OLX launched a Buy Used Items campaign earlier this year, to cope with the continual price hikes of in electricity, water, transportation tickets among other services in Egypt.
The online marketplace, founded in 2006, operates in 45 countries and is the largest online classified ads company in Pakistan, Brazil, India, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine.
OLX promotes the sale of second-hand furniture and home appliances as the more economical option; stating the possibility of buyers saving up to about 39% of the total original price of an item. The campaign hopes to eliminate the stigma behind buying used items in the country, which they say saves more money, effort, and time, in addition to being environmentally beneficial for both parties in the transaction.
The campaign is set to reach OLX’s wide audience as their Egyptian Facebook page can boast of more than 4 million followers, while their global page gets more than 37 billion monthly page views.
OLX’s recent online campaigns are working towards regaining users’ trust after the brutal murder in March, of a young student, who was stabbed to death while buying a used laptop through OLX. The sellers had posted a fake ad to lure the victim. There was widespread social media outrage, with popular Facebook group “The Power of Social Media” condemning OLX’s security procedures which they deemed “insufficient” and urging its followers to boycott OLX.
General Manager of OLX Egypt, Dina Gobran said, “The idea of buying used products and commodities is popular in developed societies. It is remarkable to see this culture rapidly thriving in our region. As a leading platform in electronic classified advertising, OLX launched the “Buy Used Items”.
The used furniture and home appliances categories witness a 40% increase in the number of displayed products compared to the same time in the previous year. This reflects the change in the purchasing trends of Egyptian consumerism and a newly founded acceptance for buying secondhand. Not only are Egyptians seeking secondhand furniture, OLX Egypt revealed that during the Holy Month of Ramadan, the most searched keywords in the second-hand items were iPhone, living room, Nokia, saloon, Samsung, dining room and closet.
