The Marktplaats Effect

A warm welcome from
Florence Schmit

Welcome to Marktplaats' latest circular impact report: The Marktplaats Effect. This report is a testament to the impact of our users’ choices in 2023. As secondhand shopping becomes increasingly integral to our lives, we've partnered with an independent organisation to calculate the real impact of trading used items on our platform. The results are both exciting and inspiring: every time you choose secondhand on Marktplaats, you're potentially reducing emissions and conserving valuable resources. This report isn't just about numbers; it's about the tangible difference you're making for our planet.

We're committed to empowering you with insights that highlight the environmental benefits of your choices. By participating in the circular economy through Marktplaats, you're directly contributing to a lower-carbon future and promoting reuse. As we move forward, these findings will continue to shape our strategies, driving innovations that enhance your secondhand trading experience and foster sustainability. Together, we're not just exchanging goods; we're trading for a better, more sustainable tomorrow. Thank you for being part of this journey and for your role in creating meaningful change.

Florence Schmit
General Manager Adevinta Benelux

25 years
of Marktplaats

There's no denying it: Marktplaats has been the leading online trading platform for used consumer goods in the Netherlands for 25 years. With an impressive 8 million unique visitors per month and around 350,000 new listings added daily, we're connecting millions of buyers and sellers.

We believe that every action on our platform makes a difference. Whether you're new to selling or have been giving your items a new lease on life for years, you're a World Changer in our eyes. By buying or selling, you're not only helping yourself, but you're also bringing joy to someone else. Together, we're working to reduce waste and make the world a little bit better.

0 new listings added daily

In addition to supporting our World Changers, we are also committed to drive systemic changes beyond Marktplaats. We do our very best on our platform, but it takes more to accelerate the Dutch Circular economy:

The Dutch government

On various occasions, like within this report, we ask for proactive government action to boost the circular economy. This includes investing in public awareness campaigns and urging policymakers to consider how legislation might affect the second-hand market. Additionally, we encourage exploring lowering the VAT-rate on repaired and second-hand items.

Education

We teamed up with Race Against Waste! This organisation teaches primary school kids the ins and outs of textile and electronic waste. Kids learn the benefits of reusing things and even give away items for free on Marktplaats to understand their positive impact.

Project Street Rescue

Under this initiative, we partner with local municipalities to encourage residents to sell or donate large items they no longer need instead of throwing them away. This way, we are confident that a significant amount of bulky waste can be avoided.

The rise of
the Dutch second-hand market

The circular economy is all about reusing and repurposing products, rather than constantly creating new ones. By making it easy for people to buy and sell used items on platforms like Marktplaats, we can extend the lifespan of goods and reduce the demand for raw materials and manufacturing. This shift towards a more sustainable model is a game-changer, as it allows us to get more mileage out of the products we already have, instead of constantly needing to produce new ones. This also aligns perfectly with the goals of the Netherlands and the European Union.

And it seems like we’re on to something, because a massive 40% of all reused items in The Netherlands went through online platforms like Marktplaats. The share of online channels is actually bigger than physical stores that sell used items or what friends and family pass around*.

Did you know...

…that Marktplaats is a major player in this space? With over 8 million active users and millions of trades every year, we had an overall market share of 29% of the total reuse market, and 73% of the online platforms market!

Fun fact

We team up with government organisations to share our anonymised data and insights, which helps everyone get a clearer picture of the circular economy in the Netherlands. A cool example is that we share our annual data on reuse with Rijkswaterstaat. This can drive the creation of smart circular policy-making to boost circularity in the long run.

*According to research from RWS in 2022, the results from 2023 were not yet available during the creation of this report. For more sources on the data in this chapter, see annex.

The environmental impact
of second-hand trade

Second-hand trade and reuse can reduce the impact on the environment, mainly by potentially avoiding emissions and preserving natural resources. What does that mean?

All avoided emissions discussed here are potentially avoided emissions since avoided emissions are the result of a hypothetical calculation. These estimates involve a comparison between the actual scenario (purchasing a second-hand product on Marktplaats) and a hypothetical alternative scenario (purchasing a similar first-hand product instead) and accounting for the likelihood that the second-hand purchase actually replaced a first-hand purchase or not (see Replacement Rate in the report).

So, it's actually quite simple: we potentially avoid emissions because fewer new products need to be manufactured. Think about it – all the resources required to extract raw materials, power the production process, and transport the final product to the store? We can skip those steps by opting for pre-owned items instead. Plus, we're avoiding that these goods are discarded as waste before they have reached the end of their useful life, which is an added environmental bonus!

Measuring our contribution
to the circular economy

You now understand what we mean by the term 'potential avoided emissions'. But how do we calculate the amount of emissions that are potentially avoided through second-hand trade on Marktplaats? Let's dive into the nitty-gritty of the science behind it, so you can see how we approach this calculation (for in depth calculations, see annex).

The methodology

We have engaged the research firm Vaayu to use their approach based on consequential life cycle analysis (LCA)*. This means we look beyond just individual product sales. We look at the bigger picture and the broader impact on the system. This method closely follows the guidelines of the World Resource Institute for comparing product emissions.

Vayuu's methodology and research method calculates the emissions potentially avoided through second hand purchase on our own platform. This approach provides transparency and accuracy, more closely aligning with key academic frameworks for calculating avoided emissions, such as the Guidance on Avoided Emissions report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Framework for Estimating and Reporting Avoided Emissions by the World Resources Institute.

We take this topic very seriously and work hard to measure the impact accurately. This helps us to show the environmental benefits second-hand trading can have. As we always say, every deal makes a big difference!

*Validated by TüV Rheinland. For additional details on the calculations, see annex

More details
about the research

Alright, the foundation is done, now we're diving in even further! In this section, you'll discover how we’ve kicked off the analysis of our data. Vaayu’s analysis was based on data from approximately 18.3 million sold items through Marktplaats in specific product categories (see the annex), further supplemented by insights from more than 32.000 European second-hand trading platform users about their purchasing and selling behaviour.

A product analysis of over 18 million trades

To calculate the net avoided emissions, Vaayu analysed the approximately 18.3 million successful second-hand transactions using Kria, their proprietary LCA Impact Modelling Engine and database.

Avoided emissions are measured in CO2 equivalents (CO2eq). While the news often focuses on CO2, it's important to note that mining, harvesting, and production processes produce a variety of Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG). To simplify things, we quantify or express the magnitude of all these GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents.

Most of us buy items that are just lightly used

But to which extent do we actually replace new items? To find out, surveys were conducted among both buyers and sellers. This allowed the Replacement Rate to be estimated (see annex), to measure the substitution ratio and clarify how effectively second-hand items can replace new ones. These surveys also collected details about the delivery logistics, including the types of packaging and materials used.

We're really curious to see if the results of this survey resonate with you. The vast majority (83%) of buyers on Marktplaats actually acquire products that are almost new to lightly used. So it seems like Marktplaats is a goldmine for finding quality pre-loved goods! The sellers also confirm this, as 86% of them indicate that the items they offer are indeed in good condition.

Emissions from the Marktplaats Operations

Of course we also examined the emissions generated by our Marktplaats operations to account for the potential emissions saved through second-hand trade on our platform. This included:

Scope 1 emissions: the emissions from the leased vehicles we use for business purposes.
Scope 2 emissions: the emissions from the energy consumed at our office and data centres.
Scope 3 emissions: the indirect emissions from the everyday items we use, such as coffee pods, employee commuting, and the energy our users are consuming when accessing our platform through their personal devices.

This resulted in our carbon footprint for 2023, which is included and detailed in the global report (page 32 onwards) of our parent company Adevinta. Marktplaats' share in this footprint was then deducted from the potential CO2 equivalent emissions saved through trading on our platform.

Now that we have a broad understanding of the research, it's time for the results!

The Marktplaats
Effect in 2023

In 2023, our users sold a staggering 18.3 million second-hand items through our platform. These items ranged from baby clothes and furniture to sports equipment and garden supplies. By giving these items a second, third, or even fourth life, our users have potentially avoided the emission of 329.109 tons of CO2eq.

That's a truly remarkable impact!

0 tons CO2eq avoided

To put that into perspective for a moment, these avoided emissions are equivalent to: 0 round-trip flights from Amsterdam to
New York

And it’s the same as the energy consumption of 0 Dutch households

The avoided emissions refer to the potential reduction in CO2eq that has been achieved because our users opted for second-hand items instead of buying new ones from the categories studied. It's important to note that the figure above does not take into account the cars sold on our platform. The reason for this is due to the current challenges in developing a reliable LCA methodology to measure the emissions savings accurately, specifically the significant variability in emissions, influenced by factors such as driving habits, maintenance, and fuel efficiency.

The detailed calculations behind the total net avoided emissions can be found in the annex, but the main components of this calculation are:

*The alternative scenario refers to the emissions from producing and distributing a comparable new item which second-hand shopping on other Adevinta’s marketplaces may ‘avoid’ to a certain extent (the Replacement Rate). The Alternative scenario here includes the Replacement Rate within the emissions value.

A closer look at
the Replacement Rate

The Replacement Rate, which is driven by user behaviour, demonstrates how effectively second-hand items can substitute for new purchases. But, calculating a perfect like-for-like replacement is not easy. To account for this challenge, the Replacement Rate is:

Pivotal in evaluating the environmental advantages of reuse;
An influencer in calculating the extent to which carbon emissions from the production and distribution of similar new products are “offset” by purchases on the marketplaces.

How is the Replacement Ratio calculated?

In our analysis, we surveyed users about their avoided purchases in specific product categories. We calculated the Replacement Rate based on responses from nearly 32.000 buyers across all Adevinta markets. For Marktplaats, we used an EU average in response to the survey question:

The results, based on the EU averages, are quite interesting. On average, nearly 40% of buyers indicate they would not purchase a new product if they can find a similar used item on one of the Adevinta marketplaces.

This suggests that second-hand purchases on our marketplaces replace the purchase of new items in almost 40% of cases! Within this report we only took this 40% into account. We know that the remaining 60% is also related to the purchase of used items, but we need more insights to understand this consumer behaviour before we can comment on the impact of this group.

0 purchases on our marketplaces replace the purchase of new items

Discover our
top categories for reuse

At Marktplaats, you can find just about anything your heart desires. However, not all items have the same potential to reduce environmental impact. In 2023, the categories with the highest potential for avoided emissions are Bicycles (106,731 tonnes of CO2eq), Home Appliances (72,373 tonnes of CO2eq), and Home & Decoration (63,609 tonnes of CO2eq). So whether you're snagging a secondhand bike, couch, or oven, you're helping to reduce emissions by giving those items a new lease on life.