High street feels the heat as swap-shop mentality takes hold

MONEY might be tight, the country may be on the brink of a bailout, but ordinary people are still buying, selling and swapping almost €1 billion worth of goods in the “economy of the streets”.

According to the Buy and Sell index, an astonishing €948 million of goods was traded in its magazine and website last year.

To date this year, a staggering €800m worth of goods and services have been bought and sold, providing a strong indicator of what is really happening on the streets of Ireland. Total spend on Buy and Sell has jumped by more than 20% in the past year.

The index analyses Ireland’s invisible economy and shows just how much people are moving away from high-street stores and, instead, trading with each other. Put simply, the trade in second-hand goods is rapidly becoming an acceptable facet of modern Irish life.

The index provides figures on the total spend and the average price of an item across all its categories and classifications. The numbers are staggering.

In 2009, some €166m worth of property was offered; €65m of farming goods; €37.5m of household goods; €25m of motor accessories; €24m of business services; and €14m of DIY and construction goods.

The numbers from the auto category are similarly huge.

Last year, €634m worth of cars were traded on the site with some €488m having been traded on the site to date this year.

The average price for holiday rentals have jumped a staggering 186%. This includes the sale of holiday homes.

The Buy and Sell swap shop also shows a 37% increase on the value of goods being exchanged as big ticket items are now routinely being swapped.

However, while the volume of adverts on the site is up from 134,000 to 140,000, the people placing those adverts are, on average, charging less for their services.

General manager of Buy and Sell Colm McCann said the index showed what was really happening at street level in Ireland.

“In 2009, we had over €1.5 billion worth of trades coming through our doors. We quickly realised that there was an opportunity to create an index which would analyse all of this information and provide, not only economists, but consumers with a comprehensive study tool that would show what was really happening in the economy at street level.

“What makes this index invaluable is that it covers such a vast pool of consumer products,” said Mr McCann.