eBay shoppers support resale for a variety of reasons
The overwhelming majority of customers on eBay participate in resale, but are not uniform in why they do so.
According to the third annual eBay Recommerce Report, 90% of surveyed eBay buyers said they’ve purchased pre-owned goods on eBay in the past year. And 93% of surveyed sellers said sustainability was either “very” or “somewhat” important to them.
Eight in 10 (79%) seller respondents said their selling on eBay has stayed the same or increased over the prior six months due to the economy, and 67% said resale is a way to earn extra income. Technology and electronics was the most popular item for resale customers, with 34% of buyer respondents having purchased resold products in this category in the past year.
Sustainability is a big deal
About 90% of seller respondents said reducing waste is an important aspect of sustainability in resale for them. In 2022, according to eBay, resale resulted in 73,000 metric tons of waste avoided from landfills, 1.6 million metric tons of avoided carbon and $4.6 billion in positive economic impact created by eBay’s sellers and buyers.
Gen Z loves resale
Generation Z respondents, the oldest of them now in their mid-20s, consistently scored higher than the average in many response categories. Approximately 56% of all buyers cited financial savings as a reason for purchasing pre-owned; for Generation Z, that figure was 64%.
A higher proportion of Gen Z sellers cited the economy as a reason for an uptick in their sales, and a far higher proportion named making extra cash (58% compared to 42%) as their major reason, compared with other generations.
“Recommerce creates real and lasting benefits for the environment by avoiding carbon emissions and keeping items out of landfills,” said eBay chief sustainability officer Renee Morin, said. “We play a central part in the circular economy through the selling and buying of pre-loved items on our marketplace.”
Study: Demand for secondhand, returned goods exploding
Consumer demand for secondhand and returned items is exploding amid inflation and economic uncertainty, according to a recent survey by FloorFound. The recommerce market grew twice as fast as the wider retail market in 2021 and is expected to reach $289 billion by 2027.
Read eBay’s full Recommerce Report at ebayinc.com/impact/sustainable-commerce/recommerce-report. eBay surveyed 11,064 consumer-to-consumer sellers and 7,459 buyers across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Japan.