Second-hand markets

Abstract

This chapter examines how classical approaches to retailing management should account for second-hand and peer-to-peer platform markets as they proliferate at the expense of conventional retailers. It examines the changing cultural meaning associated with second-hand markets and peer-to-peer exchanges. The chapter proposes a conceptual map that highlights the role of new market actors who render such exchanges more fluid, and identifies various rationales reflecting the desire of a growing number of consumers to find alternative kinds of products, channels, and modes of exchange, which in turn, lead them to bypass and evade traditional shops. To illustrate this trend, it presents a case study on Le Bon Coin, a leading French second-hand selling platform. The chapter outlines different second-hand users’ profiles that exhibit different orientations as well as levels of involvement with second-hand markets. It underlines major challenges that threaten traditional retailers, while offering new dynamics for the reconfiguration of markets, relationships to possessions, and sustainability.