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.
History of the term
In February 2005, George F. Colony, the head of Forrester Research introduced the term recommerce in response to a question about the technology spending trends after the Dot-com bubble: "There's a lot of shelf-life issues out there. People are a couple of releases behind. Older PCs. There is a move to really go back to — we call it 'recommerce'. Instead of 'ecommerce', it's 'recommerce'". He said.
The term is now primarily used to describe businesses which resell used goods. Most of them focus on consumer electronics, such as smartphones, tablets, and notebooks. Physical media, such as books, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are also significant.
While there have long been channels for selling used goods, such as garage sales and flea markets, online platforms such as eBay or craigslist allow individuals to sell used goods much more efficiently.
Beginning in the early 2000s, companies that professionalized the industry by offering professional buyback or trade-in schemes started to thrive: consumers could sell their old smartphones, TVs, or computers to offset the cost of a new one. This has been common practice with car sales for decades.
Companies such as Gazelle, Rebag, and ThredUp started in the 2000s to offer purchasing and trade-in services completely separate from the purchase of new items and further spread the term. Soon after this, companies like SmartphonesPLUS, Amazon, and Walmart started their own trade-in programs.
Different Types of Recommerce
Informal Market
Consumers that sell used goods directly person to person (such as flea markets, garage sales or ad hoc) or via Marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. Hereby some platforms such as eBay may hedge the risk of the payment for the consumer by providing payment tools such as PayPal or just offer the possibility to market the product such as craigslist.
Trade-In & Recommerce Services
An increasing amount of transactions occur directly via specialized service companies that purchase used goods, refurbish them if necessary and resell them subsequently. Such platforms often provide initial indications of the final purchase price for the good.
Most platforms assist the user during the transaction by offering following services: An indication of the final purchase price to the owner of the product sold (often the final price varies as the consumer cannot verify to the full extend all determining factors of the product sold such as the quality of the battery of a smartphone during the process); By organizing the logistical return of the product; By controlling the product's condition in a specialized workshop; By recycling the good if it can't be used anymore.
This kind of resale allows sellers to overcome some marketplaces drawbacks, by providing a means of simplified acquisition, and immediate and sometimes guarantied value.
Buy Back & Trade-In Offers by Vendors of new Products
Especially in the electronics sector the purchase and buyback of consumer electronics became very common in recent years. By today all major MNO offer Trade-In solutions combined or detached from the purchase of a new phone. Most of this services are offered by 3rd party refurbishing companies specialised in used electronics.
Types of purchased products
Examples of the main assets of companies acquired by recommerce include:
Consumer non-durables: disposable razors, jeans, corks, pantyhose, eyeglasses, watches Cultural goods: books, CDs, DVDs Jewelry: gold, silver Technological devices: cellphones, smartphones, tablet computers, TVs, video game consoles, GPS devices, cameras, video cameras Clothes & unwanted fashion items and accessories; handbags, small goods Over the counter (OTC) medical supplies, particularly Diabetes testing supplies such as glucose test strips and lancets Many ecommerce services have introduced recommerce solutions, including distributors, online retailers, and chain retailers.