Amazon India debuted Sell As Individual service yesterday, this is a new service for selling used goods through the retail giant’s online platform. The new feature is currently only available in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka whose 8.5 million residents get to test Amazon’s latest service before it becomes available throughout the country. The company has yet to provide details on when it’s planning to roll out Sell As Individual to more cities and regions.
The procedure of selling used items through Sell As Individual is somewhat similar to the system that Amazon sellers are already using, with the exception of its delivery process. A seller is expected to provide a picture of a product and its description before listing it as being available for sale. However, once a buyer pays for the package, sellers aren’t expected to deliver it. Instead, Amazon will contact the seller, schedule a pickup date, pick up their product, package it, and proceed to deliver it. In case a buyer isn’t satisfied with the product and wants to return it, Amazon will make sure the seller gets it back at no extra charge to either party. Sell As Individual doesn’t restrict sellers to any particular type of products, so everything from books and consumer electronics to clothes and jewelry is fair game.
If everything ends up working out, sellers will receive their money in three to five days following the date they’ve handed over their product to Amazon’s employees. The Seattle-based retailer is charging sellers 10 rupees or just under 15 cents per every sold item valued at up to 999 rupees ($15). Amazon’s mediation services cost 50 rupees ($0.8) for a product priced at up to 5,000 rupees ($74) and 100 rupees ($1.5) per each more valuable sale. The company is currently trying to promote Sell As Individual by offering an extra 1,000 rupees ($15) of Amazon Pay Balance to people who use the service to sell a single phone, tablet, or laptop, or make five smaller sales. This limited promotion is ending on January 15th, while all eligible sellers will receive their rewards by February 15th. Sell As Individual operates independently of Amazon’s specialized store for used and refurbished phones which the company debuted in India back in September.