Posted by SINGAPORE, 26 November 2024 — Popular classifieds marketplace and recommerce platform Carousell has released its first “Year-in-Secondhand” insights, revealing unique ways Singaporeans and users across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan engage with the circular economy. In a year that saw shifting consumer interests and growing sustainability awareness, some unexpected trends occurred:
- Singapore leads the region in secondhand furniture transactions, saving 21,970 tonnes of carbon emissions
- ‘Chair’ rises 52 spots to become the second most-searched term, overtaking ‘iPhone’
- Popmart’s collectible ‘Labubu’ dethrones “Taylor Swift” to take fifth place among top searches
- Singapore gives away the most free items regionally, with over 300,000 items including popular choices like sofas and IKEA tables
User behaviour across the region — Singaporeans sell mostly at 2pm, shop mostly at 10pm
Carousell’s data reveals that users are generally most active at night across the region, with peak chat and search timings at 10pm. However, Singapore and Hong Kong users tend to transact the most in the evenings at 6pm, while Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan transact the most at 9pm.
Singaporeans also tend to sell most frequently in the afternoon with peak activity for creating new listings at 2pm. The most popular categories to buy, sell and search in remain constant throughout the day—Hobbies & Toys, Women’s Fashion and Furniture & Home Living. Interestingly, cars edge out as the second most popular category to search in between 9 to 11pm.
With an average of S$2,000 in earnings, Singaporean users made the most in the region by selling secondhand items on Carousell this year —about 70% more than their Hong Kong counterparts and 140% more than users in Malaysia. Singapore also topped the region in generosity, with over 300,000 free items given away, including popular items like sofas and IKEA tables.
Driving the circular economy in the region
“Our leadership across key markets gives us unparalleled insights into how and what people are buying and selling every day, helping us develop features and programmes that drive demand for secondhand goods. As one of the region’s most popular classifieds marketplace for buying and selling almost anything, Carousell aims to leverage our position to make it easy for anyone to participate in the circular economy and fostering a culture of prioritising secondhand to make a meaningful impact on people and the planet,” said Ms Jing Zhi Peh, Regional Head of Goods, Carousell.
To encourage more Singaporeans to make secondhand their first choice, Carousell has been enhancing features to make secondhand transactions more trusted and convenient
- On-platform payments: Users can pay directly on Carousell using PayNow, PayLah!, credit cards and debit cards. Buy Now Pay Later options are available in selected programmes, such as Certified Mobiles and Certified Luxury.
- Carousell Official Delivery: Users can arrange for delivery directly on the platform via doorstep pick-up or parcel drop-offs at nearby POPStations, POPStops, post boxes or Ninja Points.
- Sell to Carousell: Users can sell items like clothes, cars, luxury bags, and mobile phones directly to Carousell for cash, with consignment and trade-in options for selected items.
- Carousell Certified programme: Carousell Certified listings for cars, mobile phones, and luxury bags undergo thorough quality checks by authorised Certified Partners or the Carousell Official Store, and come with warranty and/or moneyback guarantee.
Visit carousell.sg to discover the many ways to buy, sell, and give secondhand items a new life.
1 Data from Carousell activity from 1 Jan to 31 Oct 2024
2 Carbon impact data is calculated based on Carousell Group’s Circular Economy Impact report findings
3 Year-in-Secondhand 2024 insights focuses only on data from Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan
4 Excludes data from Autos and Property categories
About Carousell
Carousell is a multi-category classifieds and recommerce marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Carousell is available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including cars, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories. To increase the trust and convenience in buying and selling secondhand, Carousell has launched recommerce programmes such as the Carousell Certified programme that allows users to buy secondhand items that have been inspected, and Sell to Carousell programme that allows users to sell directly to Carousell for instant cash.
Carousell is part of Carousell Group. Founded in August 2012 in Singapore, the Group has a leading presence in seven markets under the brands Carousell, Carousell Media Group, Cho Tot, Laku6, LuxLexicon, Mudah.my, OneShift, REFASH and Revo Financial, serving tens of millions of monthly active users. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, STIC Investments, 500 Global and Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia Capital India).
press@carousell.com