Gephardt Busts Inflation: Second-hand shopping, selling surge as Utahns try to beat rising prices
Sep 30, 2022, 10:40 AM | Updated: 10:51 am
SALT LAKE CITY — It is economics 101: If you don’t have enough money, you have two options — bring in more money or reduce what you spend. Data shared with the KSL investigators shows Utahns are doing both as they try to bust inflation.
Retro is the name of the game for stores like Rewind Vintage in Sugar House where you can find an assortment of ’80s and ’90s clothing gems. Retro is also the name of the game for folks trying to escape the pinch of inflation.
“We’ve seen a total shift and what our trends look like,” said Kirk Koenen, marketing manager for Deseret Digital, which runs KSL Classifieds.
He agreed to share their internal data so we could get a clear picture of whether buying used was helping folks get by. Indeed — page views from buyers are up 12% compared to just a year ago. That amounts to more than 32.3 million page views in July alone of people seeking secondhand items.
“As we’ve seen supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressure, we’ve seen a big change,” Koenen said.
What is being sought has also shifted. Instead of more classic classified items such as outdoor equipment like lawnmowers, big ticket items are way more popular. Refrigerators and freezers sales are up 18%, year-over-year. General appliances are up 11.4% and furniture up 8.3%
The data also indicates these tough economic times are leading more people to try and sell things they don’t need to bring in some extra cash. KSL Classifieds has seen a huge uptick in listings, more than 670,000 listings in July. That is up 10% compared to 2021.
“Utah consumers are really looking to save money and make a little bit of extra cash,” Koenen said.
