Domestic Used Goods Market to Reach 43 Trillion Won Next Year

Bungaejangter Announces First 'Luxury Resale Report'

The domestic secondhand market, which was approximately 4 trillion won in 2008, is expected to expand to about 43 trillion won by 2025.

On the 12th, secondhand trading platform Bungaejangter revealed this in its 'Luxury Resale Report,' which analyzed the domestic secondhand luxury market. This report was also published in the global fashion media BoF (The Business of Fashion).

The report contains an analysis of about 21 million secondhand transactions by Bungaejangter users last year. It also includes internal data from Bungaejangter and the results of a market trend survey conducted in January this year targeting 800 Korean consumers aged 20 to 59.

According to the report, as the domestic secondhand market expands, consumers spend approximately 80 hours per year on online secondhand trading. The most actively traded items were clothing, electronics, and sports goods, in that order.

Among the entire secondhand market, the growth of secondhand luxury goods was particularly notable. More than 60% of respondents reported having experience purchasing secondhand luxury items. This trend is analyzed to be increasing due to recent economic conditions such as high inflation and a growing consideration for sustainability, leading consumers to seek secondhand items instead of new products. In fact, the most frequently cited reason for choosing secondhand luxury goods was price appreciation (76.9%).

When examining luxury secondhand purchasing patterns by age, the most prominent groups on Bungaejangter last year were men aged 35 to 44 and the so-called 'Alpha Generation' born after 2010. Men aged 35 to 44 are emerging consumers in the secondhand luxury market and tend to especially prefer products that have passed authenticity verification. The Alpha Generation was found to have the characteristic of 'quickly buying what they want and quickly disposing of what they do not need.'

Choi Jaehwa, co-CEO of Bungaejangter, said, “This report shows the growth potential of the Korean secondhand luxury market,” adding, “As Korea’s leading fashion secondhand platform, Bungaejangter will do its best to provide the safest secondhand luxury trading experience.”