Second-hand transactions continue to be popular, low-carbon recycling is full of “green” – Times Finance – Northern Net

Idle old mobile phones, surplus skin care products, seasonal clothes and shoes… In recent years, more and more people have chosen to dispose of idle items through second-hand transactions. “Buy second-hand, use second-hand” has become a life trend. A report released by Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy and Environmental Economics and other institutions shows that since 2020, China’s second-hand commodity trading market has reached a volume of one trillion yuan. It is currently on a high-growth track and is expected to exceed 3 trillion yuan by 2025.

What are the reasons for the growing boom in second-hand trading? How to further standardize the second-hand commodity market and promote the healthy development of the industry? The journalist made an interview about this.

　　Second-hand transactions continue to be popular

Not long ago, Zhu Zuoquan, who lives in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, sorted out some clothes that he didn’t wear often when moving. When dealing with old clothes, Zhu Zuoquan did not throw them away directly, but put them on a second-hand commodity platform for trading.

Upload the information of the clothes, negotiate the transaction details with the buyer online, and the courier will pick up the sold items at your doorstep… A second-hand transaction can be easily completed at your fingertips without leaving home. “The clothes were sold out in about a week. Second-hand trading allows idle items to be circulated to people in need, and I also made a small profit by selling old items.” Zhu Zuoquan said.

“The second-hand product platform is so ‘fragrant’ that you can ‘shop’ for a lot of limited edition ‘millets’ (animation peripheral products).” “Animation fan” Wang Yan said that in the animation circle, because some “millets” are so They are sold randomly in the form of “blind bags”, and some people will buy second-hand peripherals they don’t like. “I often browse second-hand commodity platforms, hoping to ‘pick up’ the ‘millet’ I like.”

From large household items such as home appliances and furniture to daily small items such as skin care products and books, the categories of second-hand transactions are becoming increasingly rich, and more and more idle items have realized “old things become resources and waste becomes consumption”. Taking online transactions as an example, in 2022, my country’s second-hand e-commerce transaction scale will reach 480.2 billion yuan, and the number of users will be 263 million, a year-on-year increase of 20% and 17.9% respectively. It has become a “blue ocean” that cannot be ignored in the online consumer market. Kuaishou, Douyin, etc. have all joined the second-hand e-commerce live broadcast track.

The offline scene of second-hand transactions also continues to be hot, and it is blooming in many places across the country. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the first Xianyu circulation store opened at the end of January, providing two-way services for buying and selling, and has attracted a lot of customers since its operation. In Chongqing, the offline second-hand market is “exploding” on social platforms. Many foreign tourists come to Chongqing and go straight to second-hand shops in Daijia Lane, Guanyin Bridge, Dongjiaxi and other places, just to “buy” a favorite vintage piece (with a sense of the times). clothing). In Dalian, Liaoning, large home furnishing merchants such as IKEA hold “flea markets” every once in a while, which are very popular among local citizens…

Why do second-hand transactions continue to be popular? The change in consumption concepts among young people is an important reason. User profile data from various second-hand e-commerce apps show that young people aged 18-34 are more active in the second-hand economy. For contemporary young people, they no longer care about face and only buy expensive products when shopping. Instead, they tend to consume rationally and realize that “the value of most items is their use value.”

“It’s not that new models are unaffordable, but second-hand products are more cost-effective.” According to Gu Fengfeng, a young man born in 1995, for many consumables, instead of paying high prices to buy brand-new ones, it is better to buy them at a lower price on second-hand platforms. Yes, it takes a lot less pressure to consume. “As long as you select carefully, the quality of the used products you buy will not be inferior to the new products.”

Choosing second-hand goods is also a manifestation of the pursuit of personalized consumption. Take vintage clothing as an example. With the rise of the retro trend in recent years, some second-hand clothing with a sense of age and scarcity continues to become popular, and vintage clothing enthusiasts are widely “hunting” online and offline. For them, buying vintage clothes not only means “buying old things”, but also appreciating the unique textures, materials and tailoring of vintage clothes and feeling the popular imprint of the era.

　　Low-carbon cycle is full of “green”

At last year’s Chengdu Universiade, many athletes were carrying a small red bag, which contained a mobile phone borrowed from the Universiade Village. Interestingly, these mobile phones are all second-hand and are loaned out for free by the circular economy company Zhuanzhuan Group. As a result, the Chengdu Universiade has become the first international comprehensive event in the world to introduce second-hand recycling services, helping to reduce carbon emissions with practical actions.

Data shows that China’s mobile phone market shipments will reach 289 million units in 2023, and the generation and idle volume of used mobile phones are also increasing year by year. It is expected that the total idle volume during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period will reach 6 billion units. If not handled properly, the precious metals used in components used in used mobile phones will be wasted and become a huge source of pollution. Against this background, some second-hand trading platforms have used technologies such as the Internet and big data to carry out large-scale recycling of used mobile phones, forming a relatively large-scale industrial chain that can ensure the proper disposal and recycling of various old products.

Not only 3C products (computers, communications and consumer electronics products) represented by mobile phones, but also other types of idle items have residual value that can be continuously tapped, and second-hand transactions can play an important role in this. Liu Rui, director of the Ecological Environment Institute of the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, believes that as an important part of green consumption, second-hand transactions can extend the service life of items, promote carbon reduction at the consumer end, and help the green transformation of the economy and society, which is in line with the “reduction” in the circular economy. Quantify, resource, and reuse” principles.

“Recycling can effectively reduce carbon emissions during raw material mining, transportation and production and processing.” said Zhu Liyang, president of the China Circular Economy Association. Taking Xianyu as an example, in fiscal year 2023, users participated in idle transactions through the platform, and the cumulative carbon reduction for the year exceeded 3 million tons, which is approximately equivalent to the weight of 16,000 adult whales, and equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 2.248 million households. of carbon emissions. According to calculations by the China Circular Economy Association, it is expected that by 2025, the comprehensive contribution rate of developing circular economy to China’s carbon emission reduction will exceed 30%.

China has introduced a number of policies in recent years to encourage and support green consumption and promote the accelerated circulation of idle items. In 2021, the “14th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development” proposes to provide standardized and standardized services for second-hand commodity transactions. In 2022, the “Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments clearly proposed “expanding idle resource sharing and utilization and second-hand transaction channels.” In February this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Waste Recycling System”, which requires strengthening the efficient use of renewable resources and guiding the facilitation and standardization of second-hand commodity transactions.

In terms of evaluation standards, the group standard “Technical Specifications for Project-Based Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Assessment Secondhand Trading Platforms” will be released in 2022 and is applicable to the carbon emission reduction assessment of second-hand trading platform operating service activities. There are “standards” to follow for second-hand green consumption emission reduction, which can promote relevant platforms and enterprises to actively participate in the “double carbon” goal.

　　Let users “sell with confidence and buy with confidence”

The Supreme People’s Court issued 10 typical cases of online consumption last year. Among them, “Wang v. Chen Online Shopping Contract Dispute Case” involves second-hand commodity transactions: Plaintiff Wang placed an order to buy a laptop computer from defendant Chen on a second-hand trading platform for study purposes. After receiving the goods, he discovered that the The computer obviously did not match the 95% new value advertised by Chen. Wang contacted Chen to return the product and was refused a refund. The trial court held that the defendant Chen committed fraud and should be liable for punitive damages.

Disputes over second-hand sales and purchases similar to the above-mentioned cases often occur. In interviews, many consumers also expressed concerns such as “fear of personal information leakage”, “incomplete platform pricing mechanism” and “difficulty in returns and exchanges”. Cases from China’s online consumer dispute mediation platform “Diansuibao” show that product quality, after-sales service, online fraud, overbearing clauses, difficulty in returns and exchanges, freezing of merchant funds, etc. are the main issues complained about by second-hand e-commerce. To promote the sustainable development of the second-hand goods market, the top priority is to improve the level of standardization and standardization so that users can “sell with peace of mind and buy with confidence.”

Use standardized processes to optimize the transaction experience and enhance trust between buyers and sellers. “Difficult to distinguish authenticity from fake” is an unavoidable pain point for second-hand trading platforms. To this end, some platforms have introduced third-party professional testing agencies: when buyers release products in categories such as mobile phones, digital products, luxury goods, and trendy shoes, they can choose to use testing services and let the testing agencies identify the authenticity and quality of the products. The platform also provides relatively complete sales return and dispute resolution services in the form of “online small courts”, so that consumers have no worries.

Accelerate the march towards standardization. There are many types of second-hand goods, large differences between old and new, and strong non-standardized attributes. It is necessary to improve the relevant standard system for second-hand goods. Liu Rui suggested that by setting unified technical standards, quality inspection and pricing standards, the whole process of second-hand goods such as pricing, trading and after-sales can be more standardized. In response to problems such as electrical and electronic products easily leaking information, Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, believes that relevant recycling operators should be required to establish ledgers, implement information management, and record the operation process and corresponding status of waste electrical and electronic products in each link, which is effective. Crack down on private dismantling of electrical appliances, second-hand refurbishment and other issues.

“Half a thread, half a thread, Heng Nian is struggling with material resources.” The development of the second-hand economy is in line with China’s tradition of respecting nature and cherishing things, and saving things for use. “Consumers should have a sense of responsibility and participate in ‘circular fashion’. For companies on the production side, the product itself must not only be environmentally friendly, but also be based on the entire life cycle, taking into account the disassembly and digestion of the product from the time of design.” Biology Zhou Jinfeng, Vice Chairman of the Diversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, said. In the future, relevant parties in second-hand transactions will need to work together to optimize the second-hand stock market, open up incremental space, promote the integrated development of online and offline services, and truly make green recycling consumption a common practice.