April 3, 2009
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Kim Ji-na's new hobby is helping bring in extra money and simplify her cluttered home at the same time. All she needs is a quality camera, a computer and a bank account.
``I look for things that have been hanging around my apartment for years, clean them up, take photos, upload them online and wait for buyers,'' said the 34-year-old working mom, who has so far made more than 400,000 won in two months by selling anything from used clothes, bags and baby carts to books.
She said her new ``online business'' has not only helped her bottom line, but also brought a new energy to her life.
``There is this special excitement and eagerness I feel when I wait for replies from prospective buyers,'' said Kim, ``and once something is sold, I get this enormous sense of accomplishment, even if I sell just a T-shirt.''
A growing number of once ordinary consumers are transforming into online sellers as the cash-crunched try to make a quick buck. Trendwatching.com, a Netherlands-based trend study agency, labeled this new crowd as ``sellsumers.''
``Whether it's selling their insights to corporations, hawking their creative output to fellow consumers, or renting out unused assets, consumers will increasingly become sellsumers too,'' Trendwatching.com said in its April report.
It explained that the trend is made possible by the online revolution's great democratization of demand and supply, which is further fueled by a global recession that leaves consumers strapped for cash.
The agency summed up the phenomenon as ``another manifestation of the mega-trend that is `consumer participation.'''
Pawnshops are still big, but the transactions are moving more online and being diversified, meaning people are doing more than just selling used DVDs to make money. And companies are backing them up.
For example, in Sweden, free newspaper giant Metro hosts Metrobloggen, a get-paid-per-view blogging service. As soon as an individual blog reaches 5,000 page views per month, Metro sends the author MasterCard credit with 150 Swedish kronor (25,000 won).
Additionally, sellsumers with application development skills can make small cash at iPhone App Store, Google's Android Market and Blackberry's App World, says Trendwatching.com.
The agency advises that smart entrepreneurs will devise a new sellsumer platform today to capitalize on the budding trend.
``If saving is the new spending, then making money ― from selling personal assets, properties and creations ― outshines saving,'' it said.
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