People could make ‘a tidy profit’ by selling unwanted goods online

24 September 2012: The average Brit has over £850 of consumer goods gathering dust that could be sold for a tidy profit online.

According to the research1 from CollectPlus, the parcel delivery and returns service, more than half of UK residents (56%) fail to cash in because they find it too tricky to send items to those buying goods.

With the majority of people having less than £300 left in their bank accounts at the end of the month after bills, and 24% less than £50, it is no surprise that two fifths of us (38%) take the opportunity to cash in online by clearing out.

On average Brits have 134 unused items in their home, including over 50 unwanted CDs and DVDs worth £100 and 22 items of clothing worth £118. However, this value is not being realised, with one in ten (12%) stating they haven’t cleared out their home for at least four years, while almost a third (30%) have the best intentions but fail to get round to it.

The top excuse for not making a ‘tidy profit’ is that it is too tricky to send items by post. A third (34%) believes that posting items is too much hassle and a fifth (22%) sees the postal process as too complicated.

Mark Lewis, CEO of CollectPlus, says of the research:

“Many of us could effectively double our annual disposable income by cashing in on our clutter but are too easily put off by the hassle of packaging and sending items that have been sold online. While there are many high street shops offering cash for second hand goods, the best prices are to be found online and we want to help people help to profit from their clutter. It’s now easier than ever to send a parcel and CollectPlus is a fantastic example of how people can incorporate sending a  parcel into their daily routine, via their corner shop and importantly not have the lengthy wait in a queue at the Post Office for a package to be weighed.”

As a result of the research, CollectPlus has identified groups of people and their approaches to how they deal with unwanted items in their homes:

• Tidy Tycoons – those that make money from their clutter by selling on sites such as eBay. 

With the majority of Brits having less than £300 left at the end of the month after bills, and 24% left with less than £50, it is no surprise that two fifths (38%) take the chance to cash in online by clearing out. The most common reason for selling goods is to make ends meet, although two fifths (38%) of us admit to using the cash to fund brand new purchases.

• Clutter Collectors – predominantly men who likely to sit on valuable items but fail to cash in on their worth.

The research shows that women are more likely to carry out regular clean outs than men. In fact, almost double the amount of women (19%) surveyed said they actually enjoyed conducting a clear up compared to men. It is this group that is set to potentially make the biggest profit from selling online.

• Silver Stashers – Men and women over 50 that have amassed the greatest value of goods but do not utilise the ease and opportunity of selling their unwanted goods online.

The average Brit over 50 years old has on average £1,070 worth of goods to sell but one third are unaware of how to sell online or feel uncomfortable doing so.

• Self-Doubting Sellers – Mainly women who are surprised at what they find during a clear out, yet do not have the confidence in their ability to make a profit by selling items online.

One in five (19%) women believe that no one would want to buy their goods and see the greatest barrier in terms of selling online being that the postal process is too complicated, with 46% of women stating it is too difficult to classify the cost of sending a parcel and 37% seeing the process as too time consuming.

CollectPlus offers an easy to use parcel service through over 4,700 specially selected local convenience stores that are part of the PayPoint network. All are open from early until late and the vast majority are open seven days a week, meaning that people can pick up or send parcels at a time convenient to them.

CollectPlus is the perfect partner for those that want to sell their unwanted goods online. Its simple pricing structure has just one size and three weight categories allowing senders to quickly identify how much it will cost to send a parcel. Starting at a highly competitive £3.99 including VAT for Jiffy Bags up to 2kg, it is almost 25% less than the cost (£5.30) of sending a parcel of the same weight with Royal Mail.

It is easy to pay for a CollectPlus parcel online and, in many cases; payment can be made without having to leave the website to finish the transaction. With simple to print labels which automatically incorporate the buyer’s address, as well as a unique tracking code for the item, the service gives both seller and buyers real peace of mind throughout the entire delivery process.

ENDS

1  Opinium research of 2,067 UK adults in May 2012

For further information, please contact the Collect+ team at the Red Consultancy:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 0207 025 6500

ABOUT COLLECTPLUS
CollectPlus is a delivery and returns service giving online shoppers’ the choice to collect and drop off parcels at local convenience stores. Founded in 2009, it answers a clear need for a modern alternative to the Post Office that is convenient and easy to use.

The success of the innovative model is reflected in the 125+ retail brands that CollectPlus provides returns solutions for, a growth of +300% since 2011. Delivery to local store, Click&CollectPlus, is provided to a rising number of retailers from House of Fraser and ASOS to Very.co.uk. The service offers a complement to the returns offer that CollectPlus provides to retailers, offering a complete delivery and returns

With a network of over 4,700 shops open early ‘till late seven days a week; 85% of the UK population already live within a mile of a CollectPlus shop in urban areas and 86% within five miles in rural areas. The store network has grown by over a quarter in the last 12 months and continues to expand.

In 2011, CollectPlus was named ‘Third Party Logistics Supplier of the Year’ at the Retail Week Supply Chain awards; ‘Innovative Delivery Service’ at IMRG’s eCommerce Excellence Awards; and has been highly commended by Retail Systems for ‘Supply Chain Solution of the Year’. 

CollectPlus is a joint venture between PayPoint, the leading retail payment network, and the UK’s leading parcel delivery company, Yodel.