Second-hand smartphone market growing at a pace of 30 pct per year

Second-hand products platforms have become a big market for many devices, especially smartphones. On the OLX platform, more than 400,000 Romanians sell their mobile phones annually and their bids generate more than 18 million contacts per year from potential buyers.

A strong upward trend has been seen in recent years, and for 2018, OLX estimates a 30 percent increase in this category, which is also the strongest in the Electronics and Appliances section.

“Romanians are constantly upgrading to their mobile phones, and this helps to list very good mobile phones at affordable prices. Monthly, our users publish over 190,000 new ads, and the growing number of new ads on the platform is supported by a wide variety of brands and models. The latest releases on the smartphone market have brought OLX a wave of state-of-the-art mobile phones,” said Paul Neagoe, business manager at OLX Romania.

According to a poll conducted in the “Phones” category from October 1 to 15 on a sample of 1,078 users, 41.71 percent of respondents said they were selling their mobile phones to buy a better phone. Also, 26.95 percent of users chose OLX as it is an easy-to-use platform for such transactions, while 25.78 percent are pleased with the fact that it offers access to a lot of buyers and 23.53 percent of say their products were sold very quickly through the platform.

The average length of time it takes for a phone to be sold on OLX is 12 days for Samsung and iPhone phones and 13 days for Huawei phones.

For buyers, OLX is the best source for mobile phones because of the price, which allows them to buy a high-performance handset at an affordable price: 71.69 percent of survey respondents said they chose OLX because prices are lower than in stores, and for 44.78 percent of them, the possibility to negotiate the price of the phone is a decisive factor. Proximity also plays an important role in the acquisition of mobile phones: 32.83 percent of users said they prefer OLX for the possibility to buy a mobile phone from someone in the same city, and 26.10 percent choose OLX because they have many options to choose from.

The top of the most popular brands of mobile phones on OLX is headed by Samsung, followed by iPhone and Huawei. For pricing, the average varies for each brand. iPhone prices reach RON 1,450, Samsung averages RON 954 and Huawei phones have an average listing price of RON 835.

“The mobile phones category is by far the most attractive for technology-loving OLX users, both for sale and for purchase. As proof, last year Romanians listed 20 times more phones compared to the number of TVs put up for sale and 8 times more mobile phones than laptops. By the end of 2018, we estimate a 30 percent increase in the category, reflecting Romanians’ high appetite for high performance phones and their desire to keep up with trends,” adds Paul Neagoe.

In terms of seasonality, the most demanding months for upgrades to mobile phones are December and January, when most new offers are uploaded (over 190,000 ads), and when there are also the most buyers (over 200,000 active users in this category).