For sports and film lovers, owning a piece of their icons is like a dream come true. And 24-year-old Anjana Reddy makes it happen.
It was her passion for sports that gave Anjana Reddy the push to start something truly interesting. The 24-year-old entrepreneur forayed into India’s e-commerce business by founding Collectabillia, creating a new space for Indian sports and film fans to own a piece of their favourite icon’s autographed memorabilia. In a chat with After Hrs, Anjana talks about her exciting initiative...
What made you start this website ‘Collectabillia’? Are you a collector yourself?
When I was doing my masters in the US, I discovered how big football really was. And even though people there would miss matches, they’d always be surrounded by sports merchandise. From kids to adults, everybody had a part of their football icons with them; there were jerseys all around along with football mugs and even dustbins! That is when I thought about how cricket is like religion in India and fans should be able to own merchandise of their favourite icons. I noticed how after India won the World Cup, there was no merchandise available to the fans while it should have been. That’s when I knew it would be a great idea to bring the concept to Indian people. My focus was on cricket as it is the most popular game in India but I have included films and other sports as well. And yes, I collect sports merchandising for my personal collection as well — I simply love sports.
How are you sourcing your products?
We don’t get our products through auctions or anything; we deal directly with the celebrities or their agents and they provide us with the products.
How does the online platform work?
It is very simple. It works like any other e-commerce website but what’s really cool is the part where we intend to have an auction platform where merchandise will be auctioned.
Superstar Rajinikant agreed to be a part of Collectabillia as well. What merchandise of his are you selling?
More than ‘Rajinikant’s’ merchandise we wanted to feature merchandise from his 3D movie, Kochadaiyaan. His daughter Soundarya, who’s directing the film and under whose production house, Ocher Picture Productions the movie is being produced, helped us with it.
The concept of buying celebrity sports and music icon merchandise works internationally. Do you think it will work in India too?
I think sports and film fans across the country will find this a good way to connect with their icons. It’s like owning a piece of your favourite star.
Lastly, you have included sport and film icons. Do you also have plans for including music icons to the website as well?
As of now we are mainly concentrating on sports and films with celebrities such as Heath Ledger, Christiano Ronaldo along with the huge section we have on Sachin Tendulkar. But yes, we do have plans to bring in music icons as well.
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