Australia's growing second-hand economy

UNWANTED ITEMS IN AUSTRALIAN HOMES BY THE NUMBERS:

* $40 bln - potential value of Australian second-hand economy

* $10 bln - increase on 2015

* $5203 - per household

* 89 - per cent of people have them

* 25 - average number of items

* Most common items: clothing, shoes and accessories (61 pct); books (53 pct); music, DVDs, CDs (51 pct); games and toys (49 pct)

* 56 - per cent of people sold a second-hand item in last year

* 84 mln - used goods sold in last year

* $3246 - average total made by sellers

* $2083 - average spent by second-hand buyers

Source: Second-hand Economy Report commissioned by classifieds website Gumtree and conducted by Galaxy Research.