Togofogo is a platform where buyers and sellers meet virtually. Unlike Olx, Quickr Togofogo is more responsible platform. Basically, it is a marketplace where togofogo on behalf of a buyer acquires the device from the seller and runs some test to see whether the device is in good condition or not. The USP of them is that they even offer a warranty on the device you purchase from them. This is something necessary for Indian consumers as most of them might not be aware of the condition of the device. It reduces the risk factor.
Interview with Soumitra Gupta
We have had a privilege to speak to the founder of the togofogo venture. Alright, as I told you in brief about what Togofogo is and how it works, here is some more information through the interview with its Founder, Soumitra Gupta. We asked a number of questions about his rare start up with a very unique ideology and he was ready to answer with our every question. We interviewed him at the Togofogo Bloggers Meet held on 17th March 2015 at Hauz Khas in New Delhi. We got to know a bit more about his start up with the concept of providing people with refurbished phones.
We firstly asked him about how he ended up with the name ‘Togofogo’ for his company and we got to know that there is no such hidden meaning behind this naming idea, he just named it; he named it like something which is somewhat unique and quite easy to remember. Basically, he named it funny to some extent and has a quite easy to remember title for his very own start up. He believes that people will be interested to know more about the company which has such a unique and somewhat funny name and people will definitely remember about them once they come to know that there is one such company that deals with the business of providing people with refurbished second hand mobile phones and tablets for their own use and that too at the right price according to the present condition of the market of that very product.
How Togofogo is Different from OLX?
Secondly, we asked him about how he is planning to compete with its competitors like Quikr and OLX. To this he tells us that Quikr and OLX are not competitors to Togofogo. These companies are basically Yellow pages that help people in the listing of their products and other users see these listed products and then contact the seller and make the deal. They do not deal in checking the quality of the product, actual condition of the product and doesn’t even provide with the actual product images. All these factors are controlled by the seller. He/ She list the product and write about the product according to their own will. Nobody knows about the actual condition of the product and also these sellers list their own desired prices despite of the market value is lesser or higher. And when a customer contacts the seller for buying the listed product, they negotiate for the value of the product and when the buyer gets the actual product, he or she might not be satisfied with the product as the listed condition and the actual condition of the product may vary. In this regard, whenever a seller wants to list their product on the Togofogo, the company collects the product and the product then undergoes various quality checks to ensure the buyer a very good experience as compared to buying from various sellers around them. Togofogo firstly, picks up the product, repair the product (if it suffers any flaws or faults) and lastly they pack it just like the brand new version the same product. Then they sell the product, collect the money from the buyer and give the share of the amount to the seller. This is what these companies like Quikr and OLX don’t do. Soumitra believes that there is probably no competition for him in the Indian market that provides such services to the customers. Services are very well planned and if they are well executed then they could easily achieve success within a short span of time.
Togofogo Future Plans
Next we asked him about where he is planning to see his company in the next five years. He answered that if we do it all right then the company can be seen in the list of the top companies as there are presently millions of mobile phones in the market that people are looking to sell. In addition to this, there are also thousands of people who look forward to buy these used phones as they do not have a big budget but the big question mark they acquire is that what will be the quality of the product, what will be the condition, is the value correct according to the market at that present moment. This is where Togofogo comes into the picture; they provide answers to all these queries of the customers and provide them the best quality products which they can rely upon very easily and also obtain a hassle free experience from their side.
Later we asked him if he has some partners in the company to which he says that he has one of his best friends as the partner in the company. They both together are planning to take their company to new heights and achieve great success in the upcoming years.
He also tells us that Togofogo is currently selling just phones and tablets but they surely plan to add more products like Laptops, Printers, Watches, and Televisions etc. in their league of products as people nowadays search for a second hand version of almost anything. People search a lot on the internet every now and then and grab a deal which suits them the best among all.
Togofogo believes that there a huge market of used products especially in India as many people wish to buy used products to save a fair amount of money and experience those expensive products at a much lower price.
We believe that Soumitra Gupta’s unique start up, Togofogo will be a sure shot boom in the market I the upcoming years and will definitely generate a very huge network of buyers and sellers all over India. Togofogo is surely a start up that is based on a very unique ideology that nobody else in the country has ever come up with. They surely have a very good potential of taking their business to a large extent because they are one of a kind in the whole country. People are always curious to try new things and new concepts launched and contribute to large extent in the marketing of that very product or service.