UK shoppers happy to receive second-hand Christmas gifts amid economic uncertainty

UK consumers are warming up to the idea of second-hand gifts this Christmas, with 88 percent saying they are willing to receive a gift purchased on a resale marketplace such as Etsy, eBay or Facebook Marketplace, according to new research.

Two thirds (69 percent) also said they would purchase a “nostalgic” item from their past through eBay, while 42 percent would opt for Amazon, 18 percent for Facebook Marketplace and 14 percent for Etsy, according to research by GlobalWebIndex of 2,154 UK consumers.

This comes as the country faces ongoing economic uncertainty, with 55 percent of consumers believing the economy will worsen in the next 6 months, according to GlobalWebIndex. That uncertainty is higher than any other country the market research company has tracked and is compared to an average of 19 percent for the rest of the world.

The environment may be another reason for the popularity of resale platforms this Christmas. The research revealed that UK consumers are more concerned about the environment than other countries, with half (49 percent) believing it will worsen compared to an average of 26 percent around the world.

Chase Buckle, trends manager at GlobalWebIndex, said in a statement: “A key driver behind the growing popularity of resale marketplaces is the opportunity to buy rare and retro items. What’s surprising is feelings of nostalgia are not exclusive to older generations, with eight in ten millennials expressing they experience feelings of nostalgia (no matter how strong) at least occasionally, with four in ten saying they do so often. This is the market that second-hand marketplaces such as Depop and Carousell sell into very effectively.”

When asked about what they’re looking for when buying second-hand items, consumers cited quality (63 percent), the trustworthiness of the seller (52 percent) and the authenticity of the item (49 percent) as key criteria.

Interestingly, just 27 percent of consumers picked a quick shipping time as a priority; 40 percent of UK consumers said they would happily sacrifice a fast shipping time to get a better price for an item.

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