I’m looking into switching to the FP3 since it looks much more mature (and enough mature) than the FP2.
But it is sold by a lot of online retailers, why is that and is there a difference between buying it directly from Fairphone and buying it from a retailer?
Welcome to the community forum.
And then there’s Fairphone’s vendor warranty …
If you buy from a reseller you will have both options should the need arise … you can claim your rights with the reseller, or you can claim Fairphone’s own warranty. Trader and vendor are different entities. Your choice.
If you buy from Fairphone, you still have both options, but you claim them with the same entity: Fairphone. No choice of a reseller which might be more nearby relative to your place, or speaks your non-major language (which Fairphone staff might not speak).
As to why they sell via resellers … For a start they reach more people this way. And they load-balance distribution (they don’t have to manage every sale themselves). And … probably there’s other stuff I can’t think of.
Resellers also take a bit of the enterpreneurial risk off Fairphone’s shoulders - FP3s sold to resellers are FP3s Fairphone won’t need to sit on anymore should demand be below expectation (which fortunately doesn’t seem to be the case right now). Easy revenue (even when the revenue per unit will be lower than from direct sales through Fairphone’s own shop). But maybe that’s just what you meant by “load-balance”.
I guess “load balance” meant, that FP is sharing the burden to distibute the phone.
They will save administrative costs.
In my opinion the main advantage of distibution via resellers is to be more visible on the market i.e. reoch more people as @AnotherElk correctly stated.
Those resellers have lots of customers and do their own advertising and marketing.
If they additionally share the values of Fairphone, like memolife, vireo and faircustomer, so much better for reaching the right ones.
And memolife.de (for private customers) as a surplus has a business-customer shop (memo.de) as well. And both shops present the FP3 on the landing page.
The lower amount of money they get for a single phone is outweighed by the higher number of sold phones.
Plus all the other reasons of course.
Buying with Fairphone still means more money in their pockets; though not in yours, as you might have to pay a few Euro more for shipping.
Selling by instance through a reseller which is a provider can give you the opportunity to buy the FP3 with a monthly subscription. So you don’t have to pay the full amount in one time.
This makes the FP3 for more people payable.
Good point.
And - especially in Germany - I have seen offered all kinds of contracts at various rates with all the major carriers.
Can I also return my old phone and receive the 20 / 40 EUR recycling bonus when buying via a reseller? The terms and conditions aren’t particularly conclusive in that respect, imho. (And by the way: they are wrongly mentioning “the purchase of a Fairphone 2 smartphone” and “forty-five (45) Euro”.)
The application form you have to fill includes a field “order number” and that probably only works for purchases from Fairphone directly.
EDIT: I just stumbled across this thread where @BertG rightly states that the terms say you can only redeem a voucher on the FP webshop. Imho that still isn’t fully conclusive, too, as it only mentions the “redeeming the voucher” part and not when you get it. But I’ll shut up now and live with having to make the decision between supporting a reseller or getting 40 Euro.
[Still, updating the terms to the new process, where you can get the voucher after the purchase, and replacing “Fairphone 2” with “Fairphone 3” would make sense.]
Resellers can combine it with a subscription. You can save money via such subscription even if you buy the smartphone right away. Sometimes it isn’t worth it. For example, I got a great deal via quad play and such right now, so I did not bother this path, but you could save yourself a couple of EUR if you’re in the market for a new subscription (you can also negotiate a deal with your current provider though).
Where did you find those T&Cs? - might be useful info for the Fairphone team if/when they get round to improving the website. I’ve only seen the T&Cs linked from the recycling programme form, and they’re quite clear (and don’t mention FP2 purchases or different amounts):
2.1 This promotion is only valid in case you order a Fairphone 3 smartphone in our webshop.
They are linked from the recycling program page you get to see when you’re in Germany: https://www.fairphone.com/de/recycle-your-phone/
Since the T&C are the legally binding part of the return program I would say this isn’t a matter of improving the page but rather something they should fix sooner than later. In the most simple case by replacing it with the English version you linked. This one is indeed very different and totally clear. What’s the best way to inform them?
Many thanks for clarifying!
You can edit this Wiki here and add your point …
This is a decision by Fairphone which I do not quite understand and I do not consider smart. I purchased my FP 3 from a reseller (just because I could take it straight home instead of waiting for weeks for my order to be shipped, my old phone was dead). Now because I did that I am not eligible to take part in the recycling program getting cash-back for a returned phone. That does not match Fairphone’s determination to encourage recycling. On the one hand they want as many people as possible to recycle their old phones; on the other hand they don’t allow people like me to contribute to that goal (or at least don’t offer the financial advantage of it).
In my opinion, every buyer of a FP 3 should be able to claim a recycling cash-back, no matter what channel they chose for their purchase.
Ok.
But you should keep in mind, that buying from a reseller means one more party to profit from the sale.
If you buy with FP, they get your 450 Euro, but you have to wait.
If you buy from a reseller, this reseller gets your 450 Euro and FP gets ??? (I would be surprised should they get 410 Euro.) But you can see and feel and pick up your phone on the spot.
In my opinion it’s obvious, that you can not have it all.
Finally: I really hope, that your decision to recycle does not depend on being paid for it. 
In the case of the Fairphone 2 when it was priced at €525, the reseller margin was €22.97. Before that, the Fairphone 1 (at €325) had a reseller margin of €4.25 - which might be part of the explanation why there was relatively little uptake of the Fairphone 1 by resellers (besides that Fairphone was very small and mostly unknown at that stage).
Of course not, BertG, I am going to recycle not only my last phone but some more I have been keeping here in my drawer. Just am a bit disappointed that I am denied the opportunity to be part of the recycling programm with cash back.
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