Sell Your Old Phones Within 60 Seconds - Instacash Startup Review

Operating in 13 cities in India and 8 cities in Malaysia, Instacash bills itself as a company which buys your old phones within 60 seconds. It is an instant mobile selling platform capitalizing on the recommerce business model.

The company plays its cards on convenience. It has successfully fused the on-demand business model with the recommerce business model and provides scheduled home pickup facility and instant payment in cash for every old phone they purchase.

Before moving on to discuss the opportunities and its distinct business model, here are some stats and facts about Instacash

Founded in 2017 by Prateek Goel and Dixit Singhvi
Formerly known as ZeroWaste
Received an investment of undisclosed sum from CompAsia, an information technology refurbishment firm based in Singapore

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Instacash – Startup Review By Feedough

Instacash isn’t a new idea in the startup ecosystem. Companies like Cashify and Bundli have already introduced the concept of recommerce to the Indian market. But the market isn’t tapped to its fullest yet. India is the second largest smartphone market in the world and more and more non-smartphone users are attracted to upgrade to smartphones from feature phones. The shorter upgrade cycles of smartphones these days also fuel the ‘used phones economy’. Moreover, according to Economic Times, refurbished mobile phones category is growing at 400% year-on-year and its contribution in overall mobile phone sales has almost doubled in 2017.

Recommerce appeals to the aspirational and value-conscious nature of the Indian consumers. The upgraders to the new smartphones get a competitive price for their smartphone while the buyers get their favourite smartphone at lesser prices. These buyers constitute a majority of those who prefer using an old branded phone with features they need than settling for a new non-branded phone with lower specs.

Instacash uses a mobile functionality test (in-app) + questionnaire method to calculate the appropriate price of the phone. Other factors like brand and market demand are also considered during this process.

The company focuses on simplifying the old-phone selling problem by providing a ‘quick convenience on-demand’ solution. Before such startup, people used to sell their phones in the local markets at variable prices which involved a lot of effort and expense on their side as they had to visit different shops/markets to find the best price. Instacash has disrupted this market by making the process convenient for the end user. The customer now checks the price while sitting at home and the company even provides home pickup for even better customer experience.

The business model isn’t just profiting the company but the country as a whole too. Only 5% of the e-waste generated in India gets recycled and the rest 95% of the e-waste gets handled by the local scrappers. This is a serious issue for any country and hence such recommerce business models can do a great job in reducing such e-waste.

Now, if you’ve read our article on Recommerce Business Model, you would know how they use these used-phones to make money.

Interested?

If you’re looking for a platform in India or Malaysia to sell your old smartphone, you’re in luck: Instacash also provides a price lock feature which offers you an option to lock the price for 7 days.

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Aashish Pahwa

A startup consultant, digital marketer, traveller, and philomath. Aashish has worked with over 20 startups and successfully helped them ideate, raise money, and succeed. When not working, he can be found hiking, camping, and stargazing.