Business booms on second-hand marketplace

Alibaba Group’s online marketplace for second-hand goods, Xianyu, announced that sales on its platform totaled 100 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) last year.

General manager of Xianyu, Chen Weiye, added that more than 60 percent of its sellers are born after 1990, and the company will offer more incentives for active sellers to operate on the site.

"The embrace of selling and buying second-hand items is an indication of China's economic boom over the past few years, and the picking-up of consumption. We hope 100,000 online parties with shared interest will be established in the next three years to better facilitate trading of second-hand items," he said.

Xianyu sellers put 2 million items on the site everyday, and a total of 1.4 billion items have been listed on the marketplace since its establishment five years ago.

The average seller earned more than 4,200 yuan in income from selling pre-owned and unwanted items through Xianyu last year, an increase of 16 percent from a year earlier.

Online communities consisting of like-minded buyers and sellers have also sprung up on Xianyu where people share their shopping experiences and their expertise in the assessment and verification of second-hand luxury goods. Discussion groups allow unwanted goods to be recycled and put into the hands of those who are more cost-conscious.

Xianyu said as many as 10,000 tons of used clothes were collected and redistributed last year by recycling firms, extending the lifespan of many unwanted items.

Xianyu has also grown to include apartment rental listings as well as big-ticket items such as home electronics and toys.