There’s a brand new smartphone being launched virtually each month. It appears like the subsequent iteration of your present cellphone hits the market inside a 12 months of your buy. Cellphone firms and marketplaces tantalise you with attractive trade gives, tempting you to improve. However have you ever ever paused to contemplate what turns into of your outdated telephones?
Many marketplaces and shops present the choice of buying a refurbished cellphone. Such a cellphone undergoes thorough inspection for defects, repairs, and substitute of defective components. In accordance 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 cellphone’s value past his funds when he visited a retailer along with his good friend, Saket Saurav. Nevertheless, an enterprising salesman supplied them a second-hand cellphone at a considerably cheaper price, practically Rs 35,000 lower than a brand new one.
Regardless of the tempting provide, the cellphone lacked any checks and got here with out a guarantee. Opting towards the dangerous buy, Avneet was impressed by the expertise.
Working collectively at Shopclues, he and Saket recognised an issue price fixing. Subsequently, Shopclues launched a refurbished cell class, ReNew, which shortly generated multi-crore income inside its first month.
They did intensive analysis on the refurbished cell market and recognizing an opportune time in Might 2017, they stop their jobs and launched ReFit International — a refurbished cellphone startup, on a mission to scale back e-waste by recycling and refurbishing second-hand devices.
ReFit is on observe to attain a income of Rs 240 crore this monetary 12 months and forestall 55,000 to 65,000 telephones from changing into e-waste each month.
The 2 Delhiites met by way of widespread mates 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 steady 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 International in Might 2017.
“The refurbished market was simply selecting up at the moment. Up till then, we solely had the choice to purchase new telephones or second-hand telephones. A second-hand cellphone didn’t have credibility. So we determined to supply high quality checked and examined refurbished telephones,” explains Saket (35), co-founder and CEO, ReFit International, 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 vehicles, got down to the market, and persuade channel companions to purchase these telephones.
“We might go to totally different markets and be on the street 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 amount of cash. Educating shoppers and companions was the primary, difficult step,” says Avneet (35), co-founder and COO, ReFit International.
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 have been a whirlwind of sleepless nights for these entrepreneurs, absolutely dedicated to their enterprise. Saket remembers that at first of their enterprise, his spouse was pregnant, whereas Avneet’s dad and mom had simply begun trying to find a bride for him.
“We invested all our financial savings; it was ‘do or die’ for us. We had a robust perception that it will work, and labored onerous. We took no days off and burnt the midnight oil. We centered on constructing offline base and educating our distributors whereas constructing partnerships with cell manufacturers and marketplaces to purchase again outdated telephones,” provides Saket.
Their efforts paid off as folks began trusting their model and their gross sales grew. Within the first 12 months of operations, they earned a income of Rs 8 crore.
A 47-point high quality verify
ReFit sources outdated telephones from three channels — marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, cell producers like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Apple, and enormous format retailers like Sangeetha, Poorvika, and Croma.
As soon as the telephones attain their workplace, they’re examined utilizing ReFit’s in-house diagnostic software which has 47 high quality verify parameters. Saket says that inside two and a half minutes, the appliance identifies what’s fallacious with the cellphone. 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 verify if it passes all high quality checks. It’s then despatched both to offline companions or offered by way of their very own web site, which was launched in October 2023. Additionally they provide a six-month guarantee on their telephones.
Their common promoting value 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 offered over 1.75 million telephones thus far. They declare that they’ve been worthwhile from the outset and have achieved a constant 100% year-on-year development. Their income reached Rs 187 crore final 12 months and is projected to hit Rs 240 crore this 12 months. Working in over 100 cities, they’ve a community of greater than 50,000 retailers.
The foremost distinction between a second-hand and refurbished cellphone, explains Saket, is the standard and credibility. “There isn’t any high quality testing or checking completed on a second-hand cellphone. We be certain that there isn’t a drawback with the cellphone and provide you with a guaranty,” he says.
These telephones are additionally useful for the surroundings as they lengthen the lifespan of devices and forestall them from contributing to waste. In 2022, the Waste Electrical and Digital Gear (WEEE) discussion board reported that 5.3 billion cell phones would turn out to be waste in that 12 months alone. As a substitute of recycling outdated telephones, many individuals both preserve them at dwelling or discard them in bins.
Nevertheless, these gadgets include precious supplies like gold, copper, and silver, which, if recycled, can forestall the necessity for extracting treasured minerals and assist scale 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. Submit their look on Shark Tank, they’ve acquired over 20,000 queries from retailers and distributors in simply 10 days, say the elated founders, including that they need to enhance their on-line presence within the coming years.
From initially protecting their enterprise a secret from their households to establishing an organization valued at Rs 200 crore, Avneet and Saket exemplify the ability of onerous work, seizing alternatives on the proper time, and embodying the hustle tradition.
“You must be trustworthy with your self and your prospects, work onerous, and have the zeal to construct a enterprise. Don’t follow a technique; as an alternative, be keen to redo issues if one thing doesn’t work. We achieved our targets as a result of our intent and keenness have been sturdy,” says Avneet.
Edited by Pranita Bhat
Sources
WEEE Discussion board
