Most anyone who’s moved to a new city has gone through the process of hunting for furniture, appliances, and random odds and ends to fill up a new home. The used goods market was the go-to option for appliances and furniture, while household items that did not fit into these fast moving categories gathered dust and took up space in homes. With increased use of technology and social media, the realisation that someone’s treasure may be locked away in your cupboard has come to the forefront, giving birth to platforms that cater exclusively to used goods.
Books, strollers, lamps, statues, vintage telephones and pipes and One Direction perfumes - these are some of the items that a quick scroll through one of Bengaluru’s used goods communities, Second To None, reveals. With over a lakh members, this is one of the many communities that seek to connect people looking to buy or sell used goods. These communities work on two fundamentals — technology and trust. “There is a big gap when it comes to trust in the used goods industry. Either there are middle men, who want to make quick buck or there are people who cheat or dupe innocent buyers. Most of the sellers in classified and listing websites are middlemen and we wanted to change that,” says Rashmi R. Padhy, one of the co-founders of Koove, a platform that connects online communities on Facebook through their android app, and also conducts flea market sales.
In a time when almost everything we buy is first seen on a screen, the move to provide a similar solution for used goods is a logical one. Noticing the large floating population in the city, Rohit Ramasubramanian, one of the co-founders of Zefo, a platform for pre-owned household goods, decided to give second-hand buyers the experience of buying new. “With furniture, people tend to buy and sell in bulk, and we wanted to gain the users’ trust that the product they receive is in the same condition it appears online. Hence, we dust and disinfect before selling it to a new buyer, which is not operationally unviable for us. While furniture is a major part of our catalogue, we have now introduced televisions and other household items,” says Rohit.
While buying used goods was traditionally a hands-on affair, the increased reliance on the online shopping model has trickled down to the used market as well, with people checking online and purchasing directly.
Abhilash Narahari, co-founder of Elanic, which deals mostly in pre-owned clothing, also mentions trust as the contributing factor. “We try to serve as a space for unstructured, small goods where the price is not clearly defined, which do not do well on classifieds. So the idea was to make the process simple and build a trust-based community, which is why we look more like an Instagram than a Flipkart,” he says, adding that the demographic aged 20-35 is the most active user of such communities.
Despite the convenience and the community-structure, there are niggles that customers face, mostly on the logistical front. “There are times when it seems more convenient to inspect things in person and purchase. Delivery services sometimes get delayed and there have been instances of damaged items, particularly with classified websites that provide the service without a focus on customer satisfaction or well developed return policies,” says Advika Kumar, an advertising professional. “Some sellers tend to inflate the selling price for items like clothing to make up for the commission charged by some platforms, or buy cheap items off websites and sell it for a higher margin,” she adds.
While this is a prevalent concern across such platforms, Rashmi believes the community continues to be the solution. “Sellers get instant feedback if the price they are quoting is high and innocent buyers get to know when another member calls out the high price. They are more informed and able to take better decisions,” she observes. While not perfect, the social give and take when it comes to used goods seems an effective solution, going by the activity on such platforms. While Rohit and Rashmi admit that an upwardly mobile and adaptive market like Bengaluru is suited for such a model, the problem it seeks to solve exists in towns and cities across the country.
These initiatives and active communities have ensured that Bengaluru now has a thriving used goods market. So next time you dust out that closet and find something that can be put to better use, you know where to go.
On FB sale groups
Joining sale groups on Facebook is the quickest way to tap into the pre-owned market. Open groups can be joined with a click while closed groups require a referral or confirmation by a group administrator. Once joined, these groups allow browsing through sale posts, and have a handy button to message the seller directly from the post. For sellers, groups provide options to sell (which involves marking prices and updating purchase status of listed items), starting discussions or conducting polls.
