New UAE Online Portal To Sell Secondhand Household Goods

The UAE’s new YallaBargain secondhand online portal is sure to become a success due to the turnover of expats arriving and relocating.

The expat population of the UAE is estimated to include some 200 nationalities, resulting in a wide range of pre-owned household goods, with millions of dollars-worth of equipment and furnishings purchased every day. Co-founder of the website Sai Naveen told local media the resale value of goods discarded when expats return to the home countries is around 10 billion dollars, with everything now able to be sold online to incomers.

Second hand markets in the UAE have always been a popular way to buy little-used, quality household goods of all types, with Facebook and Dubizzle the only online outlets until now. According to Sai, it’s inconvenient for both buyers and sellers, especially when deliveries have to be made by sellers. The advantage of the new website is that the company handles delivery of the goods purchased as well as the payment, handing it to the seller after delivery has been made. Sai sees his idea as a convenience-based, risk-free option and the site takes just 15 per cent of the purchase price as commission.

Before setting up the site, Sai and his investor toured local malls and food courts, conducting a six-month customer survey in order to make sure a ready market existed for the service. In addition to personal listing of used goods, the site is now an online sales channel for several hundred SMEs dealing in nearly-new goods as well as a number of rental companies who list their products and let YallaBargain take care of deliveries.

At present, the Dubai authority is investing Dh20 million in new marketplaces for dealers in second hand goods, meaning the nearly-new market will grow still further, giving the website extra growth potential. Returns are allowed should the product not conform with its description, and sellers who regularly misdescribe will be banned from using the site.