Canada's second-hand economy is thriving with over 2.3 billion items changing hands in 2017

Buying and selling items seond hand does a lot of good. It saves money, obviously, but it also extends the life of items and makes them valuable to new users instead of ending up in landfills. Canada's second-hand economy is particularly strong according to Kijiji, with 2.3 billion items changing hands last year.

If you buy and sell second-hand items, you can put almost $2,000 in your pocket over the course of a year (actual total $1,959), according to Kijiji's fourth annual Second-Hand Economy Index. That's more than the average annual pay increase for full-time employees in Canada ($1,729) simply through savings from buying second-hand and money earned from selling unwanted items.

An estimated $28.5 billion worth of second-hand items changed hands in 2017 and more Canadians than ever – 85 per cent of us – are getting in on the action in one form or another. This includes buying or selling, along with swapping, renting or donating second-hand items.  

A total of 2.3 billion items were given new life through the second-hand economy in 2017 – a 23.8 per cent increase over the previous year – for an average of 80 items being acquired or disposed of by the average participant. When broken down by practice:

• Canadians are disposing of more items per person on average, compared to acquisitions (43 items disposed of vs 36 acquired);
• However, acquisitions increased by 14 per cent from the previous year, while disposals saw a slight decline (down by more than 6 per cent);
• Second-hand purchases grew significantly in 2017, up 20 per cent from 2016 now making up half (51 per cent) of all acquisitions, followed by receiving donations (32 per cent);
• As for disposal practices, donations continue to dominate, making up 62 per cent of all items Canadians got rid of last year, followed by resales (26 per cent - up slightly by 5 per cent);
• Other disposal practices saw significant declines (swaps were down 30 per cent, and rentals down 32 per cent).

This is the fourth year that Kijiji, Canada's largest online classifieds site, has taken the pulse of Canadians' second-hand habits, and the results show that the value of the second-hand economy has remained consistently above $27 billion since 2014. The 2017 total of $28.5 billion in second-hand transactions is equal to 1.3 per cent of Canada's total economic output, or more than double the size of Canada's arts, entertainment and recreation sector ($13.3 billion)².

 "Canadians love finding good value, and they recognize how the second-hand economy can deliver it on both sides of buy-and-sell transactions. We're seeing that come to life in the way they shop, as Canadians exchanged more second-hand items than ever in 2017," said Kijiji General Manager Matthew McKenzie.

"The almost $2,000 which Canadians saved and earned on average through the second-hand economy last year is more money than the average full-time worker would get as an annual pay increase. So, you can essentially give yourself a raise by buying and selling second-hand," McKenzie said.

With respect to extra money earned, the average person made $1,134 by finding buyers for stuff they no longer needed. Those who bought second-hand instead of new saved an average of $825 over the course of the year.

"Based on four years of data, it's clear that the second-hand economy is an enduring and thriving part of life in Canada. People continue to turn to it to save money, earn money, de-clutter their lives, and pass along useful things that might benefit someone else," said Marie Connolly, Associate Professor of Economics at University of Montreal in Quebec and co-author of the 2018 Kijiji Second-Hand Economy Index report.

Year after year, Kijiji maintains its place as the #1 commercial channel for buying and selling second-hand, with more users than all other online platforms combined (26.3 per cent of all commercial second-hand transactions overall, compared to less than 3 per cent for all others individually). For first-timers to the second-hand economy, 21 per cent turn to Kijiji first, even before friends and family.