Amazon India Now Selling Refurbished Smartphones

Amazon has launched its refurbished smartphone section, following an initial pilot. The company is touting 'quality-assured refurbished smartphones'.

Amazon had launched a pilot around refurbished smartphones in the first week of August, and Surpluss.in, a Delhi-based online retailer of refurbished and unboxed products, was one of the first partners in the initiative.

Under this arrangement, Surpluss will sell refurbished smartphones of Samsung, Xiaomi, Apple, OnePlus, Motorola, Micromax, and Lava, the company said in an emailed statement.

"We have received more than 150 orders within a week of its debut, and are getting about Rs. 8-10 lakhs of transaction volume a day through Amazon." said Tarun Bhardwaj, executive director of Surpluss.in, speaking to NDTV Gadgets.

"They entered into a partnership with us because they found our range, experience and processes matching up to their expectations. Our firm manages refurbished consumer durables and IT products, these are brand refurbished and brand warranty devices. We don't buy our products from anyone other than the manufacturer." He said.

Bharadwaj said that the refurbished mobile phone market was about 23 percent of the overall mobile market, estimating at Rs. 12,000 crores, accounting for 20-25 million electronic devices that are returned to sellers every year.

Refurbished phones are often sold at 50-75 percent of the original sale price of the device, and unlike the second hand market, the devices have been used for twenty percent of their estimated lifespan, and come with a six-month brand warranty.