but governments at all levels have intensively "thrown out" subsidies to promote the "replacement" market to heat up.
On April 9th, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Commerce held a deployment meeting on financial assistance to promote consumption mobilization. Focus on the fields of automobile, home (household appliances, furniture) and refined oil consumption, integrate resources of all parties through the way of "government setting up a platform, association guidance, enterprise participation and market operation", and select multiple property communities for pilot by the way of "pilot first and then promote". Then the relevant government departments issued special working documents for further replication and promotion.
On April 10th, Taizhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce released the plan of "Tai Xiang Consumption Rejuvenates New Life" to promote household appliances trade-in in 2024, which is scheduled for April 15th, 2024.～During the period of May 15th, we invested 2 million yuan, and adopted the method of "government subsidy+merchants making profits". The maximum subsidy for rejuvenation exceeded 15%, and vigorously carried out the "trade-in" activity of household appliances, bringing tangible benefits to consumers.
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