Zingo: Sell your old phone in just 2 hours and get paid in 25 minutes

Buying a new phone and trying to sell a used one are two vastly different experiences. While you may be treated like royalty in case of the former, trying to sell it can often be quite a hassle, irrespective of whether you are selling to a store or someone you know.

Smartphones, with the highest penetration rate among electronic devices in Bangladesh, are the most bought and sold or bartered piece of technology, however, it comes at a price of the most precious commodity today - time.  

With technology advancing at an alarming rate, smartphone manufacturers are coming up with updated versions of their product lines every year. 

While this enables smartphone enthusiasts to update their devices regularly, it also makes room for used smartphones lying around in our closets to be circulated back into the economy. With this in mind, since 2017, ZINGO - a re-commerce platform - began acquiring electronic items no longer in use, to be traded in markets where the demand persisted.

"At the beginning, we were open to purchasing all sorts of electronic products and many people were willing to sell but our first challenge was to figure out who our buyers would be. Potential buyers would blow us off saying they could easily purchase the product from sellers so why come to us?" said Naim Ahamed, co-founder and CEO of Zingo Pvt Ltd during an interview with The Business Standard.  

However, upon researching similar re-commerce enterprises in India, Naim realised the market for smartphones itself was huge and, "There was a lot more to be done in this field. That is when we rebranded Humpty Dumpty to Zingo in 2019," said Naim. 

"We turned our attention to developing a service that allows consumers to sell their smartphones in as little as two hours and recirculate the devices within the economy," he added.

Caption: Hasan Islam and Naim Ahamed, co-founders of re-commerce platform Zingo. The platform buys and re-sells second-hand smartphones across the country. Photo: Noor A Alam

At present, Zingo gets 700-750 smartphone sales requests each day. The start-up's current goal is to sell 15,000 cell phones in the coming two quarters. This re-commerce platform re-sells the smartphones purchased to second-hand smartphone merchants across the country. 

How it works

Anyone willing to sell a used smartphone can visit Zingo's website, enter the device's name, answer some questions about the phone, and get instant quotations based on the information shared. 

Upon agreeing to the price being offered, Zingo dispatches its field engineers to sellers' preferred location, date, and time. The engineers inspect the phone according to the information provided and pay the customer instantly. 

When asked why sellers should prefer Zingo over other online platforms and marketplaces, Naim said, "At Zingo, people may make sales requests and get paid within as little as 25 minutes. Aside from the gadget, all we need from the vendors is a copy of their NID. We offer extra money if they provide the box, earphones, and charger."

Why come to Zingo when I can sell my smartphone directly to a shop or an interested buyer?

"Buyers assume that when someone goes to a business to sell a used smartphone, the seller is in a hurry to sell the item. Even though they are the intermediaries, store representatives aim to get the best deal possible at that time. We frequently see a Tk1,000 to Tk2,000 price difference between the rates we offer and the prices vendors earn from retailers. Zingo has the lowest rates in the market," claimed Naim. 

He further stressed that a seller would have to travel back and forth to shops or meet interested buyers as well. "With Zingo, you would not even have to leave your building. You may sell any used smartphone at your leisure from the comfort of your own home," said Naim. 

Offering best rates to sellers would mean Zingo's buyers - used smartphone sellers - would have to pay more. When asked why buyers prefer working with Zingo, Naim said, "We decide on price schemes, and they agree. Furthermore, consumers have the option of purchasing second-hand smartphones in bulk from Zingo".

Zingo's Covid-19 conundrum 

Up until February 2020, this re-commerce platform would get around 40-50 sales requests each day. However, since the first week of March, the number of requests increased to around 200-250 a day. Since the emergence of the pandemic, Zingo's business grew a staggering 120 percent.

Adding to it, Naim said, "People, especially in metropolitan areas, were under a cash constraint; they were eager to sell off their cellphones, while people in rural regions, with nothing much to do at home, were willing to purchase smartphones. The same is true for school pupils who take online classes."

Investors Like Naim also realised Zingo's true potential; this re-commerce start-up raised two angel funding rounds amid the pandemic. The platform is currently soliciting Tk5 crore funds for a pre-series A investment round to establish a new e-commerce ecosystem in Bangladesh. 

Zingo started with all sorts of electronic items, shifted to working solely with smartphones, so, what is next? 

We hope to add laptops and smartwatches to our product categories soon," Naim concluded.

To know more about Zingo, visit:- https://www.getzingo.co