I was looking through listings on yahoo auctions and was shocked by how cheap secondhand goods are compared to their retail price. Is this a cultural thing? On American secondhand sites, items generally retain some value and this is especially true when the item is expensive. I am seeing fancy silk kimono in great condition selling for $10, for example.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/15d54o9/secondhand_shopping_culture_in_japan/
5 comments
In japan people don’t buy used that much, u can see some people just throw stuff directly to the garbage. But with prices going up second hand market is growing fast. So buy fast 😆
Depends on the item.
Used kimono aren’t that special, whenever someone’s grandma dies or an old rental shop goes out of business there are boxes of them that just end up in the trash. Most people want to rent elaborate kimono with all the trimmings for occasions when they’re needed.
Things that are slightly damaged sell for very cheap as well.
Thing that are in good condition and in-demand get hardly any discount at all.
Also with yahoo auctions most of the bids tend to happen on the last day. People will favorite the item and then do a bidding war in the last few hours of the auction. So even if it seems cheap it’s not necessarily going to sell for that little in reality (except for things with a buy now option of course).
It’s not really different from the US. Mercari prices can be high or low depending on the item and how desirable it is. Plenty of things sell for over retail price in the used market (discontinued or collector items).
Second hand clothes are seen as kind of unclean and only something a really poor person would buy. Some exceptions exist like antique US Aloha and T-Shirts.
There’s many items that you can only buy 2nd hand as they don’t make anymore
Think of an N64 , VCR, 8mm camera…
I go to hard off and it’s a cool blast from the past.