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Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK
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Second hand goods, classifieds websites and Freecycle beating the credit crunch
October 22, 2008
The number of UK Internet searches containing the word ‘second hand’ has increased by 22% over the last 12 months, as UK consumers look for new ways to beat the credit crunch online.
During the 12 weeks ending 11 October 2008, UK Internet users searched for over 22,000 distinct terms containing the phrase ‘second hand’. Cars are the most popular second hand good online, accounting for four of the top 10 UK Internet searches containing the phrase ‘second hand’. Here is the full top 10:
1. second hand cars
2. second hand books
3. second hand car prices
4. second hand furniture
5. second hand bikes
6. second hand car values
7. second hand laptops
8. second hand wedding dresses
9. second hand air rifles
10. second hand car sales
Freecycle traffic up 35%
Another site that has benefited from the used goods mania is Freecycle, the website that enables people to recycle their unwanted goods by passing them on to others. UK Internet visits to the site increased by 35% between September 2007 and September 2008. The community aspect has played an important role in this success, and lots of people are searching the web for Freecycle lists in their neighbourhood. The site is currently most popular in Wales and the West Midlands, and is used more by people with families than singletons or couples without children.
Classifieds traffic up 47%
The increase in searches for second hand goods has also benefitted Classifieds websites, which experienced a 47% increase in traffic between September 2007 and September 2008. One particular area in which Classifieds sites seem to be bucking credit crunch is equestrian searches. Searches for ‘horses for sale’, - currently the most popular search term containing the phrase ‘for sale’ – have increased by 5% over the last 12 months. The buying and selling of animals is a big area for Classified sites: puppies and kittens are also popular, while Horsemart and Pets4Homse both appear in the list of the top 10 sites in the category.
Posted by Robin Goad at 09:00 AM
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In Categories Automotive | Economy | Environment | Retail | Search | Shopping and Classifieds
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Comments
Or maybe hunting their own food?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2008/09/25/credit_crunch_munch_feature.shtml
Thanks for spotting the typo.
Posted by Robin Goad | October 22, 2008 12:41 PM
The information you have gicen is slight incorrect, "Horses for Sale" isnt the most popular search term, as "Puppies for Sale" gets over twice as many searches.
Mark
Posted by Mark Singleton | July 24, 2009 04:36 PM
I think the important word "increased" is missing from the opening paragraph.
Otherwise, there is some interesting data there, especially the fact that "second hand air rifles" is the 9th most popular term - a sign more people are thinking of robbing banks?
Posted by Rob Lewis | October 22, 2008 12:29 PM