Neutral Shopping – The Emerging Trend on eBay
Ebay has always been about people buying and selling stuff online. There have always been distinct lines between the sellers and the buyers. But with the rising inflation, noticeable changes have started to emerge. So called “neutral shopping” is now on the rise!
“Neutral shopping” is the term given to the situation where buyers try to offset the cost of their purchases by selling some of their stuff. This trend started to surface during the last months of the past year, and it experienced a dramatic increase during the first six months of 2008. Most of these so called neutral shoppers are parents who have accumulated a lot of stuff of which they no longer need.
According to a study conducted by online auctioneers, about 51,000 buyers tried to reduce their shopping outlay last year by as much as 10% by selling some of their personal stuff online. This figure is quite significant because historically, ebayers tend to either buy or sell stuff. Period. Never had been there quite so many neutral buyers before!
So, is this a good thing or a bad one? Well, it really depends on how you look at it. But if you are a parent who has kids to feed, clothe, and educate, this can somehow make a substantial difference!
Parents particularly, buy a lot of stuff either on impulse or to satisfy children when they are out shopping together. Such stuff usually becomes useless after a few days when the novelty wears off. It is but natural that when cash is tight and living is tough, that such things are on offer for sale while buying more useful things online.