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Brits made £3.5bn selling second-hand last year

Your Money
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Your Money
Posted:
Updated:
04/02/2013

Cash-strapped Brits have been getting savvy with their money-making schemes, making £3.5bn in the last 12 months selling unwanted items.

Research by budgeting account provider thinkmoney found that more than two thirds of UK adults (67%) sold something second-hand last year, raising an average of £106.15 each.

Of those, almost one in five (18%) said they had raised between £101 and £250, and 4% said they had made £500 getting rid of things they didn’t need.

Over a third (38%) sold unwanted CDs and DVDs; 35% sold books, while 28% sold clothes and 26% sold their old mobile phone. Another 26% sold unwanted gifts.

The most popular way to sell used goods is online auction websites such as eBay, with 61% selling this way. Other popular methods include car boot sales (42%), small ads in local papers (19%), on Amazon (15%) and through mobile phone recycling websites (15%).

It also seems Brits are happy to give away unwanted items free of charge. The most popular items given away include books (61%), clothes (59%), CDs/DVDs (43%), unwanted gifts (39%) and toys (39%).

73% of people those who have given things away for free have given things to charity shops, 60% to friends and family, and 13% have used websites such as Freecycle.

 


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