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 Covid-19 has pushed people to buy a second gadget for work from home and educational purposes, leading a surge in the pre-owned smartphone market in India, according to a report.

The report, by re-commerce market-place Cashify, is based on a survey of nearly 4,000 people in the country.

No-cost EMI option, replacement warranty, and contactless delivery were identified as the top criterions for purchase of refurbished gadgets. About 50 per cent people chose affordability as a primary reason for buying refurbished gadgets instead of a brand new one.

Xiaomi topped the chart as the most sold smartphone brand, followed by Apple and Samsung.

The top four cities which accounted for sales of pre-owned smartphones are Delhi (23 per cent), Mumbai (13 per cent), Bengaluru (11 per cent), and Hyderabad (7 per cent).

Further, the report showed that 80 per cent of the males sold their smartphones while only 20 per cent of the females sold their smartphones in 2020.

The pre-owned smartphone market was found to be majorly male-dominated -- most in demand was OnePlus at 86 per cent, followed by Xiaomi 85 per cent, Samsung 82 per cent, 80 per cent of Oppo. iPhones were the least in demand by males (71 per cent).

"A major migration from offline to online took place last year. Locked within their houses, everyone had to make do with whatever was accessible online. Work, studies and shopping all shifted to digital," Cashify COO and Co-Founder Nakul Kumar, in a statement.

"As lockdown restrictions eased and people started stepping out, our focus again was on expanding our touchpoints with smartphone users. The Recommerce industry saw a surge in Q3 of 2020, for those who still preferred offline, we also launched over 10 Cashify Stores in the second half of 2020 all over India. The brand has seen a definite surge in 2019-20," he added.