Flipkart to start selling refurbished smartphones by Diwali: report

Flipkart will begin selling refurbished smartphones from popular brands, including Samsung ‘On Series’, Lenovo, Motorola and Sony Xperia by Diwali, reported the Economic Times.

The decision to sell refurbished smartphones comes after the high rate of handset returns and the absence of a pricing advantage with the introduction of goods and services tax, according to industry executives cited in the report.

The firm is also looking to organise the “unorganised” refurbished market of India, and build it too.

According to the report, Flipkart will be offering three categories of refurbished smartphones, priced at 60-75 per cent of their original value.

“There are also handsets with minor problems which are replaced. The company plans to get them checked and certified to look and work like new and sell them as Flipkart-certified refurbished handsets. There will be limited warranty as well on such products,” one of the executives who held talk with Flipkart told ET.

The refurbished smartphones will be sold through both online and offline marketplaces.

Flipkart isn’t the first online retailer store who has decided to sell refurbished handsets. Amazon India already sells such devices. However, industrialists suggest that both need to open up newer channels for refurbished phones’ sales, especially offline, if they want to see this market growing.