Summary
Demand for pre-loved goods has surged in the UK in recent years, with fashion, books and furniture especially popular. So what’s driving this boom in second-hand sales - the cost of living crisis or the increasingly eco-conscious shopper? And how are companies making money from it?
Evan Davis and guests discuss the business of buying and selling pre-loved products, the growing number of online platforms specialising in them, and the bricks-and-mortar retailers looking to get in on the act.
Plus, is buying second-hand really better for the environment, and what protection does the customer get when something goes wrong if they’re buying from a stranger rather than a business?
GUESTS
Hugh Hurley, CEO, Gumtree Adam Jay, CEO, Vinted Marketplace Ana Estrougo, founder and CEO, The Octopus Club Adwoa Owusu-Darko, founder, Mini's World and seller on Depop
Produced in partnership with The Open University.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Simon Tulett Editor: China Collins Sound: Graham Puddifoot and Rod Farquhar Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.2 | Hello, welcome. |
| 0:06.1 | It is interesting to see how old habits can get new life as the economy involves. |
| 0:10.7 | And today we're going to focus on buying and selling secondhand. |
| 0:13.9 | Now, we have done this in decades past via jumble sales, car boot sales, charity shops. |
| 0:23.8 | But technology has made it much easier to buy and sell direct to each other. If the internet is good at anything, it is fantastic for searching, |
| 0:29.4 | filtering and matching people in goods. And it, well, it's led to a whole new world, really, |
| 0:34.2 | of trading in what are now popularly called pre-loved items. It's a fascinating |
| 0:40.2 | area in a couple of ways. Firstly, in terms of what consumers are up to, buying and selling online. |
| 0:46.9 | Secondly, too, in terms of the business of helping consumers do that, the platforms competing with |
| 0:53.1 | each other to get the trading business. |
| 0:55.9 | The idea of this new world of pre-loved sales is that the seller gets cash, the buyer gets a bargain, |
| 1:03.1 | the online marketplace makes some money as well, and of course the environment is a winner, too, |
| 1:09.1 | as goods are better utilised. |
| 1:13.6 | What more could you ask for in a cost of living crisis? |
| 1:15.1 | So does it work? How does it work? |
| 1:18.7 | And what implications does it have for high streets and consumption? And I have three guests to talk us through it all from online secondhand selling platforms. |
| 1:24.6 | And let's meet them. |
| 1:25.8 | First up, Adam J is chief executive of Vintid Marketplace. |
| 1:31.0 | Now, Adam, for those who don't know, Vinted, just give us a little bit about the company. |
| 1:35.4 | Vintid was set up in 2008. It's a Lithuanian business launched by a lady called Milder, who wanted |
| 1:42.1 | to get rid of her unwanted clothes. She met a software |
... |
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