Better value for used products

I don’t like throwing any of my stuff away, be it my old school books, my old touch-screen phone or bags which have been my perfect companion since college days,” exclaims 23-year-old Aarzoo Gaba.

So, instead of throwing things away, Gaba prefers giving them to those who need these products.

Making it easier for people like Gaba and attempting to bring the traditional system of bartering goods and services is an online platform, Let’s Barter India. An entrepreneurial endeavour of Pooja Bhayana and Sahil Dhingra, the platform creates avenues for used products, which are otherwise sold at a low cost.

“Last year, I had an extra tab and I wasn’t finding the right place to sell it off. It was as good as new and people demanded half of its original price. So Sahil and I thought of creating a group on Facebook, adding only our friends initially, to exchange it with some other product that might be of use to us,” says Bhayana.

Within four hours, says Bhayana, the group had around 5,000 members interacting with each other about the products they wanted to exchange for something else of their need. “Through an open channel of communication, people list their products with full details and interact with interested people for its exchange,” says the 24-year-old.

When their Facebook group, launched in October 2015, had as many as 1,73,000 members, they then progressed to launch the website letsbarterindia.com, two months ago.

By clicking on ‘add a listing’ button, a user can upload their product, its worth, the product they want to exchange it with and the preferred location for barter.

“For exchanging products with a disparity in price, there can be a ‘partial barter’ where a user can give extra cash along with the product.

Users can personally chat on the website and exchange products as per their requirement,” Bhayana tells Metrolife.

However, assessing the authenticity of the listed products is one of the biggest concerns for Bhayana and Dhingra. They say that each listing is uploaded only after it is verified for its originality and is approved by them.

Along with books, which are one of the most exchanged products on the website, phones, laptops, watches, automobiles and lifestyle products are also bartered
frequently.

Bartered services include giving social media presence for events and photography in exchange of food coupons, passes or even movie tickets.

With portals like Quickr and Olx, where people can sell second hand products, having a wide presence in the market, how do they plan to overcome the competition?
“I feel that the market is really spoilt by the bech de concept. Why we might work is because we don’t push the product. We build a community where like-minded people exchange used products, giving them a value much more than its resale value.

However, this is a struggle for now and we are working hard towards creating a market,” says Bhayana adding that they soon plann to launch an app for the portal.