eBay has released its third annual Recommerce Report, which examines what drives sellers and buyers to participate in the sale of used goods. The latest report (for 2022) also marks the first time eBay has conducted a separate survey exclusively for buyers.
Both sellers and buyers are turning to resale for its financial benefits. Sellers are earning and expanding their livelihood in the marketplace by selling used goods, while buyers are looking for used items to find what they love at a fraction of the price. And for both sellers and buyers, reselling is a way to reduce their environmental impact, eBay concluded after conducting the study. We know that our sellers and buyers are passionate about the sustainable and economic values of recommerce,” said eBay president and CEO Jamie Iannone. “At eBay, these values are core to who we are as a company – and we work every day to build a more robust circular economy.”
For the 2022 report, eBay surveyed 11,064 sellers and 7,459 buyers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Japan between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1.
Key findings
- 90 percent of buyers said they purchased used goods on eBay in the past year.
- 93 percent of sellers said sustainability is “very” or “somewhat” important to them.
- 79 percent of sellers said their sales on eBay have stayed the same or increased in the past six months due to the state of the economy.
- Thirteen percent of seller respondents said they are trading again due to decreased household income, and 30 percent said their sales have increased in the last six months.
Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) was the youngest generation surveyed. Generation Z is significantly more likely to turn to resale for extra cash and more likely to value resale in terms of environmental sustainability.
Resale continues to be an important component of eBay’s vast global marketplace. Worldwide, 90 percent of buyers surveyed said they had bought used goods on eBay in the past year. In some countries, this figure was even higher; in France, the figure was as high as 98 percent of respondents. This popularity of reselling is also reflected in the seller survey: nearly 75 percent of the items sold by the sellers surveyed were either used or refurbished.
The global survey also reveals some country habits. In the U.K. and France, “cleaning out closets” was cited as the top reason for selling used goods, at 48 percent and 45 percent, respectively. In Japan, where a survey was conducted for the first time, the increase in sales was due mostly to the economic situation. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said their sales increased a lot, and 32 percent said their sales increased a little.
About 56 percent of all buyers cited financial savings as a reason for buying used goods; among Generation Z, that figure was 64 percent. A higher proportion of Generation Z sellers cited the economy as a reason for an increase in their sales, and a much higher proportion cited the opportunity to make extra money as the main reason, compared to other generations.
A healthy cycle
Sustainability and resale go hand in hand. Participating in the circular economy can ensure that perfectly good products don’t end up in landfills when they still have value. “Recommerce creates real and lasting benefits for the environment by avoiding carbon emissions and keeping items out of landfills,” said Renee Morin, eBay’s chief sustainability officer. “We play a central part in the circular economy through the selling and buying of pre-loved items on our marketplace.” Carbon emissions and reducing landfill impacts were also cited in the seller and buyer surveys.
About 90 percent of the sellers surveyed said reducing waste was an important aspect of resale sustainability for them. In 2022, eBay recommerce avoided 73,000 tons of waste going to landfills, avoided 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, and created $4.6 billion in positive economic impact from eBay sellers and buyers.
Again, generational differences are evident in the results of our study: younger generations, including Generation Z and Millennials, value the sustainability benefits of re-commerce more than older generations.
