But as the refurbished tech category matures, a gap is opening up between how devices are being bought and sold, and what responsible sourcing really requires. Most conversations in the refurbished supply chain come down to two things: cosmetic grade and price. What they rarely cover is what’s inside the device i.e., whether components have been replaced, where those parts came from, and whether any of it can be verified. For most of the market, the honest answer is that it can’t.