Kr-Asia is all about actionable insights for entrepreneurs. And through this post, you’re about to find out:
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What is the business model of an electronics recycling platform?
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How should a platform dealing with used goods plan the details of the collection and recycling process?
Electronics recycler Shanhs.com (闪回收) has recently raised nearly 100 million yuan (approx. USD 15.8 million) in a Series A financing round from Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital. According to CEO LIU Jianyi, the company will use the money to optimize its intelligent recycling system, recruit talent from both China and abroad and expand into the telecommunications sector.
Founded in May 2016, Shanhs.com is an O2O platform focusing on the cell phone aftermarket and recycling business. In addition to dealing with the collection and recycling of cell phones, tablets, and Apple Mac computers, it also operates a used cell phone mall and provides online after-sales services for new devices.
Through the online interface of its WeChat Official Account or website, Shanhs.com provides users with a fast option to resell their spare electronics.
Specifically, users make a request on Shanhs.com’s WeChat Official Account or website to have their devices evaluated right away. After that, they can place an order online and wait for an SF Express courier to pick up the device (the shipping cost is borne by the platform). The money will be sent to their accounts once the device passes evaluation at the factory.
Shanhs.com, on the other hand, will list the device on its online mall for resale, the purchase of which will come with free, standard after-sales services.
Generally, this is how Shanhs.com recycles cell phones:
- The cell phones in the best condition are singled out and resold on the second-hand market after they are carefully examined and the old data is securely erased;
- The rest that are still usable are graded based on their conditions and selectively exported to less developed countries after the old data is safely disposed;
- The non-functional or obsolete cell phones will be dismantled in order to reclaim valuable materials;
- The last step concerns the extraction and recovery of precious metals on the circuit boards.
It’s also worth mentioning that Shanhs.com is an accredited service provider of Apple’s recycling programs.
Shanhs.com is now an authorized recycler for a number of cell phone makers and has, as of now, inked partnerships with the mobile telecom carriers, including China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, e-commerce giant JD.com and the third-party mobile and online payment platform of Alipay. It also established ties with the courier service provider SF Express, and it now plans to roll out other services including cell phone rental, installment plans and insurance for cracked screens, alongside its recycling business in 2018.