by ANIS HAZIM / pic by BLOOMBERG

ALMOST eight out of 10 people in Malaysia have made secondhand purchases with a strong preference or 46% buying photography and electronics such as computers, mobile phones and tablets.

According to Carousell Recommerce Index 2021, home, furniture and appliances made it to top-selling categories with 48% — where thousands of items make their way to new homes instead of landfills, providing income to sellers and delivering value for money to buyers.

“At Carousell, we have always aimed to provide a new lease of life for underused items as a means to reduce waste and to help people get more value for money,” Carousell Country Head for Malaysia Tang Siew Wai said in a statement.

Over the last two years, Tang said that the pandemic has upended normal consumer behaviour.

“Hence the Carousell Recommerce Index is a timely ‘report card’ on where we are now and how we can make secondhand the first choice in our effort to practice a more sustainable lifestyle and support a circular economy,” he said.

It is also one of Carousell green initiatives to highlight the importance of sustainability and recommerce in the Southeast Asia region.

“The report covers findings from four Carousell Group brands namely Carousell, Chợ Tốt, Mudah.my and OneKyat across eight markets including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, involving over 3,000 buyers and sellers,” he stated.

The report also found out that 78% of Malaysian respondents who had purchased secondhand items before cited ‘value for money’ as the top reason, coming out ahead of the regional average of 68%.

“Overall in the region, fashion remains the top category with the most secondhand listings of 29%, with women’s fashion dominating the top spot, and men’s fashion becoming increasingly popular,” he noted.

Men’s fashion in Malaysia has surged 76% in listing views and 74% in listings created on Carousell Malaysia, with men’s tops followed by sneakers as the most popular purchases.

“Men’s fashion also saw strong interest on Mudah.my, leading the way for its parent category home and personal items to reach second place in 2020,” he added.

Meanwhile, autos take the lead from 2018 to 2020 on Mudah.my in terms of the most secondhand listings and the most demand for secondhand.

“With the launch of the Carousell auto group earlier this year, this category is anticipated to be a key area of growth as more individuals seek safe and reliable vehicles for safety and other reasons, without the burden of financing a new set of wheels,” he further said.

Moreover, the classifieds group continues to make headway in fostering community while promoting secondhand, which includes its Malaysia’s ‘Betul-betul Free’ campaign, inspired by generous users who listed items for free using the hashtag #blessings.

Carousell co-founder Lucas Ngoo said that the company has constantly been working to remove friction and enable secure and seamless transactions.

“With the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data, we have been focused on accelerating our recommerce leadership in the region to make buying secondhand trusted and convenient,” said Lucas.

He added that this will help to solve the meaningful problem of overconsumption with recommerce and thus make secondhand the first choice for consumers.