The sale of used school supplies breaks through

The rise in the cost of living together with a greater environmental awareness have boosted the trade in used clothing and objects, also in the school environment.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
20 August 2022 Saturday 17:49
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The sale of used school supplies breaks through

The rise in the cost of living together with a greater environmental awareness have boosted the trade in used clothing and objects, also in the school environment.

On the Milanuncios platform they observe how the offer of second-hand textbooks and electronics grows every year. "This summer the increase has been greater than other years," says Íñigo Vallejo, spokesperson and content manager for the company. In June, the number of new ads offered had doubled compared to May, when there was an increase of 242%, coinciding with the end of the course. And in July the number of ads grew again by 48%. The textbooks with the greatest supply and demand are those for the first year of high school, especially the most expensive ones, Vallejo emphasizes. The average price of a high school textbook was 18.75 euros in the 2020-2021 academic year, according to data from the Federation of Publishers Guilds. Similar prices are expected for this course, so a first-year high school student with eight subjects (including physical education, where manual is not used) could spend around 131.25 euros only on textbooks if in their community autonomous there is no aid for these items. The most expensive manuals, however, are those of ESO, with an average price of 21.75 euros.

"The used school material platforms are increasing and interesting offers can be found," says Enrique García, from OCU.

From the consumer organization they recommend planning the back to school purchase to contain spending on what is really needed and avoid impulse or superfluous purchases. Also compare prices. “In the case of textbooks, the difference between establishments reaches up to 25%, as we have verified”, he points out. This is where second-hand platforms come into play.

Given the economic difficulties that going back to school may entail for families, OCU strongly discourages resorting to fast loans. "The interest sometimes reaches 3,000%, which ends up causing an over-indebtedness for households," they maintain. In the case of needing extra money to face the school year, they propose financing credit as an alternative to quick credit.