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There’s a brand new smartphone being launched nearly each month. It appears like the subsequent iteration of your present telephone hits the market inside a yr of your buy. Cellphone corporations and marketplaces tantalise you with engaging trade provides, tempting you to improve. However have you ever ever paused to contemplate what turns into of your previous telephones?
Many marketplaces and shops present the choice of buying a refurbished telephone. Such a telephone undergoes thorough inspection for defects, repairs, and substitute of defective components. In keeping with a report by Redseer Technique Consultants, the refurbished or used smartphone market in India is projected to soar to $10 billion by 2026.
In 2015, Avneet Singh got down to purchase an iPhone for his mom however discovered the brand new telephone’s worth past his funds when he visited a retailer along with his pal, Saket Saurav. Nonetheless, an enterprising salesman provided them a second-hand telephone at a considerably cheaper price, almost Rs 35,000 lower than a brand new one.
Regardless of the tempting provide, the telephone lacked any checks and got here with out a guarantee. Opting in opposition to the dangerous buy, Avneet was impressed by the expertise.
Working collectively at Shopclues, he and Saket recognised an issue value fixing. Subsequently, Shopclues launched a refurbished cellular class, ReNew, which rapidly generated multi-crore income inside its first month.
They did in depth analysis on the refurbished cellular market and recognizing an opportune time in Could 2017, they stop their jobs and launched ReFit World — a refurbished telephone startup, on a mission to cut back e-waste by recycling and refurbishing second-hand devices.
ReFit is on observe to attain a income of Rs 240 crore this monetary yr and forestall 55,000 to 65,000 telephones from changing into e-waste each month.
The 2 Delhiites met by way of widespread buddies and their friendship solidified after two gross sales stints collectively at LG and Shopclues. The aforementioned incident and subsequent launch of the ReNew portfolio at Shopclues alerted the 2 MBA graduates concerning the potential of the refurbished market.
They performed market analysis and, whereas overseeing the ReNew portfolio, gained sensible insights into the small print of the class. They realized firsthand about sourcing stock, refurbishing telephones, and figuring out potential gross sales channels.
Coming from service-class backgrounds, the duo had long-held aspirations of changing into entrepreneurs. Recognising a promising enterprise alternative and observing a big market hole, they made the daring choice to pursue their desires. They left behind their secure company careers to dive headfirst into the world of entrepreneurship.
They invested all their financial savings and the then 28-year-olds took a private mortgage of Rs 15 lakh every and bootstrapped their enterprise. With a complete capital of Rs 55 lakh, they began ReFit World in Could 2017.
“The refurbished market was simply choosing up at the moment. Up till then, we solely had the choice to purchase new telephones or second-hand telephones. A second-hand telephone didn’t have credibility. So we determined to supply high quality checked and examined refurbished telephones,” explains Saket (35), co-founder and CEO, ReFit World, to The Higher India.
The Delhi-based firm was began with a crew of seven together with the 2 founders, and centered on the offline market. Initially, Saket and Avneet would load about 100 refurbished telephones of their automobiles, got down to the market, and persuade channel companions to purchase these telephones.
“We might go to totally different markets and be on the highway for nearly 10 days at a time within the preliminary days. We defined the product to the channel companions and requested them to belief us with a small sum of money. Educating customers and companions was the primary, difficult step,” says Avneet (35), co-founder and COO, ReFit World.
They slowly discovered just a few channel companions who invested wherever between Rs 2 to five lakh, which kicked off the enterprise of the enterprise.
The primary two years had been a whirlwind of sleepless nights for these entrepreneurs, absolutely dedicated to their enterprise. Saket remembers that initially of their enterprise, his spouse was pregnant, whereas Avneet’s mother and father had simply begun looking for a bride for him.
“We invested all our financial savings; it was ‘do or die’ for us. We had a robust perception that it might work, and labored exhausting. We took no days off and burnt the midnight oil. We centered on constructing a very good offline base and educating our distributors whereas constructing partnerships with cellular manufacturers and marketplaces to purchase again previous telephones,” provides Saket.
Their efforts paid off as individuals began trusting their model and their gross sales grew. Within the first yr of operations, they earned a income of Rs 8 crore.
A 47-point high quality test
ReFit sources previous telephones from three channels — marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, cellular producers like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Apple, and huge format retailers like Sangeetha, Poorvika, and Croma.
As soon as the telephones attain their workplace, they’re examined utilizing ReFit’s in-house diagnostic utility which has 47 high quality test parameters. Saket says that inside two and a half minutes, the appliance identifies what’s incorrect with the telephone. Their engineers then rectify and restore the telephones, conducting additional checks to see if the sensors and cameras are working correctly.
As soon as the faults are mounted, the appliance is run once more to test if it passes all high quality checks. It’s then despatched both to offline companions or bought by way of their very own web site, which was launched in October 2023. In addition they provide a six-month guarantee on their telephones.
Their common promoting worth offline is Rs 6,000 and on-line is Rs 11,000. There’s extra demand for high-end telephones on-line, say the founders.
They additional share that they promote between 55,000 to 65,000 telephones each month and have bought over 1.75 million telephones thus far. They declare that they’ve been worthwhile from the outset and have achieved a constant one hundred pc year-on-year progress. Their income reached Rs 187 crore final yr and is projected to hit Rs 240 crore this yr. Working in over 100 cities, they’ve a community of greater than 50,000 retailers.
The key distinction between a second-hand and refurbished telephone, explains Saket, is the standard and credibility. “There isn’t a high quality testing or checking finished on a second-hand telephone. We be certain that there isn’t a downside with the telephone and offer you a guaranty,” he says.
These telephones are additionally helpful for the setting as they lengthen the lifespan of devices and forestall them from contributing to waste. In 2022, the Waste Electrical and Digital Tools (WEEE) discussion board reported that 5.3 billion cellphones would turn into waste in that yr alone. As a substitute of recycling previous telephones, many individuals both hold them at house or discard them in bins.
Nonetheless, these gadgets comprise useful supplies like gold, copper, and silver, which, if recycled, can forestall the necessity for extracting valuable minerals and assist cut back carbon emissions.
ReFit additionally appeared on Shark Tank India Season 3 and secured a deal for Rs 2 crore from three ‘Sharks’ — Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, and Amit Jain. Put up their look on Shark Tank, they’ve obtained over 20,000 queries from retailers and distributors in simply 10 days, say the elated founders, including that they need to improve their on-line presence within the coming years.
From initially maintaining their enterprise a secret from their households to establishing an organization valued at Rs 200 crore, Avneet and Saket exemplify the facility of exhausting work, seizing alternatives on the proper time, and embodying the hustle tradition.
“You might want to be trustworthy with your self and your clients, work exhausting, and have the zeal to construct a enterprise. Don’t stick with a method; as a substitute, be keen to redo issues if one thing doesn’t work. We achieved our objectives as a result of our intent and keenness had been robust,” says Avneet.
Edited by Pranita Bhat
Sources
WEEE Discussion board
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