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Hunter
I met @brunowong at Rocket Space in the city and he showed me this prototype. Really excited for his team that they're launching. I've sold my phone on craigslist in the past and it's a hassle. This flow is really well thought out and they make it incredibly easy every step of the way. Would love to hear his thoughts on explaining why they put the app together and how many phones they're helping sell.
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Maker
@noinput — so glad you enjoyed the app. The idea actually came from something you clearly have some experience with: trying to sell a phone on Craigslist.
This was back when I was trying to sell my phone before upgrading to an iPhone 5S. I took a few preliminary scrolls through Craigslist and was immediately turned off of the whole thing. I just remember it being mostly listings for unlocking services, or NIB iPhones selling for suspiciously low prices. I knew that I could make the most money by selling the phone myself, but the DIY route seemed almost too much trouble than it was worth.
So, that's where the Orchard app came in. We originally envisioned it working kind of like a trust layer on top of Craigslist listings, but honestly, there was still so much distrust lingering in the transaction that we noticed buyers just seemed more comfortable the more hands-on we were in the process. Now, we handle everything to do with buying or selling a used iPhone and we're seeing a really great response from this approach.
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Maker
Yeah, that’s a great question @tehsin681. Just for some background, we spend our first year serving Canada only and just recently expanded into the US market. I think the difference between us and our competitors that people will notice off the bat is our pricing. We developed a unique pricing algorithm that uses data from marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay so we can consistently offer sellers more than what they would be getting with other resale options.
Just quickly looking at some numbers, Gazelle will offer you $195 for an unlocked iPhone 5S 64GB in flawless condition, while we will offer you $330 for basically the same device.
We’ve taken a mobile-first approach with iPhone sales. The app allows us to be really responsive to not only the actual condition of the phone, but the condition of the resale market itself.
@jepatel I mean buying/selling the Apple Watch not support for an Apple Watch app ;)
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Maker
@jepatel — It's definitely in our roadmap but... what's that saying? No plan ever survives contact with the enemy?
Right now we're just focusing on getting things right with the iPhone. Then I think we'll be able to open things up, take our learnings from the iPhone, and roll out service other to high-end devices, like Android smartphones. The Apple Watch and other wearables are something we would love to get our hands on and we're working hard to move in that direction as quickly as possible.
Really love the whole "sell your iPhone with your iPhone" idea, but I know there are already some players in the resale space here. Wondering how you’re different than, say, Gazelle?
Interesting, does your service check the IMEI against blacklists?
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Maker
@mrchrisnguyen, we definitely spend a lot of time getting to know the blacklist. Trafficking in lost or stolen devices is something we want to avoid at all costs. Before we list any iPhone into our inventory, we have highly trained technicians perform testing to make sure that everything was correctly reported in the app. They'll also make sure that the phone isn't blacklisted or activation locked.
Because these phones are finding new homes with actual users (and not being shipped off to be recycled for parts somewhere overseas), we really have to stand behind each phone we sell. If a phone ever becomes blacklisted later on, we will either give a refund to the buyer or send them a replacement. Luckily, because of the registration system we have, there isn't a lot of incentive for people to sell us blacklisted devices— we've actually never had a blacklisted phone make its way to a buyer. We're always working on new systems and processes to make sure that it says that way.
so how does your app account for a device's physical condition?
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Maker
@theanisamirza — accounting for wear and tear on a phone is something that has really changed as the app developed over time. Right now, the user reports the basic condition tier of their phone, which ranges from Like New to Heavy Wear. They can also mention things like short battery life or screens replaced by third parties (non-Apple screens usually come with a whole host of quality issues).
The next iteration of the app will have a bit more of a visual way for people to categorize their device condition. We took some photos of typical phones in various conditions so, instead of just assuming what a "Very Good" condition phone looks like, users can tell us which photos best represent the condition of their phones. Suffice to say, it's something we will keep experimenting with until we find an option that is both simple and accurate.
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Maker
@theanisamirza, just in case you were interested in a bit of Orchard history: one of the original versions of our app had a screen where users could trace out any scratches or damage to the front screen of their device, since the screen condition accounts for a big portion of the phone's overall condition rating. We opted to get rid of this feature, in favour of making things more streamlined and frictionless.
We did, however, end up overlaying the scratch drawings of 250 users into one kind of creepy looking piece of abstract art. If you're curious, feel free to check it out here: https://www.getorchard.com/blog/....
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Maker
Thanks for hunting us @noinput and those kind words. I really appreciate it. I'm really excited to be here.
Hey PHunters! I’m a co-founder and the CEO of Orchard, bringing you a really simple way to sell your iPhone. The Orchard iOS app is available for free on the app store— it lets you test, price, and register your iPhone for sale. Using the app takes only 3 minutes! We’ll send you everything you need to ship your phone to us and, from there, we handle everything to do with your sale, including finding you a buyer and getting you paid. Each iPhone sale is guaranteed within 3 weeks or less, or we’ll buy it from you for the same price.
We’re always hungry for feedback so feel free to check out the app even if you’re not looking to sell your phone. Not to mention that I’m a self-taught designer so any feedback from the community in that respect would be welcome. Connect with me anytime at bruno@getorchard.com.
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