Victoria, BC – April 2, 2012

Used.ca believes Canada can improve its prominence and influence as a leading Internet economy if more Canadians turn to the web before they hop in the car and go shopping. A recent survey conducted for Google by the Boston Consulting Group found that Canada is lagging behind G20 countries with the Internet accounting for only 3% of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). The G20 average is 4.1%. In 2010, the canada’s internet economy only accounted for $49 billion, which was 3% of Canada’s total GDP. The report goes on to say that Canada will fall further behind by 2016 with its online economy estimated to be at 3.6% versus a G20 economy average of 5.3%.

Used.ca, the largest Canadian owned network of online classified sites, is bucking this trend and growing faster than the overall internet economy year over year. In 2011, Canadians listed $16.5 billion worth of goods on UsedEverywhere’s 43 Canadian city sites. This is an 11% increase from the $14.9 billion listed on the sites in 2009. UsedEverywhere’s total value of goods listed is consistently close to one percent of Canada’s total GDP (appox. $1.6 trillion in 2011).

“Buying and selling used items on online classified sites is a simple and cost effective way to become a part of the internet economy no matter what your level of tech expertise,” says Erin Richards, Used.ca’s Marketing Director.

“From stay at home moms to students to tech professionals, we have a broad demographic of users who profit from listing items and save from buying lightly used goods from people in their own communities.”

On UsedVictoria.com, one of UsedEverywhere’s flagship sites, over $700 million worth of goods was posted in 2011. Ottawa area residents posted close to $400 million worth of items. All of the major city sites are trending upward year over year as more people find out how easy it is to make some extra cash and to pick up used items that others are selling.

“The beauty of online classifieds is that they represent a win-win for the buyer and seller of each item. Not to mention it’s great for the environment to be reusing items that still have value to others,” says Richards.

The Used.ca family of sites, established in 2003, is Canada’s biggest Canadian owned online classified network. There are local city sites in the UsedEverywhere network across the country including UsedOttawa, UsedPEI, UsedWinnipeg, UsedRegina, UsedVictoria, UsedCalgary and more. To find your local city site check out: http://uedev.bpsrvr.com/sites/.

Used.ca is a social commerce platform. Our focus is to facilitate conversations between buyers and sellers, online and offline. Our easy-use free marketplace combines traditional permissive communication, such as telephone numbers & addresses, with new social media conduits like Facebook & Twitter. Used.ca is the largest Canadian owned online classified network with sites in 50 cities across Canada, along with 13 cities in the United Kingdom. Each city site has its own community and online brand.

 

Media Contacts:

Erin Richards/Used.ca

250.381.3633 ext. 3291

Media@Used.ca

 

Scott Ledingham/PRMediaNow

613.806.7135

Scott@PRMediaNow.com