This photo, provided by IPark Mall, shows an unmanned vending machine run by Parabara for secondhand transactions, set up at the mall in Yongsan, central Seoul.
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid sluggish consumer spending resulting from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, transactions of secondhand items are growing at a rapid pace.
Consumers with thinner wallets are increasingly looking for cheap used items rather than buying new ones, while liquidating the items that they don’t use for cash.
According to the secondhand marketplace platform Bungaejangter, the transaction volume and amount of secondhand items for the month of August were up 25 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
By item, purchases of health and yoga-related items registered robust growth of more than 40 percent compared to last year, while sales of furniture and interior items grew by 20 percent year on year.
“Amid the decline in outdoor activities due to the pandemic, the demand for home training equipment and home decoration items has sharply increased.” a company official said.
Another secondhand goods-trading app Danggeun Market saw its transaction volume of secondhand items rise by 61 percent year on year during the March to September period of this year when cases of COVID-19 spiked.
Along with the increase in transactions of secondhand items, the number of related fraud cases is also on the rise.
According to the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency, the number of secondhand item-related fraud cases reported within the province totaled 2,311 last year, and the number of such cases is on an upward trend this year.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
