eBay India, fully-owned by the US-listed eBay Inc, is planning to sell refurbished white goods — like TV, washing machines and refrigerators — around Diwali.
The move comes after the company’s successful foray in selling refurbished mobile phones, tablets and laptops, beginning August this year.
According to Navin Mistry, Business Head – Retail Export (Cross Border Trade), the company has seen the number of organised refurbishers (those who sell refurbished products) rise significantly during this period. From seven sellers, there are now 15 with which it has tied up.
Similarly, product listings have moved up from 6,000 to 20,000 between August and at present.
“The refurbished products have seen good traction. We will look to introduce white goods in the coming days, around Diwali,” he said during the launch of “Loudest Diwali Ever”.
In India, the offline refurbished goods market is pegged at $ 15 billion while the online at $500 million. Globally, offline refurbished goods are pegged at $550 billion and the online at $10 billion.
With the segment picking up, eBay expects that over the next one year nearly 20 per cent of its product listings (on eBay India) will be refurbished or used ones while 80 per cent will be new. As of now, the refurbished and used to new product listing segment stands at 5:95. Globally, out of 100 products listed, 24 are refurbished or used ones. The remaining 76 are new listings.
eBay Inc, which operates in a market place model, reported a gross merchandise value of $ 20.1 billion in the second quarter of this year (April to June) and a revenue of $ 2.1 billion. Nearly 59 per cent of its revenues are from “international markets” that include those outside the US.
Increase in seller baseThe company, Mistry said, is also looking at an increase in its seller-base this year.
It has at present 45,000 domestic sellers and 20,000 international ones. The plans is to look at a 33 per cent increase in seller base this year. Last year, it had 35,000 sellers on board.