The market for used products is booming

5 million Hungarians have already bought used products

The second-hand products market is booming in Hungary, and in April of this year, Vinted announced a successful promotion that even parcel machines couldn’t handle. Two-thirds of the Hungarian population aged 18-79 have already bought used items, which means approximately 5 million people. 46 percent of the population bought used items in a traditional store, 37 percent online – the overlap between those who bought both online and offline is 16 percent. Another 15 percent haven’t bought anything yet, but are open to it, looking at used products.

As in shopping in general, women are more active in this submarket as well. It is interesting, however, that although pensioners are typically more price-sensitive, they are less open to second-hand items despite the lower prices. Part of the reason for this may be mistrust (either in relation to the quality or the person of the seller), as well as the fact that, in general, they stay away from online platforms that provide a wider range than younger people.

Why do they choose a used product instead of a new one? Two-thirds of customers choose this form to save money, but 20-35 percent of customers are also motivated by the opportunity to access unique products, the acquisition of newly unavailable goods, and environmental protection.

Buying used products online is typically an ad-hoc, non-regular activity, three-quarters of customers do it only occasionally. Seven out of ten experienced the purchase as a positive experience, only 4 percent of customers had a particularly negative experience. A quarter of the Hungarian population plans to buy a used product online in the next year or so, a third do not specifically plan to, but do not refrain from doing so either. Most of them already have experience with it, but a quarter of non-customers are also open to it.