Older People Embrace Second-Hand Online Markets

Mature Koreans have belatedly embraced second-hand marketplaces on the Internet or mobile apps.

People aged 55 to 64 now account for around 12 percent of total users on such apps, almost double their proportion a year ago.

Joonggonara, Korea's biggest online marketplace for used goods, saw the number of visitors over 50 increase more than 10 percent in the first half.

It seems that the trend toward more online transactions in the coronavirus pandemic has opened the floodgates among older users who were previously hesitant to shop in cyberspace.

The biggest draw is the availability of high-quality products at rock-bottom prices, but older users also like the community atmosphere of such apps.

Park Hwa-soon (59) from Seoul signed up for Daangn Market early last year to buy face masks. Her children helped her sign up.

"I tried to buy a W30,000 table early this month as a gift for an elderly person who lives alone and the seller asked me what I needed it for." Park said. "When he heard why I wanted to buy it, the seller refused my money and even had it delivered for free. That really reminded me of the past when neighbors used to share things."

One 60-year-old office worker who is about to retire learned from a coworker how to shop at Auction. He wanted to buy a backpack that costs W120,000 offline and won a bid for a virtually new one for just W48,000 (US$1=W1,151). "It's fun to find the products you need at cheap prices," he said.