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- Online classifieds reflect the extent of the Covid-19 pandemic's socio-economic impact on South Africans, Gumtree research suggests.
- In trying to make ends meet, more people are moving home and also turning to online classifieds when they are in need of cash during these challenging times.
- The company has seen an increase in rental vacancies as from April - when lockdown started.
About 64% of the 2 400 South Africans between the age of 21 and 35 who took part in a recent Gumtree survey, indicated that they had been directly impacted by the economic knock-on effects of Covid-19.
"This is also congruent with the uptick in rental property listings that we are seeing on the Gumtree platform," says Estelle Nagel, brand marketing manager at Gumtree South Africa. She says the company has seen an increase in rental vacancies as from April - when lockdown started.
Gumtree currently has 41 723 rental houses and flats listed with 17 140 being listed in Gauteng, 12 795 in the Western Cape, and 7 657 in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
Nagel says they have also seen an uptick in entrepreneurial activity and listings on the platform. Currently there are 62 892 services listed on Gumtree in 28 different categories from "building and trades" (14 380 adverts) to tutors and education (2 185).
"In trying to make ends meet, more people are moving home and also turning to online classifieds when they are in need of cash during these challenging times. We also see many adverts for rooms offered to let in private homes, while the number of job applications has gone up by 400%," says Nagel.
Furthermore, a lot of household content is being sold online, presumably as people are moving to smaller or less permanent accommodation. Lots of jewellery is also being sold, even wedding rings.
"A lot of people are rolling with the punches it seems, so to speak, advertising that they have a bakkie and can do mini-removals. Others volunteer to tutor children online or teach language skills or yoga online," says Nagel.
