eBay to follow Amazon’s path, introducing refurbished goods through ‘eBay choices’

As the eCommerce startups in the country are leaving no stone unturned to get new and innovative ideas from each possible resource, the Indian subsidiary of US-based eCommerce firm eBay Inc, too, has joined the race. The online retailer is now looking forward to sign pacts with firms selling refurbished goods to strengthen its product offering pan India.

As per a top executive of eBay, who requested anonymity, eBay has signed a deal with eight companies including Green Dust, i2cworld, Baobab, Budli Int and Value Cart. These firms will provide a choice of more than 1,000 live listing of refurbished mobile phones, laptops and tablets to all eBay customers.

As published in an Economic Times report, Latif Nathani, vice-president and managing director at eBay India, said, "Offering buyers unlimited variety at various price points has been the core proposition of eBay globally for nearly 20 years. Through 'eBay Choices', we will now offer the Indian consumer a similar proposition and an opportunity to buy the same product at different price points ie new, refurbished and used.”

Nathani further added, “We not only aim to increase the offering of refurbished goods on our platform but also build trust and awareness around the segment by offering products from certified refurbished partners only."

A refurbished product is a device that is returned to the manufacturer due to some fault, is repaired and put back on sale at discounted prices with a warranty of around six months.

As per Nathani, the company, in its next phase of expansion, is looking forward to add another refurbished item like television, refrigerators and other white goods.

Last year, the mobile phone category in the refurbished-and-unboxed market went up to 50% (Rs 9,723-12,964 crore) and might grow 30% annually till 2020, Alex Souter, co-founder of Overcart, an online seller of such goods, had told ET earlier.

The trend of refurbished goods is new to the Indian eCommerce markets. While Amazon tied up with Surpluss to sell refurbished smartphones of Samsung and Xiaomi, Shopclues begun selling unboxed phones from Samsung, Asus, Lenevo, Xiaomi and One-Plus.

Of the total live listing on eBay India in categories like mobile phones, laptops and tablets, 90% of the offerings are new and the rest are refurbished or used. The company is of the view that this ratio will change to 80:20 in the next one year.