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Amazon sets up shop for individual sellers in India, will pack and ship packages for them

Amazon sets up shop for individual sellers in India, will pack and ship packages for them

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Amazon has launched a newly-branded “Sell as Individual” service in India, making it easier for users to sell secondhand goods like books, video games, and electronics. The company charges a small fee for each item sold based and its value, and to solve one of the major headaches for small sellers, will pick up the item from them, pack it, and ship it. All part of the deal.

It’s not clear exactly how this Amazon-branded scheme, spotted by Mashable, differs from Junglee — a subsidiary company launched by the US retailer in India in 2012. Junglee also lets individuals sell secondhand goods while organizing shipments for them, and the help pages for the Amazon “Sell as Individual” service all point back to Junglee domains. It seems “Sell as Individual” might just be a front for Junglee, but if Amazon is lending its primary brand to the service that seems significant. (We’ve contacted Amazon to find out more.) So far, “Sell as Individual” is only available in the Indian city of Bangalore.

Whatever the relationship between the two services though, Amazon’s increased focus on individual sellers in India is an interesting move in one of its most competitive markets. The US retailer is currently battling it out with local rival (and top dog) Flipkart for the hearts and minds of Indian consumers, and while the latter offers selling space to VAT-registered small businesses, it doesn’t cater to individuals. “Sell as Individual” could help Amazon differentiate its product, and might even provide a blueprint for similar services in other markets.

Update January 4th: Asked about the relationship between Junglee and the new service, a spokesperson for Amazon India said: “We piloted this experience through Junglee which allowed us to learn and improve, and now we are making it available to even more customers through Amazon.in. Customers can get this experience now through either site.”