OLX: Indian homes have a stockpile of unused goods worth $11.7bn

For Indians, it is only at the time of festivals and functions, that we realize how many unused goods are cluttering inside the house. But even after the acknowledgement, nothing happens, because we don’t like to throw away stuff just like that even if they have no value. But who says these stocked goods have no value? According to OLX, they do!!

According to Annual CRUST Survey 2016 released by OLX and IMRB, Indian homes have a stockpile of unused goods, including utensils, clothes, books, etc. amounting to a whopping $11.7 billion in total, which is a 39 percent increase in value as compared to previous year. The estimated value of the unused good in the previous report amounted to $8.4 billion.

Commenting on the report, Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX India, said, "The idea of a store-room, so common in India, somewhere implies that we are Ok with stocking unused items. Clutter is such an integral part of our existence that we overlook its drawbacks. Ancient wisdom urges human beings to unclutter. It’s time to deal with the problem of clutter head on. Uncluttered minds work better, uncluttered lives are healthier, and uncluttered homes are more beautiful."

The report - which included a qualitative research followed by a quantitative study of 5,800 samples across 16 Metros, Tier 1, and Tier 2 cities in the country –further states, the phenomena won’t stop and the stocking goods will continue to rise.

On the flipside, the report also highlights that selling of goods has also increased about 4 percent from last year, adding to 49 percent.

On the stocking and selling trends increasing this year, Batra said, "It’s interesting to see both stocking and selling figures rising. The emergence of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) online classifieds in the country has led to greater awareness about used goods.”

He further added, "A few years ago people didn’t actively think about unused goods and stocking but now they do. That’s the primary reason why we see stocking figures moving up. Consumerism is another reason why stocking is increasing despite selling rising."

Top trends from the report:

The CRUST survey included a multitude of products ranging from kitchen appliances, clothing, books, and smartphones to sporting goods, car accessories/parts, etc.

- On an average each Indian household stocks about 12 clothing items, 14 kitchen utensils, 11 books, 7 kitchen appliances, 2 mobile phones and 3 watches

- 37 percent cited the old-age excuse of ‘I’ll use it one day’, while 39 percent said that they’re emotionally attached to goods and ‘Don’t want to sell’.

- South India followed by Chandigarh and Kochi lead the other regions on stocking of goods.

- The largest stock emerged was from Clothing category, followed by kitchen utensils and books.

- Selling unused goods online is more advantageous in comparison to selling offline or opting for exchange. It also estimates that the value of goods realized through online selling is on an average 25 percent higher than the one realized through offline selling.

OLX hopes that at least now, we will start de-cluttering the unused goods from our homes!