Pre-loved Christmas presents continue to surge in popularity with almost half (44%) of online shoppers turning to marketplaces for gifts this festive season, according to a survey of more than 50,000 online shoppers by parcel carrier Yodel.
With platforms like Vinted seeing a sharp rise in orders over recent months, the proportion of people saying they’re buying preloved gifts has risen by 12% year-on-year and 20% of online shoppers say they are doing their Christmas shopping exclusively via marketplaces.
The increase in gifting from online marketplaces reflects an overall trend of consumers turning to the second-hand market to address concerns around the sustainability of purchases. Many are also looking to second-hand gifting to save money on their Christmas shopping, with over a third (34%) saying they will be trying to find more deals this year.
Deliveries from the likes of Vinted and eBay operate through Yodel’s Consumer to Consumer (C2C) service with the carrier recently expanding its partnership with Vinted to significantly increase the parcels it will handle in the next few years. Yodel has been handling over a million parcels a week ahead of the festive peak through its Out of Home (OOH) network of over 6,000 click and collect and send locations nationwide. With the growing interest in preloved gifting, the business expects this to grow significantly in the run up to Christmas.
Shopping earlier
With marketplaces requiring a longer delivery lead time, the new research also found that people are doing their Christmas shopping earlier, with a quarter (26%) of online shoppers planning to finish their Christmas shopping this month.
This latest data reflects the ongoing trends we have seen in recent years towards preloved gifting as consumers look for better deals and more sustainable options to save money and reduce their carbon footprint. Throughout the year we have expanded our OOH network to continue meeting the sustained growth in C2C deliveries and consumer demands for greater convenience.
We would encourage everyone looking at online marketplaces for gifts this Christmas to get their orders placed as soon as possible to ensure sellers facing high demand are able to check last sending dates and send orders in time.
– Mike Hancox, CEO, Yodel
2 Responses
We bought a fair amount of Toys ( basically Thomas the tank engine) all on Vinted. All arrived mint also, so a 3 year old will wake up to a super train station from Santa.
We have sold a lot of bits on Vinted the other way all the kids 2 year old toys. CoComelon etc now the wee man has grown out of this.
It is nothing to do with Sustainability it is to do with PRICES.
Vinted is busy it is the go to place right now, everyone I know is using it.
The likes of eBay like to talk about pre loved but they are hassle in the castle.
It is the very simple listing and price structure that is making Vinted attractive right now.
People have definitely bought early also. We were really busy on eBay end Oct all Nov but it is really slowing now.
I am going to be trying out Vinted in the new year when I have a bit of time. If they properly open it up to business sellers (like they have done in France I believe) that could spell the end for Ebay. Or rather, Ebay becomes a chinese junk shop like Amazon is, competing with Temu and Aliexpress.
You’re also right to say the average person does not care about “sustainability” despite what we are repeatedly told. If the price is right, people will buy, that’s all there is to it most of the time anyway.