$21 million in 2010, and $35 million last year, Ganot says.
Before Gazelle, Ganot worked for Goldman Sachs, Amazon.com, PayPal, and eBay in Europe. He learned a key lesson from eBay: how not to handle customer relations. “eBay did an awful job over time, and I believe this brought it to its knees over the last few years,” he says, referring to a “lack of focus on the customer and customer experience.”
By contrast, Gazelle follows a Netflix- and Zappos-inspired model of “crazy awesome experience,” Ganot says, trying to “make sure you delight the customer.” To be fair, consumers could probably get more money for their used devices on eBay or Craigslist, but Ganot says they get a more pleasant experience and “honest value for their device” through his company. (Right now, Gazelle is offering $159 for a 32-gigabyte AT&T iPhone 4 in good condition.) “There’s value in those devices and an easy, convenient way to get value,” he says. “We make an upgrade more affordable and sustainable.”
And how does Gazelle make its money? The old-fashioned way, Ganot says: “Buy low, sell high.” Most of its resold devices end up in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
As for operations, Gazelle has about 65 employees in Boston. It outsources its electronics processing operations—shipping, consumer packaging, and inspecting and wiping devices—to a facility in Texas.
