Orchard (company)

Orchard Labs Inc. is a Canadian e-commerce company that buys and sells used smartphones across North America. The company develops and operates the Orchard mobile app, which allows consumers with iPhones to test, price, and register their iPhone for sale.[1] Orchard then provides these iPhones for sale on its website. In 2015, Orchard launched a partnership with Public Mobile to supply the Canadian wireless carrier's customers with refurbished smartphones.[2]

Not to be confused with The Orchard (company).
Orchard Labs Inc.
FormationToronto, Ontario (2013)
TypePrivate
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Location
ServiceseCommerce, Mobile app
Websitewww.getorchard.com

History

Orchard was founded in Toronto, Canada by Bruno Wong, Alex Sebastian, and Hamza Javed.[3] Following a beta launch of their mobile app in mid-2013, Orchard rolled out its services across Canada later that same year.[4]

Orchard originally built their mobile app with the option to generate a free listing for sellers to share on social media and other online marketplace.[5][6] Over the course of a series of soft launches, this option was dropped in favour of Orchard exclusively brokering sales on behalf of the iPhone's seller.[7][3] iPhones were sold on a consignment basis, charging a smaller selling fee for the longer a seller waits before their iPhone sells.[8]

In May 2015, Orchard expanded into the US market by establishing a physical location in San Francisco.[9] In June, that same year, Orchard announced it received $500,000 in funding through the MLA48, Canada's first angel investment fund committed to providing a 48-hour turnaround on investment decisions.[10] In 2017, Orchard ended its US sales after two years of business.

Partnership with Public Mobile

After Telus acquired Public Mobile, it was relaunched as a value-conscious alternative to Telus' other wireless carrier brands. Part of this transition included the closing of any brick and mortar stores and discontinuing the sale of any handsets under the Public Mobile brand.[11] Instead, Public Mobile announced a partnership with Orchard, whereby Orchard would supply Public customers with factory unlocked smartphones, pre-loaded with the carrier's APN settings.[12] Orchard's Public Mobile smartphone lineup includes Apple, Samsung, HTC, and BlackBerry devices.[13] Prior to this partnership, Orchard focused exclusively on iPhones.

Later, the partnership with Public Mobile ended.

References
  1. Chung, Emily (January 26, 2016). "5 tips for selling your used smartphone without getting burned". CBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  2. Ng, Gary (2015). "Public Mobile Partners with Orchard for Factory Refreshed iPhones". iPhoneinCanada.
  3. Tossell, Igor (2014). "Startup simplifies process of buying or selling used iPhones". The Globe and Mail.
  4. Lindzon, Jared (2014). "Toronto startup sees billions in used iPhone marketplace". Toronto Star.
  5. Nowak, Peter (2015). "Orchard offers rosy way of chucking old phones". The Toronto Star – via PressReader.
  6. Gonzalez, Leah (2013). "Online Platform Tests And Prices Used iPhones To Get Sellers The Most Cash".
  7. Bader, Daniel (2014). "Orchard Makes it Easy to Sell Your iPhone with an iPhone". Mobile Syrup.
  8. Shaw, Gillian (2014). "Selling your old iPhone? There's an app for that". The Vancouver Sun.
  9. Bonifacic, Igor (May 2015). "Due South: Orchard knows its all about the network".
  10. Hardy, Ian (2015). "Orchard Labs Receives $500,000 from the MLA48 angel investment fund".
  11. Hardy, Ian (2014). "TELUS: 'Public Mobile is becoming a self-serve value brand,' will no longer have a retail presence".
  12. Bader, Daniel (November 2015). "Public Mobile taps Toronto's Orchard to sell used smartphones in good condition".
  13. Ng, Gary (2015). "Public Mobile Partners with Orchard for Factory Refreshed iPhones".

Further reading
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