Recommerce marketplaces are trying to expand beyond the smartphone category, demand for refurbished devices outpacing the overall market amidst high prices of new devices. But that’s proving quite difficult as the ecosystem for laptops and wearables is still underdeveloped and has a far longer holding time. Also, consumers have qualms about hygiene in segments like earbuds.

“The fact remains that smartphones are still a very large category on its own, and all of them combined, will remain minuscule compared to smartphones, as India is a mobile-first market” said Nakul Kumar, co-founder and CMO, Cashify which recently ventured into selling refurbished laptops, smartwatches and smart speakers.

One reason for the slow uptake is the longer average life cycle of these products. While smartphones have a standard upgrade cycle of one year, for laptops and other categories, it still remains three to five years. As a result, the addressable market will always remain smaller as compared to smartphones, Kumar said.

Even earbuds are turning out to be a difficult product to refurbish, even as the addressable market remains large as a result of them being accessories to smartphones, and often misplaced or damaged.

“It has more to do with hygiene. People need to be comfortable with using earbuds that have been used by someone else,” Kumar said.

The company, which recently closed a series E funding of $90 million, however, sees a lot of scope in refurbished smartwatches. But the issue is that demand is only for smartwatches from Samsung and Apple, which are high-end, even as there are a dozen more homegrown players selling smartwatches.

As a result, the base for supplies is low. Kumar though remains hopeful as more and more brands realise the potential of refurbished smartwatches.

However, ever since the pandemic began, a bunch of startups have sprung up to cater to a growing demand for cheap laptops.

Two-year-old Gurugram based Lappyy is a marketplace dedicated to refurbished laptops, which 26-year-old Deepak Thakur started after seeing the demand surge with the start of online classes and work from home.

Thakur said the startup has shipped 200 refurbished laptops to consumers in the past six months, with most consumers preferring to buy entry-level laptops running on third or fourth-generation Intel Core i3 or Core i5 processors. The company had around 8-13% margin on each unit sold.

“When the pandemic began, no one was ready to invest Rs 50-60,000 in a new laptop, and the work requirements are similar for people using a Rs 50,000 laptop and Rs 20,000 laptop. It’s just data entry and presentations. So, consumers preferred to go for the refurbished laptops.”

Thakur said the demand for refurbished laptops only exists for price-points under Rs 30,000 which is underserved by the laptop OEMs.

Cashify too has a few old MacBook models on their marketplace for under Rs 30,000.

Lappyy, however, acquires refurbished laptops from other countries like Dubai and South Africa. These refurbished laptops are first bought by government-registered recyclers, who in turn sell the lot to refurbishing companies like Lappyy.

“There are markets in Dubai and South Africa where corporates and people dump their old laptops in large quantities. And there are categories of laptops based on their condition. D-grade laptops have only the motherboard working, while in A-grade laptops, mostly everything works except for a few parts that need replacing.”

Acquiring second hand laptops in India, however, is difficult for the startup since it would require technicians to check every unit …….

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/electronics/recommerce-platforms-trying-to-expand-beyond-smartphones-face-challenges/articleshow/93707038.cms

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