It is called “second hand economy”, literally “economy of second hand goods” and is taking on specific shape and weight. During the pandemic, especially in the middle of the cloister, we realized that we had superfluous products and that we needed to save, a combination that helped to break down those residual psychological resistances that made us refractory to the products used.
Research
Italians are growing online: they are eight out of ten
This is the photograph taken from the eighth edition of the report drawn up by the Second Hand Economy 2021 Observatory and edited by BVA Doxa on behalf of Subito, an online sales platform which, in 2019, recorded 13 million unique monthly users. The report was made between February and March 2022 on a sample of 2,074 people reached by phone or via the web.
To understand the evolution of the second-hand goods market from within, we took advantage of the opinion of Giuseppe Pasceri, CEO of Subito.it.
A 24 billion market
In the course of 2021 the buying and selling of used cars reached a total of 24 billion euros and 23 million people took part with an average per capita expenditure of just over a thousand euros. Online makes an increasingly massive contribution and constitutes 49% of the entire sector, achieving a figure of 11.8 billion, a strong growth compared to the 5.4 billion achieved in 2014. It should therefore be considered that the combination of second hand and digital becomes more and more solid. Offline markets and the sale of used goods between acquaintances or through word of mouth are making room for the web.
The online market
Since 2014, or since the Second Hand Economy Observatory monitors market trends, the percentage of people who buy used products online has gone from 30% to 70% (2021 figure), that of those who sell online has increased since 45 % to 72%.
Online is becoming increasingly vital also for the used goods market.Subito wanted to give a further boost to this trend, creating TuttoSubito, a service that secures both the sending of the products sold and the payment by the buyer. “A paradigm shift that, a few months after its launch, is very positive. Working in this segment with real innovation benefits everyone ”, says Pasceri.
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2021 was the year in which online purchases surpassed offline ones. The most loyal customers are those of generation Z (born between 1997 and 2010), then millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), generation X (born between 1960 and 1980) and then baby boomers.
What tip the scales towards online is speed (49% of those who participated in the survey), the wide choice (43%) and the convenience of managing a purchase or sale from home (41%) . Also like the possibility of negotiating the price and the possibility of dialogue between buyer and seller.
What we buy online and offline
Online the sports & hobby sectors, the electronics and vehicles sectors stand out. Offline channels are the preferred ones for purchases of what Subito makes fall into the home and person category. Also good clothing and accessories.
The generations that buy play a different role. The baby boomers, i.e. the older ones, tend to buy offline while, again analyzing the data relating to 2021, Generation Z is very active online but does not disdain traditional purchase channels.
What we sell online and offline
Offline they mainly sell furniture and household items, books and magazines. The main players are still the young generation Z, active online in the categories sports & hobbies, vehicles and electronics.
While women do not give particular importance to the sales channel, men prefer online channels while keeping an eye open also on offline (in 28 cases out of 100).
Electronics and second-hand
Second-hand electronics in 2021 achieved a global turnover of 4.1 billion euros. Online channels are chosen by 54% of buyers and 43% of sellers.
A sector revitalized by the pandemic that has forced many to equip themselves with tools for agile work and distance learning. Even the purchases of consoles and video games – which have undergone a strong push during the periods of seclusion – have contributed to increase the numbers.
Because we sell second-hand
Failure to use an object is the main reason that pushes us to part with it, followed by the desire to move to a more advanced model of what we own. The needs born during the pandemic and economic needs, together, determine the sale of one in five objects.
Baby boomers are the most likely to sell what they don’t use, removals push millennials to part with unnecessary possessions. The reasons are mainly related to the desire to get rid of unnecessary objects (79%), linked to sustainability (44%) and to the realization of profits (39%).
The reasons that can be linked to sustainability are above all three: 54% of those who participate in the second-hand products market recognize a usefulness for the environment, 50% appreciate the possibility of giving a second life to the products and, for 48 %, is a smart way of doing circular economy.
A growing market
72% of those who buy used and 76% of those who sell it are now regulars. One in three people (29%) buy used at least once a month and 43% at least twice a year. On the other hand, 23% of those who sell do so at least once a month and 46% at least once a semester. “In 2021, more than 3 billion searches were carried out on Subito, visits are also growing and the number of advertisements, almost 50 million, published throughout the year”, explains Pasceri. Numbers that lead us to focus on the second-hand online goods sector: “In the next few years we want to invest in resources and people, in technology and innovation to make the market increasingly fluid and close to people. One of our mantras is the centrality of the user “.
The pandemic has affected the growth in turnover: “If we look at the trajectory of the second hand market we see that it has been growing continuously over the last fifteen years, if we look in particular at 2020 we see that there is a slight decline due to the lockdown technical, during which people could not meet. Coming out of this dark moment for all of us, what we notice is a continuation of that accelerated growth trend. The lifestyle change due to the pandemic has benefited this market, ”explains Pasceri.
The sale and purchase of used products is becoming an attitude that loses the prejudicial connotation linked to need and is increasingly considered intelligent and synonymous with sustainability, the report concludes.
The cultural prejudice towards second-hand products is changing, as Pasceri illustrates: “The second-hand market has undergone various phases in recent decades, with the arrival of online it has been seen as a smart way to save. There is a cultural factor, especially in our country, in which certain second hand product categories are rarely used. In France, this market is further ahead in terms of acceptance. In reality, in recent years, also thanks to the pandemic but not only, there is a cultural shift on the part of Italians. Today the second hand is no longer a fallback market but it is central. The survey carried out with DOXA confirms that those who turn to second hand do not do it as an alternative but many Italians see it as a real sales channel and online simplifies a lot “.
Immediately
“Subito was born in Milan in 2007, founded by Schibsted, the largest Scandinavian-Norwegian media company”, explains Pasceri. “After almost fifteen years it is among the ten most visited sites in Italy and is part of the Adevinta group, a Schibsted spinoff, listed on the Oslo stock exchange and present in sixteen countries”.
In addition to the website, Subito also offers apps for mobile devices (here for Android, and here for iOS) which have already been downloaded 6.5 million times. Immediately it has 49 million ads published (up 15% compared to 2020) and 135 million average monthly visits (46% from apps, 41% via website from mobile devices and 13% via desktop). There are 300 employees and 2.6 million daily users (+ 10.6% compared to 2020).