CHENNAI: Remember the time when your newborn outgrew those adorable summery onesies and the cushy polka dot shoes? Have you checked if your toddler’s rocking horse, faithfully sitting by the attic window along with a gazillion other adorable baby wear and gears, has no purpose anymore? Twice Treasured, a month-old portal on Instagram, run by long-time friends and entrepreneurs Tripti Chordia, Vaibhavi Prakash and Divya Abhishek, has been helping families not just de-clutter their storage space, but also earn money, spread joy and most importantly, become more sustainable.
Reduce, reuse
The idea was born out of an unassuming conversation between the trio. “As our kids started growing, we realised we had lots of baby accessories and gears in good condition, which were hardly used. So we thought why not exchange these goods among friends and family, help moms come together to buy products from other mothers. This way, the product, though second-hand, would be assessed by another mom (the seller) and this way, there will be certain credibility to the product too, easing one of the major concerns among moms — about the safety of the products,” shares Tripti, talking about the idea which was conceptualised during the lockdown.
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It was Divya who came up with the idea. Though there are platforms that focus on buying and selling secondhand goods, there was nothing that focused exclusively on maternity wear and secondhand clothing accessories for children. So we decided to tap on it,” she explains. While buying and selling used products has perpetually been a cumbersome and archaic process (think taking pictures, uploading listings, following up, going back-and forth on negotiations and finally coming face-to-face with your buyer/seller), this trio has been reinventing the model by building an active and userfriendly platform for used baby gear in the city.
The online portal, a wonderland of second-hand baby products, has so far achieved over 150 sales and garnered a following of 3,000 since its birth. “Amid the pandemic and lockdown, the option of visiting a mall or store to handpick and buy the best for the child has reduced. You don’t want to come face-to-face with anyone either. A lot of mothers have been anxious about the safety aspect of the products too. Through this platform, parents get to access goods that are personally vetted and approved,” she says.
From creams, prams, clothing, diapers to cribs, the Instagram page features a curated selection of accessories and provides a convenient shopping experience for its users. One of the brand’s USP has been its buyer-seller anonymity rule. “When someone is selling a used product, there is always a certain hesitation to reveal their identity. At Twice Treasured, we keep the identities confidential. There is absolute anonymity,” shares the entrepreneur.
Safe and sanitised
The price of the products are almost always lower than the market retail price, and is decided based on i t s condition, date of purchase and usage, among other criteria. “Whenever we get a product, we shoot a 360-degree video. We send the video along with all the details of the product — description, sale date, number of uses and so on — to the prospective buyer. Since we don’t have a warehouse, we don’t stock it. It is procured once the order is finalised. Once we get the product, we double-check the details, sanitise it, pack and send it out,” explains the mother of two, adding that the seller gets 75 per cent of the proceedings.
“The delivery charge is borne by the buyer and seller. We take care of everything else,” she says.
The Twice Treasured community has been steadily growing and Tripti says that the concept has become a huge hit. “When we started out, we didn’t think there would be much traction. It’s more popular in the West. But when the news spread through wordof- mouth, a lot of moms were interested in this model. In the first two weeks, we made a sales of about 50-60 products,” she adds.
The brand currently consigns and sells products in and around Chennai. “With the pandemic, we don’t want to rush our sales. We are focusing on quality over quantity. Once the situation stabilises, we will work on expanding it,” she shares. Products start from `500 onwards. For details, visit Instagram page @shoptwicetreasured