Second rotation and other remarketing services
Aug-2007
Second Rotation has been launched recently as a way for consumers to sell on their electronic items for cash. This is an interesting development in the drop-shop model which uses the fact that for some categories (mainly electronics) eBay is a liquid market with steady (ish) marketprices. Based on a number of criteria (condition, accessories etc) the site will give a value which it is willing to pay for an item. Presumably the items are then sold on eBay for a spread over the offer price.
I think that this model is perhaps the future for customer focused eBay consignment sellers, as it provides a good customer experiences (cash today) and allows the consignment company to only deal with items they know will sell.
The idea is not new with The Drop Spot offering to buy up iPods and gaming systems from their site Beyond the Pod. Similarly in the UK, services such as Mopay, envirofone and mazuma mobile offer to pay cash for mobile phones
Trevor,
http://www.pacebutler.com does it with cell phones, but strangely they only want the phones not the accessoiries like manuals, adaptors,etc
Seems to me you’re doubling the shipping and handling time/cost. A template over eBay or direct selling from the owner to the new buyer with Second Rotation as a sort of escrow might be more efficient.
Ansgar
Marktplaats.nl Handelspost
http://www.verkoopwinkel.nl
I presume that they factor that extra cost into the price they pay for the mobile. In my experience they don’t pay much more than £30 for a phone.
Also they may not have the post the phone for a second time as I think a lot of these items are shipped to the far east for reconditioning
I agree that using envirophone is less hassle but if the cell phone still works you will usually get more for it on ebay.
My experience is that for the older phones you get more money on envirophone. For newer, more expensive phones, eBay is definiately the better option.