Study: 1 out of 6 U.S. Internet users trade online

Study: 1 out of 6 U.S. Internet users trade online
Internet is increasingly replacing garage sales! According to a recent study, at least one in every six Internet users in the U.S. has used web classifieds and online auctions to buy and sell things. Moreover, 2% of the American users trade online on any given day.

According to a survey conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project, 32 million adults in U.S. have used the online classified ads for buying and selling and 35 million have participated in an online auction at least once. This nation-wide telephone survey was carried out on a random sample of 1577 adult internet users between September 14 and October 13.

“This is the era of the anytime, anywhere yard sale. The internet has radically expanded the customer base for unwanted household items just as it has opened up new markets for more traditional forms of commerce. The whole wired world is a flea market.” said Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

A typical American trading online would be an affluent, educated male in his 30s who has access to broadband Internet and goes online regularly.

Most of such online trade takes place with the help of classified ads and auction sites which not only offer better dissemination of information but also a lot of convenience. “Consumers are attracted by the convenience and wide distribution offered by the Internet when buying and selling items online. Although pure online classifieds sites are popular, a large number of consumers still turn to the media brands they trust for selling and buying items online. In fact, two of the top five classifieds sites – cars.com and apartments.com – are operated by traditional newspaper organizations.” said Erin Hunter, Senior Vice President of comScore Networks Entertainment and Media Solutions.

Newspapers are the worst hit by the emerging phenomenon as they depend heavily on classified ads for revenue. “The traditional newspaper cannot offer the widespread distribution and convenience that has become synonymous with successful e-commerce. Consumers are now more comfortable with interaction established over the Web and this will only benefit classifieds sites,” added Ms. Hunter.

eBay, the classified Kings and other online sites offering similar services may have more competition soon as the classifieds market is one which Google hopes to target with Google Base, another free offering from the search and tech giant.