As per wikipedia ,Recommerce or reverse commerce is the selling of previously owned, new or used products, mainly electronic devices or media such as books, through physical or online distribution channels to buyers who repair, if necessary, then reuse, recycle or resell them.

As an Indian , you may have surely in one or the other way came across buying or selling of second hand products like books, furniture , automobiles etc. The trend of reusing or recycling may have gained traction in past few years for the world but in India we have been doing it for ages be it using our old torn tshirts as a floor mop or dusting cloth, bottles of all shapes and sizes to store masala powder, pickle or even oil, trading the old clothes for new utensils from the kalhaiwala . It wont be wrong to say that India is a biggest market for Recommerce without a doubt and this theory is backed by the statistics as well.

This term may have been coined in February 2005 by George F. Colony , the head of Forrester Research , but holds maximum relevance in this era of leapfrogging where the shelf-life of a product in various domain is just a couple of releases away. We can notice that the rise of fast fashion has let alone in India account for 8.5% of global textile waste and same trend can be seen in electronics sector as well.

Now, presently we have noticed the entry of well-established ecommerce giants and organised retailers into the second-hand electronics market segment ,now these companies have partnerships with competent expert vendors for repairing and refurbishing used phones, assuring quality products unlike the unorganised players of the market . This move has helped customer to overcome their doubts and social stigma about the genuineness and credibility of products, also accepting buying of refurbished items as a value for money deal. But with the dawn and shift of consumers mindset increasingly towards sustainability and environmental conscious products the concept of recommerce has a bright future in segments beyond electronics as well.

It has a promising feature of being Earth- friendly in nature , because it shifts the focus from a linear to a circular business model which is much more environment friendly . One can support their goal of a greener future by promoting this business where the aim is to lower the environmental impact by leveraging materials that extend the life of your products after all, reselling an existing item requires less energy, water and raw materials. Furthermore, a recommerce product avoids creating additional CO2 in comparison to what producing a new one would generate. Now let us explore areas other than electronics where reselling can gain momentum and become profitable as well.

Similar to selling of refurbished high end smartphones and laptops, many people are very fond of maintaining their watch collections and especially collecting rare or vintage products. Vintage watch is a good product idea to be available on sites for reselling and the profit margin in this business is very high, also this area is quite unorganised where there is a lack of transparency, limited selection and availability, no quality assurance or warranty and absence of clarity about the genuineness of the watches. It is common for fake or stolen devices being sold to unwary customers.

The demand for plants is always high, making this a lucrative business opportunity. Often people living on rent have to move from one location to another either to a new city, state or even country .Now if you are a plant parent and have a green thumb relocating of plants can be a big task beacuse chances of plants dying or the ceramic pots breakage on the way can cause damage to other goods .Therefore majority of times either they hand it over to their neighbours for free or leave it with the house owner with their consent.

Here recommerce can come to your rescue, if a well known ecommerce sites like flipkart, amazon, meesho etc can provide these plant owners a platform to sell it to someone who can take care of them as their own it can become a good deal for both the parties. Plants have a great reselling value and problem of extent of use is also mitigated here.

In this business people are at the convenience as they don’t have to wait much longer for their plants to grow from stage zero and for the resellers, it is profitable as they can sell those plants at higher prices.

I believe that reusing books is the best thing one could do. Rather than purchasing books, many people prefer visiting libraries or buying them from a second hand market at a cheaper price . Books are one of those essentials which once read, are not generally re-read again. So, established online sites can provide a secure and organised market place for people who want to earn some money by selling their old and reading books.

Going by this data another excellent idea is to provide a platform for reselling of the expensive wedding attires. Brides-to-be always need a lovely, high-quality wedding gown, and there is a thriving online market for used wedding dresses. Now there are number of thrift stores online who promise to get better customers as well as a good deal online, if the wedding attires are in a good condition, and hasn’t been used in years.

One might consider buying used furniture for various reasons, but the cost is usually the most enticing aspect. Saving some money is the main reason why most people buy used items. Considering that new furniture can be expensive, one can save a lot of money by buying quality used items. Furniture, artwork, and rugs are usually the most popular and profitable options. Second hand shopping of home décor items makes use of available resources and ensures less waste.

Indians being the most price sensitive consumers can definitely be allured by the recommerce under this category.

At present there are number of thrift stores online and on social media that are encouraging people to buy and sell gently used toys and baby items in order to promote sustainability. Currently many parents are struggling to deal with the accumulation of high-quality items bought for their children across years that are now barely used and therefore one way to address the issue lies in reselling.

Promoting and supporting recommerce is like shopping with a permanent coupon. Instead of paying hefty amount for new products it offers reduced cost by refurbishing goods that can fulfil the need of a new product just as well and most importantly the circular economy is designed to keep products in use and out of landfills. It reduces the stress of infinite demand for finite resources.