As economy slumps, secondhand stores thrive

BOSTON. As the economy continues to struggle, many businesses are reporting increased sales in used items over new products over the last few months, another reflection of consumers looking to save wherever they can.

Mike Leivi, owner of Play It Again Sports in Dedham, which sells both new and used sports equipment, said sales of pre-owned items are up 10 to 15 percent in recent months.

“Every day now, we’re seeing people bring in bags and bags of equipment,” Leivi said.  

Play It Again Sports is one of four retail franchise brands operated nationwide by Minneapolis-based Winmark Corporation. The other three offer used children’s clothes and toys, musical instruments and clothes and accessories for teenagers.

Steve Murphy, Winmark’s president of franchising, said collectively the retailers have experienced a 10 percent spike in the sale of used items, a trend he said is typical of a down economy. Winmark plans to open 30 more stores combined in Massachusetts over the next few years.

“In this kind of economy, we see a huge influx of people bringing in things to sell, whether it’s for gas money or to just unload old items, or if people are just looking for a discount [on trade-ins],” he said.

At Newbury Comics on Newbury Street, which for years has been offering trade-ins and used items, sales pre-owned DVDs and CDs have increased.

“I’m not sure if it’s the economy, but we’ve definitely had a pick up in used stuff,” said supervisor Marianne Murphy.

Consumers across the country are finding new ways to deal with the sagging economy, as they also battle high prices for food and gasoline, and this winter, likely heat. Meanwhile, the government continues to grapple with a plan to bailout a crippled Wall Street.

For Dennis Keller, who owns Cambridge Music in Porter Square, his customers aren’t really switching from new to used instruments, but are rather opting to have their old instruments repaired instead. In the last few months, his store has been flooded with requests to fix broken equipment.

“Our repair guy is as busy as he wants to be,” Keller said.