Second-hand economy 'may be worth $40b'

The average Australian household has $5200 in clothing, books, DVDs, toys and other unwanted goods that could be sold in the second-hand market, a report suggests.

Research commissioned by classifieds website Gumtree estimates Australia's second-hand economy is potentially worth $40 billion, if all those unwanted and unused goods are sold.

Dr Rebecca Valenzuela, from Monash University's economics department, said the reported growth in participation and volume of exchanges indicates Australia's second-hand goods market is a booming industry.

She said increased use of the internet and in particular the availability of information about the products has helped boost participation in the second-hand goods market.

"I think the exchange of information is just richer as we go on and on in time," she said.

"More and more households are becoming aware that they have this untapped resource and that they can turn these unwanted things into extra dollars in their pockets."