The Walmart-backed Flipkart today announced a ‘Sell Back Programme’ by providing a platform to sell used mobile phones in return for Flipkart vouchers. The Indian e-commerce giant said that the platform, right now available for mobile phones, will be extended to other electronics goods soon. It also clarified that the mobiles eligible for the sell back programme need not necessarily have been bought on Flipkart.
Flipkart said that the Sell Back Programme launch follows its recent acquisition of Yaantra, an electronics re-commerce company that specialised in repair and selling of refurbished consumer tech products.
The company said the programme is already live across 1,700 pin codes in cities such as Delhi, Kolkata and Patna.
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How Flipkart's sell back scheme works
The thing about Flipkart's ‘second-hand’ platform is that unlike other such ones, a customer does not have to negotiate with sellers, and only has to deal with Flipkart, which will credit the cash voucher, even before the item is sold.
How the scheme works is: Customers can visit the Flipkart app and select “Sell back” from the options in the bottom bar.
Customers can get the value of their mobile phones assessed by answering 3 simple questions.
Once this is done, a Flipkart executive will pick up the product from their doorstep within 48 hours.
After verification, Flipkart voucher will issued within a few hours as per the confirmed sell back value.
It is not clear if the scheme will include non-working mobile phones, and devices with damages such as cracked screen and so on.
Prakash Sikaria, Senior Vice President and Head of Flipkart’s Growth Charter, said, “As people continue to upgrade their devices, there is a growing market for reselling devices that is highly unorganised and difficult to navigate. With Flipkart’s Sell Back Programme, we aim to help organise this market."
As per a recent study by IDC, it is estimated that around 125 million used phones are available in India, of which only 20 million reach the market, with the remaining lying unused and neglected at their owners’ premises.
“This amounts to tremendous e-waste and needs to be solved for, on priority. Flipkart’s Sell Back Programme addresses this challenge as it gives customers easy and simple means to sell their old devices and use the earnings to purchase any product of their choice on Flipkart,” it said.
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