Second-hand market booming in Canada, survey finds

A new study shows that Canadians may have hundreds of dollars in unused items laying around their homes.

PayPal Canada surveyed thousands of Canadians, finding that more people are turning to the second-hand market to buy and sell pre-loved products.

The survey found that on average, people have $571 worth of unused items they could put up for sale.

"A lot of people these days to either save money or to be friendlier on the planet, that they were buying second-hand or selling second-hand," said Malini Mitra of PayPal Canada.

The survey found nearly a third of Canadians purchase second-hand goods more than once a month. Half believe it’s a good way to supplement their income.

And on average, Canadians spent $116 on second-hand items in the last year.

"I'm usually on Amazon, or marketplace, sometimes EBay,” one person told us.

“It’s more or less just household stuff, things that I need, I'm looking for, and I do find quite often, too."

For others, knowing they may have hundreds of dollars in items laying around is intriguing.

"People do sell using Marketplace and things like that,” one person said.

“They do tend to make a good little extra money here and there, so definitely something I would think about."

Some items don’t do great in the re-sale market, say the owners of Just Junk, a Sault garbage collection service.

"The everyday things we see are dishes, couches, tables, computers, TVs, we get those pretty much multiple times a day,” said Jason Biggar.

The survey found many people who don't purchase pre-loved goods just don't know where to start. Others are hesitant to do business with a stranger.

PayPal officials suggest using a website that has both buyer and seller protections. They believe people should learn more about the secondhand industry.

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"We were looking at a report by ThreadApp,” Mitra said.

“The entire second-hand economy is expected to grow three times faster than the fashion segment."