Marketplace startup reveals Aussie spending habits

Internet Retailing

8th May 2017

Young Aussies have around 40 items of clothing sitting unused in their closets, worth an estimated $2,000 on average, according to research commissioned by Carousell, a Singapore-based peer-to-peer marketplace.

The research, which provides insight into the budgets and priorities of 1,000 Australians aged 18-25 years old, shows that over 40 per cent would happily wave goodbye to their part-time job if they could make the same money selling their pre-loved items online.

This high number is closely linked with spending habits and the desire to be on trend. 7 in 10 respondents said they spend the majority of their monthly budget on clothes, or set aside money to buy new clothes each month. In fact, one in ten would happily ditch a meal to make sure they can get their new clothes fix.

Whilst they are willing to let stomachs rumble for a new pair of shoes, that isn’t because they haven’t budgeted. Almost 50 per cent have said they set a yearly budget, with clothing and accessories top of their mind to spend on. However, the majority of that budget is actually spent on necessities like bills and transport.

Sydney local, Maxinne Watchon, has been finding a new home for her pre-loved items online.

“Before I started selling my preloved clothes on Carousell, my closet was bursting with pieces I hadn’t put on in months or even years! I was balancing on a tightrope trying to manage my budget, Uni, work and friends.

“As much as I hate saying goodbye to any item of clothing, I’m glad they’re going to someone who will love them as much as I do. Even better, I now have more money in my pocket to enjoy the fun things in life!”

Jia Jih Chai, VP International of Carousell says, “Aussies are well known for being fashion savvy, but staying on top of trends also means that many items in their closet are lightly used, or not at all. That’s a great opportunity for Aussies to make extra cash to spend on more meaningful experiences, just by decluttering their closet and listing them for sale.”

Since its official launch last year, Carousell has experienced steady growth in Australia with over 2 million items on the marketplace, and over 40 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in transactions from Q1 2016. Globally, users make over 11 million product listing views per day, and over 50 per cent of first time users have made at least one sale.