Written by Tammy Milne
Facebook Marketplace has broadened the buying power of people with disabilities who might not necessarily be able to access or have physical access to charity secondhand stores.
Yes! That is a thing. Charity stores can be inaccessible because of stairs and no ramps, and it’s not just the small ones either. Huge chain charity stores are at fault for not providing access too.
I am not going to deny it, I love Marketplace. Why? Because it’s easy to access, it’s value for money and I am saving my money and the environment, one purchase at a time. In my home more than half my furniture and most of the plants in my garden and in the house, my clothes and books have been sourced from Marketplace at a fraction of the cost of both large secondhand stores and retail stores.
My therapeutic bed was a Marketplace purchase, unused by the previous owner and sold to me for a third of the cost for the same item from the big disability equipment provider in town. At that time I was also able to claim it as a disability cost through NDIS. I’m not sure what the rules on that are now, but back then I saved the NDIS $4000.
Myself and other people with disabilities are able to peruse the offerings on Marketplace from the comfort of our own homes, and then go off on adventures with a support worker to pick up said items.
It is probably not the intention of the NDIS or Marketplace to facilitate easier access to good quality secondhand items, but the results in providing good supports enable people to have more control over their purchases and their purse.
The risk? Personally I have not purchased anything from Marketplace that has not been of good quality. A few risk mitigation precautions, like never paying before pickup and also making sure the seller will allow you to look at the item before handing over your money, reassuringly means you have more control and less risk. In terms of personal safety, it’s also a bonus to have your support worker with you.
According to statista.com 2022, the secondhand item economy was valued at over 60 billion dollars with 85% of Australian households reporting they had sold unwanted items. And now PWD can be more a part of this than ever before.
If I want a book, a new release book, I can either go to a bookstore and buy it or I can look for it on Marketplace. More often than not, I will find the item (read once) and up for sale for half the cost of a new copy.
The benefits of this secondhand economy to our community are manyfold. Items are given extra life when they change hands, the disability community is given easy access because of technology and, because we are supported by support workers for social participation, we can go to the supermarket and do other errands on the way to pick up our Marketplace purchases.
I actually thought it was just me doing these sort of adventures, but it’s more common that I first thought with PWD off picking up items cheaply that they would not necessarily be able to afford on a fixed income with the assistance of supports.
The most amazing thing of my Marketplace purchases was a leather lounge suite, that I picked up for $800 from a doctor who didn’t want to pay for it to be shipped to their next posting. The same lounge suit is still available in stores for $4000. I also have purchased Christmas presents and gifts for birthdays from Marketplace. Today I bought a dress for my daughter from Decuba for $20 which still has the tags on it – that’s a $100 dress for $20! Too good to be true? No, and here is why. Stores will not return clearance items.
The growing trend of the circular economy is now open to PWD!
I see this accidental collision between good supports and access to the secondhand economy as a win/win. The cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone, but PWD who are often paying more for medication and other necessities not always funded by NDIS are doing it tougher. A little affordable retail therapy is a bonus that was not an intentional consequence of the NDIS, but a happy outcome of good support and sensible spending.
Happy Marketplace shopping everyone!
