TNS Infratest Research heralds the coming of auction culture

Some recent research from TNS Infratest Research for eBay Germany shows that auction culture is creeping up on us.

• 11% of Germans that are online consider what an item that they are thinking of buying could be sold for later on
• 37% think it a good idea to sell old products to then upgrade
• 54% mention eBay as a good way to do it

If you recall auction culture (as advocated by Daniel Nissanoff in his book Futureshop) is the idea that in the future we will all consider purchases as more like leases, and the resale value of an item will figure prominently in the original purchase.  A good current example of this is cars where the resale plays a large part in the original purchase.