Indian reselling industry transforms access to high-end products

With resale of products now turning into a legitimate industry, even leading smartphone manufacturers like Apple are entering the refurbished phones market. Pic Courtesy/Getty Images

A quick online search will show that an Apple iPhone 12 Pro, a relatively older but still sought-after model, is available for anything from Rs 80,000 to over Rs 1 lakh. But what if we told you that you could have one for Rs 52,000?

And before you think of the over-used "Kurla mein Aslam bhai ki dukaan" joke, you should know that Apple has a full fledged division where refurbished phones are sold for lower prices.

Welcome to the world of Indian reselling, where buying and selling of used and refurbished products has gone from being a niche activity to a full-fledged industry in India. What began as "thrifting" - selling off your used clothes in thrift sales or garage sales - has now become a trend that is seen in furniture, crockery, cutlery and electronic gadgets.

Lonavala based architect Viraj Kapadia loves his shoes and buys branded shoes from reselling platforms after a lot of checks to ensure he's getting the real thing

In the smartphone space alone, India witnessed a 19 per cent growth in the refurbished smartphone market, with Apple being the most bought brand followed by Samsung. The trend was noted in a report compiled by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, which focused on nine countries around the world and named India as the world leader in this regard.

"The business potential of dealing in refurbished smartphones remains high, but the limited supply is affecting most emerging markets…We are looking at a transition where most markets are growing their own repair and refurbishment ecosystems domestically," senior analyst Glen Cardoza observed in the report.

Globally, too, the concept of resale is being welcomed with open arms. A report by WGSN, a New York based trend forecasting company, estimated that with brands themselves turning to resale platforms, secondhand sales are expected to double between 2022 and 2027. The report also stated that 47,000 metric tonnes of waste was avoided due to reselling in 2021, and this quantity went up to 73,000 metric tonnes in 2022.

Siddhi Ganatra and Punit Anand

The evolution of the refurbished goods market is also aided by the ever-expanding world-wide web, with dedicated websites and online discussion forums serving as marketplaces. Be it computers, parts, speakers, earphones, watches and vacuum cleaners, these online markets have it all. And this is not just limited to websites. The last few years have also seen the emergence of platforms that let you turn into a reseller, procuring a product from one party and selling it to another.

Punit Anand, founder of LuxuryPop, a marketplace for pre-owned luxury items like bags, high-end sunglasses and the occasional designer piece, says that she started with selling her own bags nearly eight years ago. "I started with gently used Michael Kors, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton products handbags that people gave us as they were no longer using them," she recalls.

Most resellers, like Anand, started out as buyers themselves. Siddhi Ganatra, who founded her platform Dobaara a year back, says that the idea to start reselling came from her own notions of sustainable living. "It's been almost six years since I stopped buying fast-fashion clothing. If you look up the statistics of where these clothes land up, and the amount of clothing waste in landfills, it makes you rethink what and how you buy."

She admits that there was initially a hesitation among buyers, who didn't want to look like they couldn't afford anything other than second-hand, but this is
dissipating fast.

When it comes to furniture, pre-owned items hold a special significance because of their history. "Old furniture is aesthetically designed and more beautiful than modern furniture," says Sushma Desai, who is based in Bengaluru. "The wood used back then was either teak, rosewood or ebony. I have a table that was originally a cradle, painted with scenes of the Mahabharata." Desai's other treasures include mirror frames, a swing set that doubles up as a bench, sofas, and tepoys.

There are, of course, concerns about counterfeits but the trick, says Lonalava based architect Viraj Kapadia, lies in the authentication. He has detailed conversations with the resellers, asks for pictures and checks the code numbers or barcodes on the brand's website before paying.

Kapadia owns a number of resold items, ranging from t-shirts to watches, and used to buy items like refrigerators from platforms such as OLX, when he was a bachelor. But his passion lies in collecting branded shoes. "A pair of Nike or Puma shoes may go for anything like Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000 in their original form, but the prices are as low as Rs 5,000," he explains.