BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Average Home Has 36 Things That Could Sell On EBay, Report Says

Following
This article is more than 3 years old.

Americans have an average of 36 unwanted items in their homes, worth $3,675, that they could turn into cash, according to a new report by online marketplace eBay EBAY .

And during the pandemic a lot of people did just that.

EBay, in its Recommerce Report released today, took a look at what motivated its sellers of secondhand products over the past year, and learned that a majority of sellers who were new to eBay said they began selling pre-owned goods to make extra cash.

The report reflects what eBay revealed in its earnings release last month - that the pandemic caused more people to buy and sell on its platform. Fourth-quarter revenue in 2020 was up 28% and gross merchandise volume - the value of the goods sold on the platform - was up 21%. For the full year, revenue was up 19% and gross merchandise volume was up 17%, to over $100 billion.

The report’s findings are based on a survey of 4,330 eBay consumer-to-consumer sellers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

In the United States, 72% of eBay consumer-to-consumer sellers surveyed said they began selling previously-owned goods this year to make extra income.

Fourteen percent of all sellers surveyed said they started selling because they had lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Sellers in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, were twice as likely as sellers in the United States and Canada to cite the sustainability and environmental benefits of recommerce as their motivation for selling pre-owned goods. In Germany, 39% said the positive environmental impact was a motivating factor, compared to 16% in the United States.

Bradford Shellhammer, vice president of buyer experience at eBay, said the pandemic also led to stuck-at-home consumers taking a hard look at their possessions, and leading many more to buy or sell.

Buyers, on one hand, decided they wanted a change and bought to redecorate, while sellers “are looking around at the stuff in their home and saying I don’t need that anymore,” he said.

While sellers are saying they need to make money, buyers were spending freely on collectible sneakers, luxury watches, and trading cards. EBay last month, in its “State of Trading Cards” report, said trading card sales increased by 142% in 2020, with 4 million more cards sold than in 2019.

“When times are tough people have told us that they go back to the things that make them happy, and often times that’s a passion - collecting things like comic books or trading cards - things that bring people joy,” Shellhammer said.

EBay has been leaning into the collectibles market and luxury resale by adding authentication services to give buyers the confidence that they are buying the real thing, whether it is a $15,000 Rolex, or a signed baseball card.

Last year it launched its “Authenticity Guarantee” for all watches sold for $2,000 or more. After the sale, the watch is shipped to an authentication center, verified, and given an authentication card, before being shipped to the buyer.

EBay has a similar service for collectible sneakers. It plans to extend authentication services to more categories this year.

EBay’s luxury watch category saw double digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2020, over third quarter results, and the sneaker category had triple-digit growth in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, according to eBay’s most recent earnings report.

EBay also has a certified refurbished quarantee, with a two-year warranty, for refurbished vacuum cleaners, cellphones, computers, or other appliances and electronics.

The most popular pre-owned items to sell, according to the Recommerce Report, are cellphones, computers, video game consoles, and other electronics.