Perth, Nov 5: Australians resold an estimated 216 million items over the past year, generating $30.3 billion in gross income, according to research commissioned by eBay and prepared by Deloitte Access Economics.
The State of Australian Resale report draws on a survey of 1,900 Australian adults conducted by Dynata in August 2026. Nearly half of those surveyed had sold a secondhand item in the previous 12 months, with surveyed sellers averaging about 25 items across three categories.
Extra income motivated 70 per cent of surveyed resellers, while 55 per cent said resale helped ease cost-of-living pressures. Some 54 per cent had used the proceeds for groceries, 37 per cent for household bills and 38 per cent to build savings.
The report estimated that living rooms held $14.5 billion in potential resale value, averaging $1,600 per reseller household. Electronics, collectables, media and entertainment, toys and games contributed to that figure.
Master bedrooms followed with an estimated $6.9 billion in resale value, ahead of garages at $2.1 billion and studies at $2 billion.
Collectables and memorabilia represented the largest untapped category, with an estimated $6.1 billion in potential resale value sitting in Australian homes.
Anne-Marie Cheney, eBay Australia’s head of recommerce, said buying and selling secondhand goods had become part of Australians’ shopping habits.
“With more people turning to resale, we’re also seeing them sell a wider variety of items. Our research found the average surveyed seller sold around 25 items across three different categories over the past 12 months, finding new homes for everything from fashion and technology to homewares, toys and collectables.”
Resale prospects also influenced purchasing decisions. Some 65 per cent of surveyed resellers considered an item’s future resale when buying it, while 29 per cent kept original packaging, tags or boxes.
The research also found growing interest in live selling. Nineteen per cent of surveyed resellers used live resale formats to discover items they might resell, while 10 per cent had hosted a live selling event.
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