In early summer, Niki, the mother of a four year old boy, was looking for a solution so her son could sleep at the family’s vacation home during the summer holidays. She didn’t want to buy something makeshift, nor did she want to spend a large sum on yet another children’s bed. So she decided to search the secondhand market. She found her answer in an IKEA children’s bed with its mattress: it had been used for only a year, was in excellent condition, and was selling for about a third of its original price. “Why not?” she thought.
This small, everyday story is not unique. On the contrary, it reflects a broader shift that has taken place in Greece in recent years: turnover in the secondhand market has surged, recording a 278% increase over the last five years. A children’s bookshelf, a stroller used for a few months, clothes that were barely worn, a book long out of print in bookstores, a used smartphone, even a piece of furniture left over from a move, items that would once have stayed in storage or ended up in the trash are now getting a second life.
According to ELSTAT, retail trade in secondhand goods in Greece grew 22.8% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same quarter of 2025, the largest increase of any category in Greek retail. Over the five years from 2021 to 2025, turnover in secondhand sales nearly tripled. The trend continues, though market experts point out that these figures don’t capture the full picture, since they leave out the large volume of transactions that take place directly between private individuals.
Reuse and sustainability
Online platforms such as Vendora, the largest platform for buying and selling secondhand goods in Greece, have made the process much easier. Vendora reports that it now has more than 500,000 items listed and more than two million registered users across Greece, Cyprus, and Bulgaria, and it presents resale as part of a broader culture of reuse.
The same logic is now spreading to major digital marketplaces. Skroutz has introduced Skoop, a service through which individuals can buy and sell secondhand or handmade products among themselves, while the platform also offers thousands of refurbished products, from laptops and phones to home appliances. In this way, secondhand goods now sit on the same “shelf” as new ones.
At the same time, surveys on the secondhand market in Greece show that one in two Greeks has bought at least one secondhand product in the past year. Electronics and gadgets top the list, followed by clothing, footwear, and household items. And while saving money amid high prices remains the main driver for most people, it is not the only reason behind the strong shift toward secondhand goods. Especially among younger age groups, choosing a secondhand item is increasingly tied to reuse, sustainability, and the idea that not every need has to be met with a brand new product.
According to the survey, Greece leads internationally in the exchange of secondhand products, with 34% of Greeks saying they regularly trade goods with other consumers, nearly double the global average of 19%. This trend is also reflected in Greek social media groups, where members either look for secondhand items or post listings to sell them, with the most popular groups exceeding 300,000 members.
This shift is most visible in the furniture sector. Hundreds of listings for secondhand furniture, from desks and dining tables to beds, dressers, and sideboards, are posted every day due to moves, renovations, or simply a change in taste.
Even major retailers like IKEA have begun organizing the “second life” of their furniture internationally. The IKEA Secondhand Marketplace already operates in European markets such as Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Luxembourg, and Norway, allowing consumers to buy and sell used IKEA furniture among themselves.
This model has not yet been introduced in Greece, but according to reports, the option is being studied and monitored by the Fourlis Group, which operates IKEA in Greece, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. Possible scenarios include a classic furniture trade in program, where customers can return an old piece under certain conditions when buying a new one, with the company then reselling the old item as secondhand.
A bed that once held one child can become the bed of another. A refrigerator can pass from one family to the next. A book can be read by dozens of people, and a dining table can move to a new home instead of ending up in the trash. For an entire generation of consumers, secondhand goods are no longer just a necessity of the times, but the start of a different relationship with material things.
