Author: “What’s your valuation?”
Mandeep (CEO and cofounder, Cashify): “How do you mean?
Author: You know how, like how Facebook is valued at a billion dollars (it’s actually 350 billion dollars according to CNN), what’s Cashify’s valuation?”
Mandeep: slightly taken aback because he thought Cashify was expected to be that big, then laughs out loud, “We don’t have a valuation of that sort, we are not that big.”
Author: Now feeling slightly silly for being taken so literally goes, “hahaha.”
Jokes apart, Cashify is a series A stage startup launched in 2014 by Mandeep Manocha, Nakul Kumar and Amit Sethi seriously looking to organize a totally disorganized second hand device market.
“How much of the second hand market is organized so far?”
“None of it is actually, it’s 100% disorganized”. However Mandeep adds that there’s a smattering of offline businesses buying back phones and gadgets from customers. Then there are other online portals like Atterobay as well.
“That can’t be right, can it? What about Quikr and OLX?”
“Well, yes, such platforms allow individuals to sell their used devices but Cashify is much more than that. 1. Our proprietary software will diagnose all aspects of your phone like the microphone and camera over the Cashify app and give you the right objective price 2. Since it’s not subjective you don’t have to negotiate with the seller and the seller won’t quote a price depending on his judgement of you 3. Our team will come to your door and accept the device and deliver the cash to you."
Since this interview took place during the soon to be historic Modi demonetization move, when you hear that a company is promoting that it will give you cash on the spot you must ask how demonetization has affected the operation.
“Volume of deals has been impacted, we give customers the option of payment straight to bank account or the ewallet. We have stopped cash transaction for the time being. It’s a temporary setback, in the long run it will be good for us. It’s cheaper to rule out cash delivery completely for businesses.”
But the regime has done things that help Cashify too. Like the move to block Apple from importing used phones (according to Mandeep, it’s “electronic waste”) to sell in India.
Overall, users of Cashify seem to be happy with the app. It gets a 3.8 out 5 on the Google Play Store - if those reviews are considered genuine. Most of the unhappy customers were those who weren’t happy with either the Cashify customer agent saying the price quoted can’t be paid because the device is not as described/diagnosed, or because the quoted price wasn’t as high as another buy-back business’.
In its defence, Cashify’s online customer managers have responded to nearly all the Google Play Store reviewer’s complaints in length.
Leaving aside cash problems due to sudden government announcements, much of what’s so special about Cashify has to do with its technology – the diagnostic software, the algorithm for deciding price, the huge repository of data from both offline (mostly phone dealers) and online inputs about the devices painstakingly gathered over the two years according to Mandeep is unique to Cashify and one would be hard pressed to find something like this anywhere else in the world.
A large portion of the 1 million dollars plus the undisclosed sum of funding Cashify received has indeed been invested in improving the technological back end, infrastructure like the diagnostics tool linked to pricing engine and the people that will build all this. Some of the money is now used for marketing and of course on the back end of the buyers.
There’s more to the magic behind Cashify. Read more about what makes them tick,
here.
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
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