Digital Right to Repair 2026: The New Rules of the Game for Tech Repair Pros

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Digital Right to Repair 2026: New Rules for Tech Repair Pros

Digital Right to Repair 2025–2026: The New Rules of the Game for Tech Repair Pros

The rules of the tech repair industry are changing fast—and for once, they're starting to change in favor of the people who actually keep devices running: you.

Colorado's New Law: A Glimpse of the Future

Starting January 1, 2026, Colorado will set a new standard for digital right to repair. The state's new Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment law requires manufacturers to provide independent repair shops and consumers with the tools, parts, and documentation needed to fix smartphones, computers, smart appliances, and more.

This law doesn't just open up access—it also prohibits parts pairing to block independent repairs, bans false warnings about non-OEM parts, and requires transparency from shops about parts sourcing. It's the third major right to repair win in Colorado in three years, following laws for powered wheelchairs and agricultural equipment.

"The more competition you have, the more likely it is that you're going to save money. If there's only one choice, that entity can charge you more." — Danny Katz, CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group)

A Wave of State Action

Colorado isn't alone. States like New York, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Washington, and Texas have enacted digital right to repair laws. Many more—including Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, and New Hampshire—have active or pending bills for 2025–2026 (Repair Association updates).

These laws share a few key goals:

  • Require manufacturers to provide parts, tools, and manuals
  • Prevent software and digital locks from blocking fair repair
  • Open up competition for repairs and parts

What This Means for Your Shop

For repair professionals, these changes are both a challenge and an opportunity:

  • Access: More devices will be legally repairable, with fewer barriers to parts and diagnostics.
  • Transparency: You'll need to clearly inform customers if you're using non-OEM or used parts.
  • Accountability: The law prohibits misleading warnings about non-OEM parts and bans performance throttling after independent repairs.

Shops that stay ahead of these rules will be able to:

  • Offer faster, more affordable repairs
  • Build trust with customers through transparency
  • Position themselves as local leaders in digital right to repair

Market Narrative: Why Big Tech Wants You to Upgrade

A recent CNBC story framed Americans holding onto devices longer as a problem for the economy. But the real problem is the power Big Tech wields to make it difficult, expensive, or even impossible to keep tech running.

Through software locks, parts pairing, and restricted repair info, manufacturers push for upgrades and limit your choices. Right to repair is about making it possible, affordable, and normal to keep devices as long as you want.

When the market narrative says "upgrading is good for business," it's time for repair pros to push back and show that longevity, not forced obsolescence, is the future.

How to Get Involved: Make Your Voice Heard Before the Legislative Season

Legislative sessions start in January in most states—it sneaks up fast after the holidays! Now is the time to organize and take action. Here's how you can make a difference:

Action Steps for Repair Professionals

  • Find your state legislators: Use this directory to identify your representatives: State Legislature Websites
  • Contact them now: Send a short, direct message or email explaining why right to repair matters to you and your business. Tell your story—real-world examples carry weight.
  • Take it a step further: Schedule a meeting with your legislator. Remember: THEY WORK FOR YOU. Legislators are often more receptive than you might think, especially when you're polite, prepared, and specific.
  • Organize locally: Connect with other repair professionals in your state. A united voice is far more powerful—consider forming or joining a local coalition.
  • Share your stories: Lawmakers need to hear from real repair pros about what works—and what still needs fixing. Your experience matters.
  • Follow and support advocacy organizations: Groups like United We Repair and Repair.org are leading the way. Donating to Repair.org is worthwhile—they're a key player in the national movement, though they don't often work with groups outside their established network.

What You Can Do Now

  • Get familiar with your state's laws and what's coming next.
  • Educate your customers. Explain new rights, anti-parts-pairing protections, and why transparency matters.
  • Join coalitions like United We Repair. The more we work together, the more we can accomplish.

The Bottom Line

Digital right to repair is rewriting the rules. Shops that embrace change, educate their customers, and lead on transparency will not just survive—they'll thrive.

The next era of tech repair belongs to the professionals who fight for the right to keep devices running, not just for today, but for as long as people choose to own them.

Stay tuned for more in this series as we break down the details, answer your questions, and help you prepare for what's next.

Sample Email Templates for State Legislators

Template 1: Stressing the Need for Right to Repair

Template 2: Requesting a Meeting to Discuss Right to Repair

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Why Should You Care About the United We Repair Coalition?

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Every day, you face the same frustrating questions: Why can’t I advertise my business effectively? Why are parts so expensive and hard to find? Why do manufacturers like Apple and Samsung seem to work against me and my business? Why does it feel like the deck is stacked against independent repair shops?

Here’s why you should care: These aren’t just inconveniences—they’re systematic barriers designed to squeeze out independent repair businesses and funnel customers toward expensive manufacturer programs and new device sales.

But what if I told you there’s a proven way to tear down these barriers? That thousands of repair shops working together can force real change? That’s exactly what the United We Repair Coalition is designed to do.

Why Should You Care?

Because These Problems Are Costing You Serious Money

Google Ad Restrictions: Your Customers Can’t Find You

Why You Should Care: 73% of consumers search “phone repair near me” on Google first, but Google’s 2018 advertising ban means your shop is invisible while “authorized centers” and new device ads dominate search results.

What’s At Stake: Access to Google Ads could increase your monthly revenue by 25-40%. If you’re making $15,000/month, that’s $3,750-$6,000 you’re leaving on the table every single month.

Industry Impact: This advertising lockout costs independent repair shops at least $3.4 billion annually based on our comprehensive industry analysis—money that should be flowing to businesses like yours.

Right to Repair: You’re Locked Out of Profitable Services

Why You Should Care: Manufacturers deliberately restrict access to parts, tools, and repair manuals, forcing 60% of potential repairs toward their expensive programs or new device sales.

What’s At Stake: Washington State’s new right-to-repair law (effective 2026) will give shops access to previously forbidden iPhone and Samsung repairs. Early projections suggest this could double repair volume for participating businesses.

The Big Picture: Right to repair could unlock $50 billion in repair revenue nationwide—but only if we fight for comprehensive legislation everywhere, not just piecemeal state victories.

Tariff Threats: Parts Prices Could Explode 145% or More

Why You Should Care: The administration’s 90-day tariff pause expires August 14th. Without repair industry exemptions, parts costs could skyrocket, making repairs uncompetitive against new device purchases.

What’s At Stake: Your profit margins and customer retention. When repair costs approach new device prices, customers stop repairing—and you lose business permanently.

The Opportunity: The administration wants to support small businesses while encouraging domestic manufacturing. Repair industry tariff exemptions align perfectly with both goals, but we need collective voice to secure them.

Parts Availability: The $20 Billion Supply Chain Stranglehold

Why You Should Care: OEMs control 80% of parts distribution, creating artificial scarcity that forces you to turn away 35% of potential customers due to parts unavailability.

What’s At Stake: Every customer you turn away represents lost revenue and damaged reputation. Limited parts sources also inflate costs by 20-40% compared to competitive markets.

Our Integrated Approach: The TCA will work with existing parts providers to integrate new supply programs, including forcing OEM programs to open up, partnering with emerging manufacturers, establishing industry-wide parts standards, supporting platforms like the Basile Network for used parts, and collaborating with 3D printing companies. We’re not replacing your current suppliers—we’re expanding your options.

Why Should You Give?

Because Individual Action Gets Individual Results

The Hard Truth About Going It Alone

You can’t negotiate with Google as one shop. You can’t influence tariff policy as one business. You can’t force Apple to open their parts program as one repair service. Individual companies lack the scale and resources to create meaningful change.

The Power of Collective Action

Proven Model: The Auto Care Association represents 3,000+ automotive repair businesses and regularly wins policy battles that benefit the entire industry. They succeed because they speak with one unified voice backed by substantial resources.

Our Target: To start with, our goal is to find 1,300+ repair businesses and 100+ industry partners, growing to thousands of repair businesses and hundreds of industry partners—companies that sell into our industry—creating the largest advocacy force in tech repair history.

Why Your Investment Matters:

  • For Repair Business Owners: We’re only asking you to invest what you can afford—starting at $10/month. If you can afford to give more, additional support levels are available.

  • For Industry Partners: We’re asking parts, software, accessory, tool, and marketing providers and other repair adjacent companies to invest $100/month (or more if they can afford it) because they have greater capacity and benefit from industry-wide growth.

  • Tax deductible as a business expense through our 501(c)(6) structure

  • Immediate ROI: Even small wins on any single issue could generate thousands in additional annual revenue

What Your Investment Buys

We know you’re busy running your business—that’s exactly why the TCA exists. Your membership dollars go toward organizing comprehensive campaigns, executing strategic plans, and hiring full-time professionals dedicated to solving these problems so you can focus on what you do best: running your repair business.

Professional Advocacy Team: Full-time staff conducting executive-level lobbying with Google, Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers who currently ignore individual shop concerns. We’ll also bring in consultants and attorneys as needed to strengthen our efforts.

Strategic Campaign Execution: Coordinated policy influence in Washington DC, state legislatures, and regulatory proceedings where your business interests are decided.

Industry Leadership: A unified voice that commands respect from policymakers who currently address repair concerns on a fragmented, case-by-case basis.

Transparent Operations: As a 501(c)(6) non-profit, the TCA maintains full transparency in all activities. Members receive regular updates on campaign progress, fund utilization, and strategic developments affecting the industry.

The Bottom Line:

This Is Your Fight, Whether You Join It or Not

These four barriers will continue costing you money every single day whether you participate in the solution or not. The only question is whether you’ll help tear them down or watch from the sidelines while others determine your industry’s future.

The United We Repair Coalition launches July 7, 2025. Over the next month, we’ll be working hard to find the right people, finalize our comprehensive strategy, and prepare for launch. Following the July 7th launch, we’ll spend July and August building our membership, finalizing a board of advisors from a list of respected industry leaders, and holding our first in-person meeting at the All Wireless & Prepaid Expo in August. We’re also open to working with any other organization that will fully endorse our goals and work with us on this important project. Full program implementation begins in September 2025. This isn’t just another trade association—it’s the most comprehensive advocacy effort in repair industry history, backed by the established Tech Care Association and built on a proven model of collective action.

Your business faces systematic challenges that require systematic solutions. Individual action gets individual results. United action gets industry transformation.

The choice is yours: Continue fighting these battles alone with limited success, or join thousands of repair businesses in the largest advocacy effort our industry has ever seen.

United we repair. Divided we struggle.

Ready to stop losing money to systematic barriers? Contact the Tech Care Association in Washington, DC. Coalition membership drive begins with our 60-day campaign launching July 7th, with program implementation starting September 2025.

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United We Repair: Solving Tech Repair’s Biggest Challenges

The tech repair industry stands at a critical crossroads. While consumer demand for repair services continues to grow, several significant barriers prevent our industry from reaching its full potential. At the Tech Care Association (TCA), we believe that by uniting our 1,700+ members and thousands more independent tech repair professionals across the nation, we can overcome these challenges and create a thriving ecosystem that benefits repair businesses, consumers, and the environment.

TCA Logo

WHY THE TCA SHOULD LEAD THIS FIGHT

As the leading non-profit trade organization for tech care professionals, the TCA is uniquely positioned to champion this industry-wide movement. Our 501(c)(6) non-profit status means we’re not driven by shareholder demands or profit motives—our sole purpose is advancing the interests of our members and the broader tech care ecosystem. This structure allows us to focus entirely on advocacy, industry unification, and creating tangible benefits for repair professionals across all 50 states. Unlike for-profit entities, every resource we generate goes directly toward fighting for right to repair legislation, negotiating with tech giants, developing alternative supply chains, and creating new business opportunities for our members.  By uniting under the TCA banner, repair professionals gain a powerful, mission-driven advocate whose success is measured not by profits, but by the prosperity of its members and the sustainability of the tech care industry.

It is important to note that we already partner with other likeminded organizations and seek to partner with any and every organization that is working to make the industry stronger.

Let’s examine the four most pressing issues facing our industry today—and how collective action through TCA can help us overcome them.

Right to Repair Tech

RIGHT TO REPAIR: Building on Recent Momentum

The right to repair movement has gained significant traction, with Washington State recently becoming the sixth state to pass comprehensive legislation—and the strongest to date. This landmark victory provides companies like yours with greater access to parts, tools, and documentation needed to repair their devices.

However, most of us still lack these basic rights. Major manufacturers continue to implement software locks, parts pairing, and other tactics that make repairs unnecessarily difficult and expensive. These restrictions affect 54.3% of repair shops according to our recent survey, limiting your ability to serve customers effectively.

By working together through TCA, we can amplify our collective voice in state legislatures across the country. Our growing membership gives us the legitimacy to testify before lawmakers, share real-world impact stories, and demonstrate how repair restrictions harm small businesses and consumers alike.

GOOGLE AD RESTRICTIONS: Following the Locksmith Playbook

Many repair shops struggle with Google’s restrictive advertising policies, which often treat legitimate repair businesses like potential scammers. This significantly impacts customer acquisition and drives business toward manufacturer-authorized options.

There’s a proven path forward. In 2017, locksmiths faced similar challenges but overcame them by working together as a formal industry organization. Through collective action, they established the “Local Services” certificate and “Advanced Verification” process, allowing legitimate businesses to prove their credibility through business licenses and proper documentation.

TCA is positioned to negotiate with Google on behalf of the entire tech repair industry. By establishing industry-wide standards and verification processes, we can help legitimate repair businesses regain visibility while protecting consumers from actual scammers. Our collective bargaining power is far stronger than any individual shop or agency could achieve alone.

TARIFFS: Navigating Rising Costs While Creating Opportunities

The recent tariff increases on imports from China (34-54%), Vietnam (46%), India (26%), and South Korea (25%) present significant challenges for our industry. These tariffs directly impact the cost of devices and repair parts, potentially forcing price increases that could deter customers.

However, this challenge also presents an opportunity. By working together through TCA, we can:

  1. Advocate for specific exemptions for repair parts, arguing that they support small businesses and extend device lifespans, reducing e-waste, and making our economy more resilient
  2. Push OEMs like Apple and Samsung to increase domestic manufacturing, creating more accessible supply chains
  3. Develop group purchasing power to negotiate better terms with suppliers

The data shows consumers are increasingly turning to repair rather than replacement as device prices rise. With historical pricing trends showing aftermarket components becoming more affordable as device models age, our industry is positioned to thrive despite these challenges—if we work together.

PARTS AVAILABILITY: Creating Alternative Supply Chains

Parts availability remains one of the most significant barriers to repair, with 48.1% of shops identifying it as the biggest threat to the industry in our recent survey. OEM restrictions, serialization, and error messages continue to limit access to quality components.

At GRE2025, the TCA announced an exciting new initiative by one of our partners to address this challenge head-on. By leveraging our collective purchasing power and industry connections, we’re working to establish alternative supply chains that provide reliable, high-quality parts at fair prices.

Additionally, as right-to-repair legislation continues to advance, we’re positioned to negotiate directly with manufacturers as a unified industry voice. Rather than thousands of individual shops facing these giants alone, the TCA represents a powerful coalition that can demand fair access to parts, tools, and documentation.

But only if we all work together!

UNITED WE REPAIR: Tackling the Tech Care Industry's Biggest Challenges

United We Repair

BUILDING A COALITION FOR CHANGE

The challenges facing our industry are significant, but they’re not insurmountable. By uniting under the TCA banner, repair professionals gain strength in numbers and a powerful voice in shaping the future of our industry.

In the coming weeks, the TCA will be announcing several major initiatives to address these challenges directly. We’re building coalitions with environmental organizations, consumer advocacy groups, and other stakeholders who share our vision of a sustainable, accessible tech repair ecosystem.

Together, we can transform the tech repair landscape, ensuring that local repair shops thrive while providing consumers with the affordable, accessible repair options they deserve.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT TODAY

The time for action is now! As the challenges facing our industry intensify, so does our resolve to overcome them—together. The Tech Care Association invites your business to become an integral part of this growing movement by joining our 1,700+ members nationwide.

Whether you operate a repair shop that could help by becoming a CAPACITOR ($100/yr) level member, RESISTOR ($250/yr), or higher membership tiers, or maybe you are an industry partner that can strengthen our ecosystem by starting at the MANGANESE ($1,200/yr) level, the NICKEL ($5,000/yr), or maybe you want to go all in and become our first COBALT ($20,000/yr) level member, your participation directly empowers our collective voice. Every membership strengthens our ability to advocate for right to repair legislation, negotiate with tech giants, develop alternative supply chains, and create new business opportunities that benefit us all. Our recent survey shows that 92.3% of our members rely on repair work for the majority of their revenue—your livelihood is exactly what we’re fighting to protect and enhance. Don’t face these industry challenges alone. Visit our website today to select the membership tier that’s right for your business and join the thousands of tech care professionals who are proving that united, we repair not just devices, but an entire industry’s future.

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Tech Repair Leaders Unite at GRE2025 in Miami

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The Gadget Repair Expo 2025 transformed the Miami Beach Convention Center into a vibrant hub of repair innovation on May 7-8. With approximately 70 exhibitors and an estimated 500+ attendees, the event demonstrated the strength and innovation of our repair community. As TCA’s representative, I had the opportunity to introduce many new faces to our association and share our important industry initiatives.

Competition Highlights

The competitive events drew the largest crowds, showcasing the incredible talent in our industry:

Beau Dorsey , 2025, GRE 5.0, Micro Soldering Competition Winner

Beau Dorsey, Micro Soldering Competition Winner at 2025 GRE 5.0

  • Samuel Lansberry dominated the competitions, winning the LCD Swap “Show Down On South Beach” and securing runner-up in the Micro Soldering Competition, taking home over $1,500 in cash prizes
  • Beau Dorsey claimed the Micro Soldering Championship title after an intense double face-off in the finals, earning over $2,500 cash, a PACE Soldering Iron, and the coveted GRE Title Belt
  • Rebekah Kenney took first place in the ProtectionPro Installation competition

Industry Innovation Spotlight

The most buzzed-about announcement came from the launch of Basile, a groundbreaking universal graveyard marketplace and diagnostics database system. This platform aims to revolutionize how repair shops handle donor devices and parts sourcing. Key features include:

  • A searchable system connecting shops’ donor device inventories across cities, states, and countries
  • Analytics-driven pricing and inventory management
  • Universal diagnostics database with bounty system for component-level data
  • Integration with popular POS and ticketing systems
  • Structured B2B board repair framework

Expert Presentations

GRE2025 had four presentation rooms that offered attendees lots of options, here are some highlights

  • Martin Organista (EZ Fix Smartphone) delivered an enlightening micro-soldering demonstration
  • Jessa Jones of iPadRehab showcased critical data recovery techniques
  • Christian Kelley (My Tech Bench) demonstrated diverse repair skills across TV, drone, and e-mobility sectors
  • Timothy Phelps, COO of Techy, shared strategies for optimizing customer interactions and store operations
  • Christopher Smith’s packed session received enthusiastic audience response, particularly resonating with attendees who brought their families

Evening Events

The networking continued beyond the show floor with a cocktail party and laser light show, providing valuable opportunities for industry professionals to connect and share experiences. Many groups continued discussions outside of the convention center over dinner and drinks, strengthening the community bonds that make our industry unique.

TCA Impact

As your TCA representative, I used this opportunity to connect with shops facing challenges from recent tariff increases (up to 54% on China-origin products) and discuss how our association can support them. The conversations reinforced the critical importance of having a unified voice in our industry, especially as we navigate significant supply chain changes.

Community Connections

What truly makes these events valuable is the incredible sense of community that emerged both during and after show hours. As repair professionals, we often work in relative isolation, facing similar challenges with OEM restrictions and parts availability. However, at GRE, these shared challenges transformed into opportunities for collaboration. During the cocktail reception and even over dinner and drinks afterward, I witnessed countless conversations where shop owners exchanged solutions for common repair issues, shared supplier recommendations, and discussed strategies for navigating recent tariff challenges.

One particularly powerful moment was watching Christopher Smith’s presentation with his children in attendance – a reminder that we’re not just building businesses, but creating legacies in the repair industry. These personal connections are invaluable, especially considering that 42% of repair shops frequently have to turn away customers due to restricted access to parts and materials.

By building strong networks at events like GRE, shop owners can help each other find solutions, share resources, and strengthen our collective voice in advocating for right to repair. The after-hours networking proved just as valuable as the daytime sessions, with many attendees forming lasting connections that will serve as ongoing resources for their businesses.

Looking Forward

Innovations like Basile’s marketplace platform show how our industry continues to evolve and adapt to challenges. With an estimated 40 million original parts sitting in repair shops across the U.S. alone, solutions that help connect and mobilize these resources will be crucial for our industry’s future.

TCA’s Industry Support

The energy and collaboration witnessed at GRE2025 perfectly aligns with TCA’s mission to strengthen our industry through connection and advocacy. While events like GRE provide valuable face-to-face networking opportunities, TCA continues to build digital bridges between consumers and repair professionals through WhereToRepair.org – the internet’s only dedicated directory of repair shops.

This platform, highlighted in our recent Earth Day initiatives, emphasizes repair over recycling and connects consumers directly with local repair professionals. As our industry faces challenges revealed in our 2024 annual survey – where 48.1% of shops identified parts availability as their biggest threat and 38.5% expressed desire for more business from insurance and warranty services – TCA remains committed to developing tools that address these needs.

WhereToRepair.org represents just one of our efforts to increase consumer awareness of repair options, particularly important given that 70-80% of consumers don’t even know about repair services. By combining the in-person connections made at events like GRE2025 with our digital initiatives, we’re working to create a stronger, more connected repair ecosystem that benefits both consumers and repair professionals across all 50 states.

More TCA Resources

You can find additional tech repair industry resources on our website: Tech Care Industry Resource Hub

Join the TCA today to get your company listed in one of our professional directories:

Join as a Repair Business

Join as an Industry Partner

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RLA 2025: A New Era of Opportunity for Tech Repair

RLA 2025: A New Era of Opportunity for Tech Repair

RLA 2025 & the TCA: A New Era of Opportunity for Tech Repair

The 21st Annual Reverse Logistics Association (RLA) Conference and Expo, held at the World of Hyatt Rio in Las Vegas from March 11-13, brought together industry leaders for three days of powerful discussions about the future of sustainable technology, repair, and reuse. As your representative in this space, I was excited to participate in content-driven panel discussions, keynotes, and the RL Masterclass that directly impact our tech repair community.

Understanding the Reverse Logistics Ecosystem

RL Masterclass

The conference kicked off with an engaging three-hour RL Masterclass led by Rich Bulger, Peter Evans, and Deborah Dull. This essential session focused on transforming reverse logistics into business innovation, helping attendees understand how to maximize product lifecycles profitably while minimizing environmental impact.

Right to Repair Progress
During the Industry Partner Forum, Gay Gordon-Byrne from Repair.org delivered encouraging news about the right-to-repair movement. “We’re hearing less and less in opposition from manufacturers,” she noted, highlighting that five states have now passed consumer electronics repair bills. While cell phone repair has become “low-hanging fruit” due to increasing OEM support, challenges remain in data center equipment repair – an area where The Repair Association is actively seeking industry collaboration.

Innovation and Future Trends
Brian Comiskey, Senior Director of Innovation and Trends at the Consumer Technology Association, shared compelling insights about CES 2025 trends and their implications for returns. A particularly striking statistic revealed that Gen Z consumers own an average of 13 tech-enabled devices each – representing an unprecedented opportunity for our industry. This demographic’s significant device ownership, combined with their strong interest in sustainability, creates a perfect storm of opportunity for tech repair businesses.

Circular Economy Champions
The Circular Economy session featured powerful insights from industry leaders including Jennifer Foxworthy (HP’s Head of Certified Renew Partner Program), Joyce Cruts (VP Supply Chain at ACER), and Stephen Beard (Global Head of Sales, GSS at Flex). A striking moment came when Jennifer asked attendees about unused devices at home – the overwhelming response highlighted the massive opportunity for our industry in device reuse and repair.

Automation and Efficiency
Rebecca Latson (Dell), Rob Lawson-Shanks (Molg), and Sean Magann (Sims Lifecycle Services) led an enlightening session on how automation is revolutionizing the industry. Their discussion revealed how new technologies are making device reuse more cost-effective and efficient – crucial for our members, as our recent survey shows 56.5% cite parts availability as their primary challenge.

Customer Service Excellence
Corinne Copello and Jason Bell from Nordstrom delivered a compelling keynote about returns capabilities. Their message about accepting returns without exception to build lifetime customer loyalty resonated strongly with our industry’s focus on customer service.

Innovation Spotlight: RLA 2025 Startup Competition

RL STARTUP CONTENDERS:

RL STARTUP CONTENDERS:

The conference’s startup competition showcased five innovative companies revolutionizing reverse logistics:

– In the Loop (intheloopai.com)
Leveraging AI to optimize reverse logistics processes

– Patturn (patturn.io)
Using advanced pattern recognition to streamline returns management

– SendBack (sendbackreturns.com)
Simplifying the returns process through innovative technology

– Sotira (sotira.co)
Developing comprehensive reverse logistics solutions

– Verae (verae.com)
Creating technology-driven returns management systems

In an inspiring outcome, two women-owned businesses took top honors: Sotira won the Judges’ Award, while SendBack secured the Audience Award. Read more about the startup competition here.

Strategic Position in Reverse Logistics

What became crystal clear throughout the conference is that our industry’s extensive network of physical locations across communities nationwide positions us perfectly within the reverse logistics ecosystem. With repair shops in virtually every community, we represent an existing infrastructure that could revolutionize how returns, repairs, and device recycling are handled.

Consider the advantages:
– Local Presence: Our members operate in communities where consumers live and work
– Technical Expertise: We already possess the skills needed for device assessment and repair
– Established Infrastructure: Our physical locations can serve as community tech care hubs
– Community Trust: We’ve built relationships with local customers and businesses

This hyperlocal approach to tech care isn’t just convenient for consumers – it’s essential for making our industry more profitable while supporting sustainable practices. By integrating more deeply into reverse logistics operations, repair shops can:
– Create new revenue streams through returns processing
– Partner with manufacturers and retailers for warranty repairs
– Serve as local recycling collection points
– Provide refurbishment services for returned devices

Looking Ahead: Opportunities for TCA Members

The conference reinforced several key opportunities for our members:

1. Automation Integration
New automated solutions could help address parts availability challenges, which our recent survey shows affects 56.5% of our members.

2. Strategic Partnerships
With 38.5% of our members seeking insurance and warranty partnerships, the connections made at RLA open new possibilities for collaboration.

3. Sustainability Leadership
As Dr. Pinar Martin from Amazon highlighted in her keynote on consumer electronics reverse supply chains, sustainability is becoming increasingly crucial in our industry.

4. Innovation Adoption
The startup competition demonstrated how new technologies could help our members streamline operations and improve customer service.

Call to Action

The opportunities in reverse logistics are clear, and our industry is uniquely positioned to capitalize on them. With Gen Z’s growing device ownership and our established presence in communities nationwide, the potential for growth is tremendous. Want to learn more about how your repair business can benefit from these emerging opportunities? Contact us at TCA to discuss how you can get involved in shaping the future of tech repair and reverse logistics.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue building partnerships and creating opportunities for our members in the reverse logistics ecosystem.

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We Care For Tech A New Look For Your TCA

Take a Look at the TCA Rebrand & Learn About Our Non-Profit Status

The Tech Care Association is a mouth full to say the least, so we often refer to ourself as the TCA. As we enter into our fourth year of serving the Tech Care Industry we are rebranding and making the shortened version of our name official. So we have legally updated our name to a dba and will be called the ‘TCA’ from this day forward.

In doing so we thought it would be nice to redesign our logo as well (see it above) and clean things up a bit. We chose a circle to represent circulatory/sustainability while incorporating the segments of Tech Care Industry that we serve: REPAIR, SUPPORT, REUSE, & RECYCLE (see more below). Each of which are vital to keeping tech out of landfills and reducing e-waste.

We also wanted to shorten our motto to make clear what we do and who we represent. So we chose, We Care For Tech as the brand new TCA motto. The TCA is a non-profit trade association that represents companies that “take care” of tech after it’s sold. Any company that is in the tech care space is welcome to join our trade association here.

The Four Pillars of our Membership

REPAIR – The TCA believes that repair is the most important aspect of the tech care industry. These professionals are on the front lines of our industry and help people extend the life of tech each and every day by performing critical repairs to keep tech running. As such a majority of our members are in the tech repair space. The TCA operates a consumer facing directory for people to find our members at www.WhereToRepair.org. We seek to help repair people thrive while helping people find the best that repair has to offer.

SUPPORT – Much like tech repair tech support serves on the front lines of our industry. One of the biggest challenges for tech support companies is their battle with fraudsters who are are common across the internet. The TCA seeks to help people identify and use legitimate companies that serve in communities everywhere.

RESUSE – Over the last ten years companies that refurbish tech have exploded into the marketplace. And companies that buy and sell used tech have too. The TCA seeks to find more ways to partner with these companies in our network of tech repair companies who often buy and sell used products.

RECYCLE – Too much tech ends up in landfills or forever suspended in time in peoples junk drawers. By working with recyclers the TCA hopes to get more tech back into the marketplace and then make sure it ends up in the proper recycling streams when it is actually at end-of-life.

Companies that work in these four areas of tech care are welcome to join the TCA and participate in TCA governance. Because we believe tech repair is the most important aspect of the industry we have special membership packages for these professionals that allow them to join the association for a reduced rate. Those packages for tech repair companies can be found here.

Companies that are in Tech Support, Tech Reuse, Tech Recycle, and related companies can join as industry partners here.

The TCA is an IRS Approved Non-Profit Trade Association

The TCA was approved by the IRS to operate as a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association. This is an important designation from the IRS that allows the TCA which can lead to thousands of dollars of resources that can be put back into the organization, which would have otherwise gone straight to the U.S. government. We took this important step to serve our community for many reasons and it will allow us to serve you better in the years to come.

It should be noted that the TCA is the only not for profit trade association that serves the tech care industry.

The TCA is always to happy to work with other organizations in the industry to help the tech care industry thrive! We know we don’t everything and we can’t possible do everything. This is one of the reasons we operate the industries ONLY complete tech care industry events directory on our website AND the TCA we have links to other organizations listed in the TCA resource hub. We are always happy to partner with other organizations to help everyone in the industry succeed.

Let’s all work together to reduce eWaste by keeping tech in the market longer with repair, support, reuse, and proper recycling!

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“OEM screens” A Problem So Big That Apple Had To Fix It

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DO YOU HAVE OEM PARTS?

There’s been a dirty little secret in the tech repair industry ever since the industry started. OEM PARTS.

In an effort to win more business people in the industry have often said they have OEM parts (Original Equipment Manufacturer). I’ve seen it and heard in the industry since the industry began. From repair shops to distributors, it’s been a blight on the industry since day one. Some whisper it while others blatantly advertise that they sell OEM parts. If you Google Apple OEM parts today you’ll see how some companies sneak OEM into their SEO results.

Let me make this clear. Outside of those authorized by Apple (or another OEM) NO ONE HAS OEM PARTS!

Even if you’re one of the honest people out there (and there are a lot of you!) the claim impacts your business because when your competitor says it you find yourself in a bad spot. You can try to maintain your integrity and hope you don’t lose the business, argue with the customer by telling them the other guy is lying, or bend to the pressure and say yours are OEM too. In the end you simply hope the customer doesn’t know or see the difference.

Either way the interaction damages the industry as a whole by putting questions in the customer’s head.

NOW APPLE HAS ADDRESSED THE ISSUE IN TWO MAJOR WAYS

The problem has become so big that Apple is the first company (others will follow) that will now include a software verification system that will clearly show the customer if they have an OEM part or an “Unknown Part” in their device. If you don’t think this will have a major impact on the repair industry, then think again.

As iOS 15.2 rolls out, Apple is adding a new “Parts and Service History” section in the settings app. A feature that will allow anyone who looks at the phone to know if a part has been replaced on the device. If it has, each part replaced will show up in the history followed by either “Genuine Apple Part” or “Unknown Part”. The Genuine Apple Part message will only appear if Apple software is used to sync the parts – a part pulled from another device will appear as “Unknown”

In some ways this will be a really good thing with customers now able to see if the parts in their device or one they might be thinking about buying has been repaired and what kind of parts were used. This will also add another layer to device buyback and/or trade-ins. Some good, some bad for the greater tech care industry.

The second way Apple is addressing this problem is the soon to launch Apple Self Service Repair Program that will put OEM parts directly into the hands of the customer. A program that has been discussed a lot and many are wrongly dismissing as a non-factor for independent repair. You can read additional thoughts on this subject on the WiGoMan blog.

Flying under the radar a bit, Apple also announced recently that they will be doing mobile repair work for small businesses.

A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR REPAIR SHOPS

Here’s where things will impacting repair shops and the entire repair parts supply chain.

  1. OEM vs Aftermarket parts will be clear. No more hiding. No more lies. But the question is how will the customer react? Short-term impact might be minimal. The long-term outlook not so good.
  2. Trade-in repairs will be impacted. The customers who come into a repair shop now to get a screen fixed to increase trade-in value will likely stop. Assuming that the trade-in value will drop with this new knowledge. Maybe not at first but over time people will realize that they can’t trick the system anymore.
  3. Self-repair is bigger than you think. iFixit’s ($25-30 million in revenue) business model is built on this concept. Then think of all the eBay & Amazon part sellers. Every shop sees customers who have botched repairs themselves but that’s only a small fraction of the people who do self repair.
  4. Marketing Impact. Expect to see shops that are authorized, including Apple Stores, to advertise that OEM parts are the only way to go which will further impact the market for aftermarket parts. Restricting smaller independent shops even more. The larger chains (now owned by huge corporations) will benefit greatly by selling more OEM screens.
  5. Apple getting into mobile repair will also start to take a toll on independent repair shops. Again slowly at first but with a larger impact as it rolls out across the country.
  6. ** While not known or clear at this point this keeps open the possibility that Apple reactivates device software that can disable certain features on a device (Face ID, Fingerprint Sensor, etc.).

I can promise you that Apple and its partners have a plan and they are concisely executing that plan. Each of the things listed above will take away business from the industry. We need to turn the tide!

Listen, getting repair business in the past has been easy for most. You really didn’t have to do much to get some customers. Because of that a lot of people got into the industry. Opportunists that saw the potential and seized it. Think about it. A lot of those people are now getting into crypto, vaping, CBD, etc. Tech repair was a wide open market. But now it’s not. Now it’s going to require more work on your part. It’s going to require you to be more savvy as a business person if you want to stay in business. It’s going to require giving up some control and collaborating with others. It’s going to require a vibrant independent trade association.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF INDEPENDENT REPAIR

People within the industry often site automotive repair as an example of how OEM and aftermarket can coexist. They then try to overlay that example with the tech repair industry. While I often use this example myself there are a few major reasons why it doesn’t work in exactly the same way.

Besides the fact that the automotive repair industry has been around a lot longer and is a much larger industry it has two distinct benefits that are lacking in the tech repair industry. Exposure/branding and industry representation.

Let me explain. The auto repair industry benefits from a lot of brand exposure. If you were to ask someone to name an auto repair business, they could easily. Ask them to name some brand name aftermarket parts and most could do that too. In terms of industry representation there are numerous trade associations that represent the myriad of players in the auto care industry. The biggest of which is the Auto Care Association, a powerful group that helped lobby for the original right to repair legislation and spends a lot of time and money on promoting the industry to the public.

The tech repair industry has none of those things. The only recognizable brand to the public is iFixit followed far behind by Batteries Plus, UBIF, and CPR. Surveys have shown that the average person on the street can’t even name one of these brands, even when they live and work nearby. Ask them to name a parts brand and – sorry to tell you this guys – but you get crickets.

I’ve said it many times in the past, people just don’t know the tech repair industry exists. An active trade association can change that dynamic!

What’s the potential for working together with a neutral non-profit trade association?

I’ve used this example before but think about how other industries responded to challenges to their revenue models. Two of the biggest industry campaigns ever were “Beef, it’s what for dinner” and the “Got Milk” campaigns that were hugely successful in countering the negative consumer culture that had risen at the time. Both of these campaigns were a product of industry trade associations and both of these campaigns produced amazing results for their industries. But they didn’t do it alone. They worked together as an industry to make their industries bigger and better to benefit everyone large and small. How about you?

HOW DOES THE TECH CARE INDUSTRY SURVIVE?

First a question: Do you want a divided race to the bottom or a united climb to the top?

Races are often run alone while climbing tall mountains requires working with others. If you want a divided race to the bottom, then keep doing what you’re doing. If you want to climb to the top of our potential, then let’s work together! Unity can be achieved without conformity.

The fact of the matter is that Apple owns the pie we’re all trying to get a piece of. The tech repair industry has been fighting over a small slice of it for too long, in essence hoping that Apple will give out more slices. The Tech Care Association believes that we can increase the size of the pie (Yes, the whole pie, not just our slice), thus making our slice bigger, by making more people aware of repair and the benefits of working with independent repair. Apple doesn’t want to promote repair because it tarnishes their brand. So we have to, which in turn takes the industry to higher ground instead of fighting each other in a race to the bottom.

Don’t be naïve and think that the recent moves by Apple will not have a major impact on your business. They will. Maybe not at first, but like the tide coming in on a sandcastle, slowly and surely, what you have worked hard to build will be washed out to sea. Everyone will feel the impact from shops to depots to distributors and marketers. You can’t hold the tide back by yourself – no one can!

By working together, a united tech repair industry can turn the tide and increase the size of the pie.

Working together we can promote the quality and value of 3rd party parts or as Apple likes to call them “Unknown Parts”. We can raise brand awareness for the many high quality repair parts that are already in the market. We can help customers understand that a repair with a 3rd party part is a great value for them and make efforts to set standards for parts that will have greater value in the resale market.

Now, more than ever, people need to be better aware of what the independent tech repair industry is all about. We can climb this mountain together or we watch the tide come in alone. The choice is yours.

Help us to help you and change the narrative about the independent tech repair industry by joining the TECH CARE ASSOCIATION and working together. Join us today!

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