Refurbished smartphones sold with a bill and warranty

This business buys used and dead smartphones in bulk, picks out the ones worth saving and brings them back to full working order. You fit new batteries, screens and charging ports, erase the old owner's data, test every function, and sell each phone with a bill and a short warranty.

Seelampur, in this district, is one of India's best-known e-waste markets, and Mustafabad, also here, has many small dismantling units. Dealers here take in old phones from across the city and mostly break them up for parts and metal. A working phone is worth far more than its parts, and the same lanes sell spare parts cheaply.

You need GST registration, registration as a refurbisher with the Central Pollution Control Board under the e-waste rules, a clean bench, testing tools and data-wiping software. The hard parts are honest buying and steady quality. Check every phone's IMEI number (its unique ID) on the government's register of lost and stolen phones, and keep each seller's ID proof, because stolen phones do pass through scrap markets. Cheap parts fail early, and one bad batch brings returns and poor reviews. Give parts you cannot use to an authorised recycler.

Sell on online shopping sites, through small phone shops, and to people buying their first smartphone who want a bill and a warranty.