Student who turned misfortune into a laptop trading platform

Mr Denis Kiplang’at. PHOTO | COURTESY 

By KIARIE NJOROGE

In Summary

• Kiplang’at scours OLX for laptops which he feels are underpriced, buys them and then re-sells the same machines at a higher price on the same trading platform.

Denis Kiplang’at, a third-year medicine student at Maseno University, suffered a sudden misfortune a year ago when his laptop got spoilt and he decided to sell it on OLX, an online trading platform.

He sold the machine and purchased a better one at a value he describes as “decent.”

This incident has now proved profitable for him as it was the start of an online business that functions in a fashion loosely similar to the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

Kiplang’at scours OLX for laptops which he feels are underpriced, buys them and then re-sells the same machines at a higher price on the same trading platform.

“I usually inform my clients that they are buying a second-hand or refurbished machine. I do this so that they understand that any problem the machine may have is not my fault,” Mr Kiplang’at told the Business Daily.

This rather effortless business has seen him earn a decent return every week, so much so that he is able to cater for part of his school fees as well as his daily upkeep.

Kiplang’at says he is currently selling about one laptop a week with the average profit from each transaction being Sh5,000.

“Previously, I would call home often for pocket money but now I do not disturb my parents that often.”

OLX is a global online trading platform established in 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina before it spread globally.

In Kenya, it has become the leading online business platform with thousands of deals clinched through it daily on multiple areas like furniture, real estate, electronics, animals and clothes. OLX country manager Peter Ndiang’ui says that over two million people visit the online market site every month.

People trade in a variety of items and over 60 per cent of traders get a response within the first five days of placement, the company says.

More than 300 cars, 50 livestock and 1,000 electronic devices are listed on OLX everyday.

As the popularity of the platform and online shopping gains traction in the country, Mr Kiplang’at foresees a bright future for his young enterprise.

Each of the laptops that Mr Kiplang’at sells goes for different prices depending on the manufacturer, its condition as well as its specifications including hard disk size, memory.

Most of his customers are students in Kisumu county from the university as well as other institutions like Kisumu Polytechnic. Some of them purchase the laptops for their relatives.

Unlike the laptops sold in shops, he is not tied down by warranty issues. Being in a rather hectic medicine programme, he can only spare very little time for the business and most of his deals take place on weekends.

involved.