Close All Tabs The Fight for Your Right to Repair
Mar 18, 2026
Louis Rossmann, repair technician and consumer-rights advocate who runs Rossmann Repair Group and repair education, talks about the fight to make devices fixable. He covers parts pairing and tech lockouts. He calls out fake repair programs, lobbying tactics, and safety loopholes. He highlights repair culture, DIY tinkering, and what ownership means as products become subscription-based.
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How A Broken MacBook Started A Repair Empire
- Louis Rossmann turned a broken MacBook bought on eBay into a profitable side hustle by repairing and reselling it.
- That beginner success ($250 profit for ~20 minutes work) snowballed into his repair business and YouTube channel.
Authorized Recyclers Shred Parts, Killing Reuse
- Rossmann describes suppliers getting shut down and authorized recyclers being forced to shred devices to prevent part reuse.
- That practice made his repair work depend on dumpster-diving, Alibaba, and unstable suppliers.
Preassembled Parts Inflate Repair Costs
- Manufacturers often only sell large preassembled assemblies, forcing technicians to buy expensive whole modules instead of small faulty parts.
- Rossmann describes paying ~$400 for an assembly when only a $30–$50 screen or chip was needed, inflating repair costs.