DO NOT ASK Why Refurbished? ASK How Refurbished?

This question has been answered multiple times  at a variety of online platforms so what's different here?

So far a largely  unorganized sector which lacked  trust of a common buyer or seller as they doubted buying a phone at half of it's price even if the it was a genuine phone at a fair price. Moreover, there are several categories of devices that are sold in these open markets without bills or with bills depending on the seller you opt for. If we take example of mobile, we see categories like 'open-box', 'demo-mobiles' used phones' which are also typical second hand mobiles, and in some cases we have vendors claiming they have unlocked international phones- this category is specifically popular among iPhone users or those who aspire to be an iPhone user.

An open box - device is generally not used at all and have very good cosmetic conditions and functionality is up to date, this category is generally referred to as 'mint condition'.

A demo device is one which is put on demonstration in various brick and mortar stores for  buyers to review the phones when they visit the stores and generally in case of mobiles these do not have a working SIM placed in them ever. 

The second or user/old mobiles, laptops or tablets are the ones which were bought by a user and were used for a less or fair duration, but the device still in working condition. However in this case, generally there are marks of use on the device and can easily be distinguished  from a new device.  

But now since refurbished ecommerce platforms have come up in the market, this market  has become so reliable. Gradually, big names are getting lined up behind the secondhand electronics  market  and are not just selling  mobiles but also laptops, tablets, smart watches, air pods, Bluetooth speakers etc. and other domestic use devices. 

Let's explore  interesting aspects of this phenomenon in this article.

In my opinion, instead of narrowing our outlook to a few conspicuously  available information  in public domain, we should rather focus on the basis of this transformation in our attitude towards a refurbished device which has revolutionized, how we look at them today.

Let's review and determine if refurbish mobiles, laptops are officially an in-thing in Indian electronic markets. But before we dive deep into this space, a little background is necessary. 

In India, traditionally an unorganized market of used or second hand mobiles, laptops and other smart accessories has always existed. But these markets were shrouded with a  skeptical perception for long as buyers in general stereotyped these markets as  "Chor-bazars"  or stolen goods market, where you deal with street smart vendors on a busy road and to negotiate the deal with them you need to be equally smart or at least be in the know of things that happen in the background for that particular product. This sense of dubiousness gave birth to skepticism among buyers and hence the immense possibility of this market remained untapped until recently when growing ecommerce giants powered by the new age technology were able to decode the state of affairs and re-organize it to the benefit of their customers and hence started  the journey into this far less tread road.

What enticed e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart to acquire a fair share of this cake?

The primary reason why these players started to promote refurbished devices, was there need to create an ecosystem where there excess inventory or the customer returned devices can be used again and that in turn would make their ecosystem operate at it's optimum capacity. We all are aware a company that sources it's products from a vendor enters into a contract, which is designed to protect the interests of both parties. 

Understand this, every ecommerce platform has it's own supplier who is bound to supply goods at a certain price and also they are bound to honor other clauses in the contract meant to protect or mitigate the risk of business operation for both the parties. In such contracts generally the supplier is responsible for a certain percentage of defects that are reported in goods that are supplied. So, these defects entails concessions or incurs penalties on the supplier. However, big ecommerce platforms, instead of going into the hassle of return, penalties etc.  added the device in the refurbished category after few cosmetic changes to the look and feel of the product. It is in interest of online sellers  to refurbish the product  and have it re-certified after a list of quality checks are performed  and also reduce the prices to literally half of a brand new mobile and sell it off online with a seller warranty. 

Two remarkable components of the operation in this ecosystem are are getting the product refurbished  at  "refurbish centers" and offering after sale warranty on it too, which is mostly 'seller warranty'.

Interestingly, new but high potential contestants in this space like Cahisfy, Xtracover, Sahivalue, Budli, Electronics Bazar, Techyuga etc. rose to prominence in a matter of five to six years. But there story is different from the Amazon and Flipkart. 

These started out by tapping on the grey side of the second hand mobiles market, which is buying  an used or old, second hand mobile via online platform and sharing instant quote of the device by these buyers at the same time offering multiple easy payment options to the sellers. They primarily emerged as buyers of old and used second hand electronic devices like mobiles phones, laptops, smartwatches, ear pods, etc. All these players acquired a big name in a very short period of time. They projected themselves as environment savers helping to scavenge and recycle the electronic waste which no doubt is a big challenge for the 21st century.

Cashify for example  as the name suggests till date advertises itself as highest amount of cash payer in online sales started out by buying old electronic devices, then ventured into selling refurbished devices and gradually  added repair to their existing ecosystem just like a smart web developer who adds smart plug -inns to a project. 

If we dig deeper, we can see on internet there are myriad of lowkey players buying  used smart devices online for instant cash and have these have user the tag line offered by Cashify.  The list goes on with some names like  Cashforphone.in, Getinstacash.in, quickmobile.in, recycledevice.com, yantra.com, cashit.in, cashonpick.com, cashzone.in, sellyt.com, cashmen.in, mobilegoo.in,cashkar.in, bazar.shopclues.com, sellmymobile.com, sellmycell.in, www.envirofone.com,cellmojo.in and the list goes on and on, all  these  have suddenly mushroomed online and this is indicative of the fact that second hand cell phones market in India is one of the fastest emerging market both from the perspective of sale and purchase.. 

One more prominent, off shoot of this business is the unprecedented organization of  phone, laptop, tablet or smart watch repair market. The doorstep repairs  is also an important component of this  ecosystem  which will redefine the way we get our mobiles, watches, laptops, tablets and other electronic devices repaired. To support this emerging business we have many refurbishing centers which have been developed in cities like Bangalore, Noida, Gurgaon and Mumbai. These centers  work as collaborative partners with all the major online sellers of refurbished devices. They evaluate and certify the product for all the checks listed in the contract and perform cosmetic changes along with other major hardware replacements that are needed in the device. Here it is important to evaluate if these hardware replacements are done with the original part or these are just a second hand component. Well it is difficult to answer as such information is not available in the public domain and from profit perspective it seems more profitable to replace the hardware with a copy component and provide a seller warranty  for six moth of more which ever is the case as per the online seller you choose to buy the device  from. 

To conclude, refurbish has silently entered our psyches and we have accepted it as new normal.I hope without discussing the sales figure of each website separately or the traffic they generate, I was able to convey the phenomenon of this emerging market. I am looking forward to your readership  for my upcoming the reads. My experience is based on my forays into the marketplaces of second hand devices in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and few other second tier cities.