Kenyans Hit A Goldmine By Selling Unused Goods on OLX

A lot of us are guilty of hoarding things we no longer use or need in our houses. From clothes that we no longer wear to furniture and electronic items we upgraded from. I’ll be honest, I can be an expert hoarder. I have had all manner of clothes and shoes that were still in pretty good condition taking up space in my closet. I probably wear less than 50% of what’s in my closet on a regular basis. My family is also guilty of hoarding especially when it comes to electronic goods and furniture. We upgraded to a smart TV but we still have the old TV sitting around somewhere in the house.

Perhaps it’s the effort that is required to look for a buyer for the things we no longer need, or maybe it’s the sentimentality we have attached to these items that hoodwinks us into thinking we will use them someday. The truth of the matter however, is that these things are taking up space that could be used up for something else. Also, these things can be granted a second shelf life by a new owner and hence be a welcome source of income.

Thankfully, I saw the light and started selling off some of the items that are no longer used in the house. It seems I am not the only one as the hoarding rates in Kenya have dropped. More Kenyans have embraced the sale of unused goods through on-line classifieds such as OLX as seen in the second consumer research survey which showed a 37% drop of hoarded house hold items from a high of Ksh. 158B in 2014 to Ksh. 115B in 2015. There has been a significant drop in the value of unused art collections per capita from Ksh. 144M to Ksh. 7M followed by furniture at Ksh. 27M to Ksh. 17M while books, DVDs and CDs dropped from Ksh. 20M to 7M per capita respectively.

These numbers show that Kenyans are realizing as I have, the goldmine that is the unused goods in their homes. Research shows that 20% of the goods in our homes go unused. The AC Nielsen research also shows that if we had a good turn-over of a fraction of the used items that people are keeping in their homes, more money will flow back into our economy , spurring demand for goods and services. People who are selling these goods will also be able to lower their cost of living by being able to offset the cost of upgrading to a new item with the revenue they will earn by selling the older item.

Overall, other people looking to acquire goods at lower price points, for example a student who has just gotten their first job will be able to afford high quality items at lower prices if they opt to buy a used item. So don’t be left behind. Get in on the goldmine if you haven’t, by selling your unused items on OLX.