BENGALURU: Even while living in a dynamic city where we quickly ugrade to newer things, would we ‘settle’ for second-hand goods? Three Bengalureans, all under the age of 30, believe we will especially when they offer warranties and other first-hand facilities for used products.
Refabd, an online platform to sell and purchase used home appliances and furniture, started in May 2016 to help short-term settlers of the city; they otherwise end up buying something as permanent as a furniture and then having to deal with the hassle of reselling it again when they move out.
It was a personal experience for Vineet Kumar, Rahul Varma and Durai Govardhan, who had moved to Delhi in 2014 to prepare for civil service exams. For a year’s stay, they did not want to buy expensive first-hand furniture and though there were few second-hand portals available, they were still skeptical about product quality. The trio spotted a business opportunity in the sector and launched Refabd, that would provide “first hand services for second hand goods.”
Conditions apply
“We are about 20 of us working in the company, including those who run a quality check before purchasing the product and those who fix minor damages,” says Vineet Kumar, CEO of the start-up.
However, there are pre-conditions. The item should not be older than four years and should meet quality standards to be used again. The item is then sold at almost half the original price, along with a six-months warranty. On their website a quality score of the product is shared along with the description.
Besides second-hand goods, a customer can also purchase new products from the ‘unboxed’ section, which mainly are new products that have suffered minor damages and cannot be sold in the first-hand market.The companies send these damaged new products to Refabd. “We have introduced a new model called the buy back,” says Vineet. “Our customers can resell the product to us after they are done using it.”
The customers can also exchange the product to upgrade it.
Started with `1 lakh
The trio started the company by investing a capital of ` 1 lakh. For the past 11 months, they have earned a revenue of ` 70 lakh. On December 2016, the start-up received funding from Athamus Ventures, a city-based management firm of real-estate business professionals.
“When three of them first approached us, we saw our own reflection in them,” says Ashok Kinha, chairman and managing director of Athamus.
Refabd is currently operating in Bengaluru but will soon spread out to four more cities: NCR Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai or Kochi.
“The company will spread to 20 more cities in 12 months,” says Ashok.
How does it work
Sellers can log on to the website and upload information on the product offered for sale and their contact details.
A group of technicians will be sent to inspect and quality grade the product, after which price is negotiated.