People sell various items on second-hand trading websites as economy worsens

On Jan. 23, a classifieds app posted (from left) a listing for Coke for sale, and coupons for a chicken restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, and an ice cream shop. Screen capture of a classifieds app

"I don't drink soda, but I always participate in events that give away soda when I write a delivery review, because if I collect them, I can sell them on Daangn, a second-hand trading app."

Jin Se-jung, 38, said that soda is a best-seller on a second-hand trading app. "College students in the neighborhood buy them right away," Jin said, "I even saw people collecting drinks from the company cafeteria and selling them."

Kim Joo-young, 28, an office worker, also sells drinks that come as a service when ordering food.

"I once uploaded coke that came with food delivery on a second-hand trading app because I didn't want to throw it away, and it sold well, so I’ve collected such drinks and sold them on the app,” Kim said.

When searching for “coke” and “soda” on a second-hand market app on January 24, there were dozens of posts about selling coke that sellers received with food delivery, which were uploaded in the past week. "Soda is traded at a rate of about 1,000 won per liter," Jin said.

Recently, various types of second-hand trading have been taking place online. On January 10, a post about selling a discount voucher for the TOEIC speaking test, which is given to the test takers for 2,000 won, was uploaded on a second-hand trading board of a university’s online community.

In second-hand trading apps, a free coupon for delivery service at convenience stores was also being sold for 1,000 won. It is also easy to find posts that sell dozens of "paper coupons" given by Chinese restaurants, chicken restaurants, and ice cream stores for 6,000 to 10,000 won.

"I always sell free movie tickets or convenience store vouchers that I get after donating blood," Kim said. "These days, a movie ticket costs between 15,000 and 17,000 won, and I think it is too expensive. It sells well when I put it on a second-hand market app at 7,000 to 8,000 won, so I regularly sell movie tickets that I received after donating blood."

Jin often sells old clothes for 500 won per kilogram. "If you collect and sell 20 kilograms of old clothes, you can earn the amount of money to buy a box of fried chicken," she said. "I think it is great because I can help the environment and save money." She added that she earns about 100,000 won in a month when there are many secondhand transactions.

These people are those who greatly feel the impact of the recent high prices. Kim said, "I love to drink, but it's burdensome to have a drink with my friends because soju costs around 5,000 won to 6,000 won at a restaurant." Jin also said, "I think it's too expensive to go to a BBQ restaurant with my family, so I think it's better to buy meat from a butcher shop and eat it at home."

Experts said the various types of second-hand transactions reflect young people’s tight pocketbooks resulting from high prices. Lee Eun-hee, a consumer studies professor at Inha University, said, "You can see that the economy is difficult even on second-hand trading websites. People are running out of money, so they are collecting and selling things that can be sold with a little effort." She added, “It seems that there are fewer and fewer things that can be sold on the websites.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.