74% of 16-34 year olds have sold second-hand goods online at least once in the last twelve months, which is well above the national average. A way to save money.
Make ends meet, put money aside, preserve the environment… So many reasons that push young people to resell more and more objects on the internet. More than 76% of 16-34 year olds say they have sold second-hand goods online at least once in the last twelve months, up 19 points from the previous year, according to an Ipsos study* for eBay.
The trend is accelerating since only half of them did before the health crisis. More than six out of ten young people (64%) say they sort their things to give them away, throw them away or resell them. These are mainly clothes (76%), books (33%), video games, fashion accessories and decoration.
Put money aside
Their first motivation is financial. Selling business on the internet would allow 39% of young people to save money, compared to 33% of French people, 29% to pay bills or groceries, or finance leisure activities and outings.
As a result of this phenomenon, donations and recycling have stagnated or even fallen in recent years. And this trend could be further accentuated because of the current context. The war in Ukraine and its repercussions on prices would encourage 72% of 16-24 year olds to sell their business even more on the internet, which is much more than the average French person (51%).
Environmental Considerations
In addition to the financial aspect, young people see second-hand sales as a way to consume responsibly.
“Our eBay study on sales between individuals shows that environmental considerations are important motivations for selling second-hand objects. 34% of French people are motivated by this ecological aspect, 39% of Germans, 32% of Britons and 16% United States”, explains Sarah Tayeb, director of sales at eBay in France, quoted in a press release.
“The most pressing reason for these buyers and sellers? To prevent perfectly good products from going to landfill,” she adds.
Buying second-hand also allows you to limit your expenses. Eight out of ten young people (80%) plan to buy more second-hand (80%), compared to 69% of French people.
*Ipsos study for eBay on the French and spring cleaning. The survey was carried out from March 28 to 29, 2022 among 3,000 people, constituting a national representative sample of the French population aged 16 and over.
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