The British and the secondhand market in 2015

The secondhand goods market has surged in recent years in the UK and the world.

Not only has there been a shift from small ads in newspapers to the Internet, but secondhand trading has become common consumer behaviour.

For-sale.co.uk conducted a market survey with 1000 people representative of the UK population to identify UK consumers' needs and habits in terms of buying and selling pre-owned products.

We find for example that the most frequently sold and purchased items are furniture and clothing.

Children's toys are also a major category. Given that these have to be replaced relatively frequently, it's easy to see why UK consumers show a keen interest in this type of purchase.

Secondhand purchases by British people save them £600 a year on average. And sellers of pre-owned goods can earn up to £473 a year.

On average it takes 28 days to sell a product and 73% buy secondhand items to save money.