mySWOOOP | Overview

mySWOOOP uses a customized software technology to purchase new and used electronics before reselling them on a variety of platforms.

Since its founding in 2011, mySWOOOP has grown continuously and came in 25^th in Gründerszene’s 2017 ranking of Germany’s strongest growing digital enterprises. The Melchers Group, a worldwide operating service and trading company, holds a stake in mySWOOOP since 2014 and has invested more than EUR 3 million.

mySWOOOP has more than tripled its annual turnover since 2015 to EUR 4.6 million. Nearly 75% of Germans replace their electronic devices every two years. They try to get rid of their old equipment as quickly and easily as possible.

Wholesalers and retailers also want to sell products such as returns and secondary goods as profitably as possible. mySWOOOP's intelligent software facilitates quick and easy sales for these customer groups on its website and in its own offline stores.

The algorithm determines the best purchase price based on historical and current market prices.

mySWOOOP quickly places the purchased articles on various platforms such as Amazon or eBay for resale in addition to its own website. The risks of a loss in value can thus be minimized and the highest possible profit margins achieved.

The customer selects the brand, model, condition, and accessories for his item on mySWOOOP's website and receives a direct purchase offer. If he accepts this offer, he sends the article free of charge to mySWOOOP. The payment is then transferred within 24 hours after an examination by an expert. Alternatively, the customer can also hand in his devices at partner shops or in mySWOOOP's own flagship stores and receive the purchase price in cash on the spot.

We want to use the financing from Companisto primarily to expand our partner network throughout Germany and to advance our product development.

mySWOOOP makes buying and selling attractive.

We launched our business model in November 2011 on the basis of this guiding principle and have continuously optimized our business model and extended it through complementary services. Accordingly, our core business is to buy and sell products through a wide range of channels, helping both consumers and businesses to sell things they no longer need as easily, quickly, and cost-effectively as possible, while simultaneously contributing to a sustainable future.

From the customers' perspective, the central added value of mySWOOOP's offer has three essential elements: Time savings, liquidity, and service & trust.

As a seller, you don't have to bother with annoying article descriptions or lengthy sales processes. Moreover, the purchase amount is paid out in our store locations directly in cash. In the case of online sales via our website, the payment is made within 24 hours after the goods have arrived.

Whoever buys from mySWOOOP also benefits in many ways: 
Since one can purchase not only new but also tested used products from mySWOOOP, one can save up to 70% in price. We also provide a warranty of at least one year on all products in our range and, last but not least, friendly and competent customer service.

mySWOOOP offers companies wishing to sell residual stock, secondary goods, or returns will find a structured and sustainable sales channel with only one single point of contact - mySWOOOP itself.

Here, too, our partner companies incur no further expense because we use the sales structures of mySWOOOP. This is not only time-saving but also highly cost-efficient.

Another complementary service in our flagship stores is the repair service for smartphones. Complementing the core assortment of electronic products, mySWOOOP offers fast and high-quality repairs of displays and batteries in our stores.

A cooperation with Commerz Finanz GmbH, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, also allows for products to be financed and paid for in installments at mySWOOOP.

Theft and damage insurance as well as mobile phone tariffs can also be purchased for a wide variety of electronic products. Here we have cooperations with the insurance company Wertgarantie and the mobile phone provider Yourfone.

mySWOOOP generates income from the resale of purchased electronic products.

The specially developed software not only automatically executes key processes within the company. It also determines current market prices for the products to be purchased in real-time.

The technology can thus calculate the maximum purchase price that can be paid for a product, taking into account the costs incurred by mySWOOOP. This enables mySWOOOP to achieve a defined minimum margin by reselling the product.

Regardless of whether a private consumer or a corporate customer sells goods to mySWOOOP, the purchase prices are always calculated so that mySWOOOP always achieves a gross margin of at least 20% with the resale. The average gross margin in the fiscal year 2017 was 30%. The planned target value for the coming years is 32%.

The different purchase and sales channels by which we acquire and sell goods can be divided into three main categories: Online, offline, and direct trade (wholesale). Goods are purchased via our own website, flagship stores, and via various distributors throughout Europe as needed.  

The situation on the sales side is similar: The situation is very similar on the sales side: mySWOOOP uses third-party platforms such as eBay and Amazon for online sales in addition to its own website. Sales on each of these platforms are based on the highest standards of service and quality - because mySWOOOP is an eBay Plus and Amazon Prime dealer.

Direct sales transactions are regularly concluded with various retail companies from all over Germany in addition to stationary retail in our stores. As a result, mySWOOOP is continuously building up a constantly growing distributor network through which lucrative direct business can be handled with little effort, both in purchasing and in sales.

mySWOOOP has created a unique sales structure by combining the advantages of various purchasing and sales channels through tailor-made technology. The mySWOOOP software not only analyses and calculates the purchase prices to be paid in real-time. It also carries out fully automated processes, for which an employee would otherwise need several minutes, within a few seconds.

Examples of such processes are the creation of article descriptions, the posting of inventory in the merchandise management system, or the placement and advertising of purchased products on the various sales platforms. Each of these processes can be carried out with just a few clicks and thus enables fast and efficient processes throughout the entire company. By developing and introducing this software, mySWOOOP has laid the foundation for scaling and for the targeted growth of the coming years.

Thanks to the high efficiency of the various processes, customers can sell products to mySWOOOP more easily and quickly than with potential competitors. Moreover, the purchase amount is paid out very quickly. In stores, this takes place directly on site in cash, while payment for online purchases is made within only 24 hours after the goods have arrived at mySWOOOP.

Furthermore, the flagship stores offer the opportunity for the purchase and sale of products that would be difficult to carry out purely online due to their size and condition, which is why online-only re-commerce businesses do not offer them. Examples are TVs and other large hi-fi devices, which often still have very good resale values.

Another distinguishing factor are the complementary services such as cell phone repairs, theft and damage insurance, cell phone contracts, and financing which mySWOOOP offers to provide our customers with additional added value.

We have already acquired thousands of customers who purchase and sell devices through mySWOOOP and take advantage of our various services. The ever-growing sales figures demonstrate the increasingly high demand for mySWOOOP's products and services.

Particularly in our online business, mySWOOOP cooperates with well-known price comparison portals, which redirect visitors who want to buy or sell products to mySWOOOP's website daily.

We have concluded long-term cooperation agreements with the following partner companies to provide our various complementary services.

In terms of corporate customers, mySWOOOP also has a number of firm partnerships with companies for and from whom mySWOOOP buys and sells products. Sky Vision Satellitenempfangstechnik GmbH, for example, has worked with mySWOOOP successfully for several years.

Here is an interview with managing director of Sky Vision Andrej Ganski.

Currently, mySWOOOP is also concentrating on securing stationary electronics retailers as local purchasing partners who will also purchase mySWOOOP products in their stores using the mySWOOOP software. We have already concluded several partnerships throughout Germany, with active cooperation starting in the second quarter of 2018.

mySWOOOP's offer addresses a very broad and comprehensive target group. Almost every consumer has electronic devices that have no direct use but often still have a considerable resale value.

Although mySWOOOP creates added value for everyone, the target group can be subdivided according to the following criteria:

The re-commerce market itself has experienced increasingly strong growth in recent years. This development is expected to continue more strongly in the coming years. German consumers' growing online affinity (throughout all age groups) and shorter product life cycles of technical devices are further fostering this trend.

The market volume in Germany alone for used smartphone trading amounted to over EUR 2 billion in 2017. We expect this segment alone to triple within the next five years. The global market potential is estimated at USD 14 billion per year with a rising growth trend.

Another driver of this trend is the overall growth in global sales of smartphones and the resulting tendency of most people to regularly renew their electronic devices.

Additionally, the overall growth trend in the global consumer electronics market will continue in the coming years and will lead to global consumer electronics sales of almost EUR 400 billion alone in online retailing in 2022.

mySWOOOP's development to date can be divided into three main development phases, two of which have already been successfully completed:

mySWOOOP was self-financed in the first three years after its founding (2011-2014). The three-man founding team set up the company profitably and led it to a mid-six-figure annual turnover.

The second phase covers the three and a half years since the Melchers Group became an anchor investor in mySWOOOP (late 2014 - early 2018). Decisive milestones were the opening of the second mySWOOOP flagship store in January 2015 and the successful development and introduction of software technology for automated analysis and processing of the purchased products.

The third phase of the company's development covers the next 3-5 years of mySWOOOP's further growth. The task now is to scale mySWOOOP's functioning business model and grow towards monthly profitability by the end of this year.

An important milestone during this phase will be the launch and gradual expansion of the stationary Authorized Purchasing Partner program, which will begin in May 2018 with the first purchasing partners we have already acquired.

These stationary purchasing partnerships will expand mySWOOOP’s offline purchasing network on a national level without further fixed cost structures. mySWOOOP provides ist purchasing partners (e.g. electronics retailers) with a specially adapted version of ist own software technology so that they can also purchase electronic products for mySWOOOP from their customers in their stores.

The funds will be used in stages as follows:

Companisto investment level 1: EUR 100,000

• Expenditure for sales and online marketing
• Completion of two software modules for an even more comprehensive analysis of market prices for products to be purchased

Companisto investment level 2: EUR 500,000

In addition to the measures of level 1

• Launch and expansion of the stationary purchasing partner program incl. hiring of employees (external services/distribution)
• Expenditure for sales and online marketing
• Development of a mobile app for iOS and Android devices

Companisto investment level 3: EUR 1,000,000

In addition to the measures of level 1 and 2

• Recruitment and training of additional employees for software development and online marketing and further expenses for sales and marketing
• Revision and relaunch of the mySWOOOP website

Since joining mySWOOOP in September 2014 as a shareholder, the Melchers Group has already invested more than EUR 3 million in mySWOOOP and continues to be a strong long-term partner to the company.

About the Melchers Group

C. Melchers GmbH & Co. KG is a globally operating company founded in 1806 with a broad portfolio of services and trading expertise in a wide variety of business areas. Its global network of more than 50 subsidiaries in Germany and abroad makes Melchers a reliable, strong partner.

Melcher's services cover the entire value chain - from product development and manufacturing to sales and trading, marketing and after-sales services. It is also active in the import and export from and to Asia, as well as the Asian domestic trade.

Its success is built on over 200 years of experience with 150 years of market expertise in Asia and a flexibly organized global network. Each of Melchers' local companies adjusts its business individually to the respective markets and customers. This independence and flexibility give Melchers the opportunity to integrate every new product area into the group effortlessly and to achieve its individual entrepreneurial goals reliably.

You can find more information about the Melchers Group at https://www.melchers.de/.

Every Companist can make a major contribution to the further success of mySWOOOP by selling unneeded consumer electronics products online or in-store to mySWOOOP from now on.

Recommending us to friends, relatives, and acquaintances would also be a great support. The fact is that almost everyone has something to sell.

At the same time, Companists can purchase their favorite products - such as smartphones, tablets or consoles - from mySWOOOP with high price savings in future.

Links to full articles:

• BILD, 26.09.17
• Gründerszene Interview, 07.01.18
• WELT, 07.12.16
• Best practice business, 16.03.16

mySWOOOP GmbH
Linzer Str. 2
28359 Bremen

+49 (0) 421 98 96 87 0

companisto@myswooop.de
www.myswooop.de
www.facebook.com/myswooop/