These entrepreneurs launched an eCommerce marketplace that lets parents sell preloved kids' products like books, toys and apparels

Neha Goenka Shroff and Swarna Daga Mimani were childhood friends when they turned typical childhood things into a startup.

This is a story about the startup "Yobler", a marketplace for pre-loved children's goods spanning a variety of product categories, and the journey of these well-placed women to start this venture.

Swarna and Neha are not new to business. Swarna graduated from NIT Nagpur with an electrical engineering degree and an MBA from IIM-Bangalore before founding ewards, a cloud-powered customer experience management system, and Social Neeti, a digital marketing agency, both in Kolkata.

Neha is a chartered accountant who worked as an investment banker in London for eight years before returning to Mumbai. Momente Weddings, a wedding planning company, was founded by her and her husband in 2011.

Launching of “Yobler”

According to one of the co-founders, Swarna, "The concept of reuse and recycling becoming a buzzword for living a more sustainable life inspired us to create an exclusive e-commerce marketplace." "This resulted in the launch of Yobler four months ago," the woman entrepreneur continued.

“In the past, such items were passed down to younger cousins or siblings; however, in the age of nuclear families, most of them end up in the trash or are given to someone who may not really need them,”

They wanted "Yobler" to be both unique and scalable, a full-fledged marketplace with buyers and sellers from all over India.

They admit that the concept of buying used products is still in its early stages in India, with Instagram and WhatsApp groups ads becoming increasingly popular.

The Process of “floor to air”

They've kept it simple because they know they're catering to mothers who don't have all the time in the world.

"Simply go to yobler.com and sign up for a new account. We approve it, go over all the details, and if there are any gaps, the Yobler team contacts the seller to resolve them." Neha states.

A vendor can add pictures and videos of the product to his or her account, as well as information on its colour, age, and condition. The Yobler backend team reviews these, compares the images and descriptions, and contacts the seller if there are any discrepancies. The products are shown on the website once they have been approved.

Yobler sells goods for kids aged 0 to 14, including toys, books, furniture, and other items. Sellers are given a pricing guideline that links the percentage discount to the product's age and condition. Yobler is integrated with logistics partner Delhivery as well as payment platforms Razorpay and CC Avenue. 

After making a purchase, the buyer is taken to the payment gateway. We retain the payment for a total of 15 days. We give the customer 24–48 hours after receiving the merchandise to inspect it and contact us if there are any problems. We pay the seller about 15 days after the product is sold and the transaction is complete.

 We charge a transaction fee of 15% of the sale price, claims Swarna. The creators opted not to disclose financial information. Neha says Yobler has achieved remarkable growth over four months, with 500 user registrations and over 300 products sold

For toys, Tier II and Tier III cities in Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have seen the most growth. Yobler uses campaigns, paid promotions, influencer marketing, and Google Adwords to target working mothers and stay-at-home moms on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. 

Uptot competes with Yobler in the market for used children's toys, but Neha is quick to point out that Yobler's automated method streamlines the procedure, and the company's cutting-edge technology will also allow the founders to raise money in the future. 

Challenges Faced

Operations were difficult at first since Swarna was in Kolkata and Neha was in Mumbai. The procedure is now "seamless" thanks to a 15-person team that consists of IT developers, customer service managers, and social media specialists. 

Future Plans

The two founders believe time management and organising the day to suit the needs of each company lets them handle many businesses at once, even if they are both very busy with their other ventures. By going to shows all over India and making connections with different tribes and groups, the team is now thinking about adding physical marketing to Yobler.