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Dacby is revolutionizing the Indian gaming industry with a focus on streamlining the purchase and resale process of pre-owned games and consoles. The company's roots lie in personal experiences with gaming challenges, and it now stands at the forefront of democratizing access to gaming in India.
In this in-depth conversation, Tathagata Biswas of Sportskeeda Esports engages with Ayush Chauhan, the CEO of Dacby, to delve into Dacby's journey. They discuss the company's challenges, innovative strategies, and the dynamic landscape of Indian gaming.
Further, the discussion offers insight into Dacby's vision for contributing to the burgeoning esports scene in India. Through this exclusive interview, you get a glimpse into Dacby’s operations and its exciting plans for the future, solidifying its role as a game-changer in the Indian gaming ecosystem.
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Without further ado, delve into this fascinating story and see how Dacby plans to redefine gaming in India.
Q) Could you share the story behind Dacby's inception and its journey so far? What inspired you to create Dacby, and how did you identify the problems in the traditional gaming market?
Ayush: It's actually a very interesting story. So me, Chinmay, Bhawna, all were batch mates at IIT. I was a very passionate console gamer, Bhawna was a casual gamer, and Chinmay spent a lot of time playing PC games. Back then, playing games on consoles wasn’t pocket friendly, as each PS4 game would cost us around 3-4K, and we would complete it in 10 to 15 days. So, we decided to start buying and selling discs on other P2P sites.
I still remember the trouble and time-consuming process involved in contacting a potential seller, negotiating with him, and finally purchasing a preowned game from him. Selling was also a very tough process on these platforms. Bhawna also faced this issue in her hometown, where she had a new game, and yet it was really hard for her to find a buyer in her locality.
There was also this risk involved that once you bought the game and it stopped working, the seller would not refund your money. Troubled with the prices and no easy platform for purchasing and selling second-hand or preowned games, we decided to launch Dacby.
Q) India has been witnessing a surge in the console gaming scene, with more gamers embracing this form of entertainment. In Dacby, how do you view the current landscape of console gaming in India, and what opportunities or challenges do you foresee for your platform in this context?
Ayush: True, gaming is growing at a very fast pace. In fact, the demand for the new PS5 was so high for around the first 10 months that all major retailers' stock would immediately sell on the same day. Xbox’s game pass initiative is also taking India by storm. It is clear that these big product companies are now starting to understand the market potential of India.
This is a great sign for Indian gaming as a whole. Dacby clearly understands the potential of the market, and we will continue to provide gamers in India with the best quality gaming products for the best price.
Q) While we do not have specific information on the best-selling items, it would be interesting to know if there are any trends or patterns in the types of gaming devices or games that gain popularity on your platform. Can you share your observations on customer preferences and what factors might influence their choices?
Ayush: Game launches are very common in the console industry. Brand-new games specifically have a next-generation algorithm that greatly enhances their performance and uses the new features of the most recent gaming consoles. Games like GOW and Spiderman by Sony are great hits in the Indian market.
In general, people like to play story-based games that have got stunning visuals and are also backed by amazing stories. PlayStation is still the king of the Indian market. Following Playstation, Xbox is the second most-selling console brand in India.
Q) The esports scene in India is rapidly gaining momentum. Is Dacby planning to contribute to or support the market in the future?
Ayush: Yes, the esports Industry is growing at a very fast pace. We understand the potential of esports and the reach it can offer to game brands and Dacby. In fact, the target audience of esports orgs and Dacby are very similar, and we believe that sponsoring esports orgs and tournaments is the best way to market our brand to gamers in India.
We have already partnered with 7Sea Esports as their sponsor for the upcoming Skyesports League, which is probably the biggest CS: GO tournament that is happening currently. We are highly optimistic about the potential of this collaboration between the orgs.
Q) Dacby's platform has streamlined the buying and selling process for pre-owned games and consoles. Could you walk us through how this process works and what sets it apart from traditional methods?
Ayush: So, in traditional methods, sellers post ads on P2P platforms like OLX and QUIKR, and once a buyer is interested, he or she will negotiate with the seller. Also, a physical meetup is required for both parties to trade. This causes a lot of limitations. If you live in a place where very few people play games, you will not have access to a lot of inventory of games. Also, once the trade is done, the buyer is in no way assured of any kind of scam protection.
What if the game that you bought from a seller stopped working suddenly, you will not get your money back. But in Dacby, both of these processes are simplified for gamers. In case you are looking to sell, you can go to the Dacby app, choose the games CD that you are looking to sell, and just place an order. Your games will be picked up by our delivery partners, and once they reach our warehouse, they will be checked, and you will get your payment.
Buying pre-owned games is also very simple, you can choose from a vast library of games and place an order. Once an order is placed, our delivery partners will deliver the games to your address.
Q) The problem of limited access to games and trading inefficiencies is something that Dacby aims to tackle. How do you think your platform addresses these issues and improves the gaming experience for your customers?
Ayush: So, if we remove a platform like Dacby, all the existing solutions are location dependent. If a gamer lives in a city, he or she can only buy titles that are available in his locality. He or she is also limited by the buyers of games in their location.
Dacby solves these issues by allowing users all over India to sell their games to us. We buy games at fixed rates which are very competitive compared to the market. Because of this, we have a wide variety of collections of games available for purchase.
Now, if a customer has to buy a game instead of opening OLX, searching for the games in his locality, and then negotiating with the buyer, he can directly place a buy order on the Dacby app, and his games will reach his address without any hassle. In a nutshell, we have greatly simplified the buying and selling process from the customer’s perspective.
Q) Dacby has experienced impressive growth, driven by factors such as customer policies and fast service. Could you elaborate on the strategies that have contributed to this success?
Ayush: Our motto has always been to keep the customer above everything. We have put a great amount of attention to what our customer needs, and this, in return, has helped us bring fruitful changes to the organization, and that has helped us scale. We are partnered with Bluedart, and through them, we provide the fastest shipping possible to our customers.
Also, we have got very customer-friendly return policies which help to build trust with our customers. Dacby also provides flexible payment options like EMI, credit cards, and other finance options that users can use to make their purchases easy. In the end, our simple strategy to grow has been to make our customers happy.
Q) Establishing trust in the pre-owned games market can be challenging. How does Dacby ensure that the products sold on the platform are tested and of high quality before they reach the customer?
Ayush: The majority of our customers come from natural word-of-mouth spread. This signifies that the service and product that we are shipping is of top quality and is creating an impact on the end customer.
To ensure high quality, we have a very strict testing process with more than 50 checkpoints that we check. Whenever a console reaches our warehouse for one whole day, we do various quality checks. Only if the console passes all these checkpoints, we accept the console. The same goes for controllers, accessories, and games.
Now, we should also ensure that the end customer gets the product in perfect condition, for this, we pack the shipments with a lot of care and effort. Once the customer receives the parcel, they are informed to make an unboxing video of the product. In case the product incurs some damage during transit, we immediately replace the product from the customer free of cost.
Q) Can you share some success stories or customer testimonials that showcase the trustworthiness and reliability of Dacby's platform?
Ayush: Sure. We got a call at 6:00 pm from a customer who lived in Ghaziabad. He told us that he wanted a PS4 urgently delivered to his house as it was his son’s birthday. He told us that no other company was doing same-day shipping here, and he wanted to gift it to his son. So, we accepted his request. Though our office closes at 7:00 pm, we went on to deliver it to him.
There was a lot of hype around the game God of War Ragnarok. It was the biggest release of the year, and fans were very anxious to get the game on the same day. To ensure this, we actually got the game a couple of days earlier from our distributor and then went on to deliver it on the same day.
We also offer same-day delivery of orders in the Delhi NCR region, just to ensure that customers here can have the best gaming experience through us.
Q) Looking ahead, how do you plan to further enhance trust and confidence in Dacby's services among your user base, particularly when it comes to ensuring the quality and authenticity of the products being sold?
Ayush: We are looking to onboard a brand ambassador who would be the face of the company. We are in talks with some of the biggest gaming faces who would promote Dacby exclusively to their audience and thus greatly reduce the trust barrier of customers.
We will use their images inside our app and all of our advertising campaigns just to build trust among the users.
We have already got testers that help our warehouse identify how properly the controller works. This greatly reduces the chances of manual error and ensures only the best products are being delivered to the customers. We are also building testers that could test the hardware of the console and give us a report about the functioning of the console.
