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    Sale of refurbished and ‘unboxed’ mobile phones picking up in India

    Synopsis

    Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi received an overwhelming response to its first online sale of refurbished and ‘unboxed’ Red Mi 1S devices in India.

    ET Bureau
    NEW DELHI: Online sale of refurbished and ‘unboxed’ mobile phones is picking up in India, according to two e-marketplaces, as brand-conscious consumers hunt for good bargains.

    In India, 20-25 million electronic devices are returned to sellers every year—some of which are used or faulty-—creating a large cache of products that can be refurbished and sold. Within this segment, purchase of mobile devices is seeing an uptrend.

    On Friday, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi received an overwhelming response to its first online sale of refurbished and ‘unboxed’ Red Mi 1S devices in India.

    The term ‘unboxed’ refers to products that have been taken out of a sealed box and returned to the seller unused.

    “The first sale was extremely successful as the smartphones sold out within minutes,” said Alex Souter, co-founder of Overcart.com, the online marketplace that partnered Xiaomi in the flash sale. Talks for conducting such a flash sale were in the works for a few months, he said. Overcart sells mobile phones, games and accessories that are refurbished or ‘unboxed’. The company has witnessed a 50% increase in quarterly sales of refurbished and unboxed smartphones through the inventory model or regular sale.

    Overcart sold the Xiaomi Redmi 1S under two categories: unboxed at Rs 4,999 and refurbished at Rs 4,499. A new Redmi 1S is available on Flipkart for Rs 5,999.

    Hitendra Chaturvedi, founder and CEO of GreenDust, another start-up that sells refurbished electronic products at a discount, said, “There’s a huge bunch of customers who would buy refurbished or factory second smartphones from us at discounted price.”

    GreenDust makes over Rs 30 crore a month in value terms, with smartphones accounting for about a quarter of the company’s business, Chaturvedi had told ET earlier.

    With the success of the pilot flash sale of Xiaomi’s smartphones, which aimed to check response and customer feedback, Overcart’s Souter said his company is preparing for the next one and even talking to other retailers and manufacturers.

    “There’s definitely interest from retailers and manufacturers alike, besides demand from consumers, which is six times that of supply,” Souter said.

    “We’re planning to do another flash sale within the next couple of week; we’re evaluating which brand that will be sold.”


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