Faida shares its plans to expand to 16 cities by the end of this quarter

Trade-ins or collaborative consumption essentially denotes getting rid of your old stuff for something you wanted for free. It doesn’t work on the principle on which OLX and Quikr work, though, which is looking for an interested buyer for your unwanted/used stuff. It works on the barter system pushing customers to exchange things they don’t need, and works on a ‘cashless transaction’ mode.

From an Indian perspective the idea is interesting. The commitment and loyalty we Indians have for our stuff is unbelievable, but at the same time what makes more sense is to declutter our houses of the mess in exchange of something more useful and utilitarian in the time. That’s where Faida chips in, with a rather straightforward name, all motivated with the thought of helping us clear the unwanted mess and contribute our two penny bit towards the giving environment. But today, given the popularity of the platforms OLX and Quikr, Faida too is expanding their portfolio to fit in the ‘buy and sell’ model.

Retailer caught up with the Co-founder of Faida, Vipul Paliwal and the conversation pivoted around the relevance of the business model, the idiosyncratic name and future plans.

Why do you think Faida has a unique business model?
Gaurav is the brain behind this unique concept. While he was in America, Gaurav realised that unlike in the US, Indians are much more attached to their stuff and seldom throw it away. It is here that the old concept of barter came to his mind. This would help us clear our homes and exchange stuff we don’t need and at the same time help recycling and have something we need in exchange.

We believe that it is not always possible to buy new items that one may need. Selling, buying or exchanging helps to save money and one will not have to wait longer to get what one needs.

Faida.com has now gone a step ahead and broadened its horizon by introducing the exchange along with buy and sell. Soon we will be offering a revolutionary concept by which the people can get new items in exchange of old for various categories and usage. Faida has about 41000 items listed on its portal.

Is there a story behind the name you have given to your business?
We came up with the name ‘Faida’ as it provides benefit for all. One can buy, sell and even exchange used items they do not need. In this way they can get items or services they want.

Have you raised any funding so far? What are your plans to use this funding?
Yes, we have raised USD one million dollar Angel funding from New York based Right Gems a year ago. We have been using these funds in expansion plans as we have started marketing initiatives in eight major cities. We are now looking at a second round of funding.

What was it that attracted the investors to your business? Have you had to pivot your business in anyway that has worked for you?
Our investors found our business concept very unique and were convinced by the number of listings that were made at our website. We have recently launched our new business model where users can not only exchange but buy and sell too.

What has been your biggest challenge so far in scaling-up?
When we started Faida it was not easy garnering trust. It was very crucial for us to get people to list their item on our website. But we never gave up and today we have over 40,000 items listed.

What are your future scale-up plans?
We are available in eight major cities and by end of this quarter we will be extending our services to 16 major cities and also in Tier II and III cities. People are already listing from across India on our platform. We also are launching our mobile app which will bring in new users from various demographic segments.