A new report commissioned by the country’s largest online store, OLX.ph, estimates that there are around P21 billion worth of unused items stuck in Philippine households waiting to be sold.
Dubbed “Yesss, Yaman! Study” — tasked by OLX.ph to research firm TNS Global — revealed the functional items vary from electronics, clothes and fashion accessories, vehicles and automotive merchandise, home appliances, and collectibles.
Such items include old but functional devices like P3.8-billion worth of computers, P3.5-billion worth of mobile phones, P1.5-billion unused clothing, and P1.08-billion worth of kitchen appliances.
The survey covered 500 urban households homes across the Philippines. Respondent were asked to list their unused items and share their experience in buying and selling secondhand items over the Internet.
“It’s astonishing to learn that P21 billion worth of unused items in working condition are just sitting in people’s homes, gathering dust, and left to waste,” said RJ David, managing director of OLX Philippines. “Just imagine how much cash people can make when they sell these items.”
The survey also showed many Filipinos are interested in selling their unused stuff online.
About 41 percent of respondents said that they are comfortable selling their pre-loved items while 56 percent of those who have plans of selling unused items said they are open to selling these online.
David’s other half, Arianne David who serves as head of operations of OLX.ph, said selling secondhand items is a smart way for Filipinos to upgrade their lives.
“Sellers can earn extra cash from stuff they don’t need while buyers get a fair deal. Last month, we cleaned up our house and sold some gadgets on OLX. We gave the money to our parents to help them buy things they need,” David said.
The study is part of OLX’s campaign to educate Filipinos on the untapped wealth sitting in their homes and the value of online selling of secondhand items through its “Yesss, Yaman!” movement. It was conducted last June to July of 2014.
Acting on survey results, OLX.ph is introducing its so-called Yaman Checklist which aims to help Filipinos to identify which of their “pre-loved” items are in good condition, to list it down, and see the total possible earnings they can get from it.
The executives of the e-commerce site said more than 600,000 Filipinos have already listed their ?pre-loved? items for sale on OLX.ph. Projections are that one million Filipinos will be selling on the site before the year ends.
The recent study used random sampling methodology to identify the 500 sample across two main cities in the Philippines.
The sample was distributed to ensure randomness within the cities, as well as geographic dispersion. The sample was spread across both men and women in ABC sector, who were most influential in the decision to stock or sell used items from the household.
Computer-aided interviews were conducted, face-to-face, among the selected respondents. The entire process was done as per the rigorous data collection protocols of TNS.
The data from the sample was then projected to the urban population for the estimation of the size of unused items, which are in good working condition.
