Australia’s second hand economy is worth $43.5bn – Gumtree

Around AU$43.5bn would be added to the economy if Australians sold all of their unwanted goods.

Prolific selling platform Gumtree has just released its seventh annual assessment of Australia’s second hand economy, and estimates that the average citizen is sat on more than $5,400 of unwanted items.

Around 70% of consumers say they buy second hand in order to save money, and Gumtree estimates that as much as $26.6bn was saved over the course of the past year, a figure which could pressurise retailers to sell at more affordable prices.

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Amazon’s impending entry into Australia represents another online channel for buyers and sellers to do second hand business, although the US ecommerce behemoth has said it will retail new products at extremely competitive prices in order to establish a footprint in the country.

A big shift identified by Gumtree comes in the homeware and furniture market, with more and more Australian consumers rejecting retailers in favour of already-used goods. In the past 12 months, 24% of second hand sales fell into this category, up from 9% in 2011.