People in Japan are selling jewellery for cash at a record pace as the population ages and the economy weakens, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
Exports of second-hand diamonds in Japan increase by 77 percent to 38,032 carats this year, the highest since 2007, despite the fact that Japan is not a mining country and it was the second largest diamond buyers less than a decade ago, said the report.
“As the population shrinks and the number of retirees grows, Japan is seeing the market for second-hand goods expand as people unload luxury items acquired during the boom years,” said Bloomberg. About one fourth of the population in Japan in 2013 was older than 65, a 12-percent up from 1990, the report quoted figures from Japan’s Statistics Bureau. Some people hold more cash, forsake unneeded things to lead a simpler life (or ‘danshari’); some others sell inherited jewellery to prepare for their death (or ‘shukatsu’), said Shuzo Takamura, executive director of Japan Re-Jewelry Council.
Expansion of the used-good market in Japan has driven up the number of approved dealers who trade second-hand precious metals, jewellery, and other goods by 23 percent over the past decade. Komehyo, a buyer and seller of used and new products including jewellery, precious metal and watches founded in Nagoya, has expanded to 24 stores from five over the past decade.
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