£5.7billion was spent on unused technology in the UK during 2015, according to new research undertaken by a money saving website. Furthermore, only 1 in 3 relevant respondents admitted that they would be likely to sell their unused tech items for a profit in 2016.
The research was carried out by the team at www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, who polled a total of 2,385 British respondents aged 18 and over, to find out more about their tech purchases in 2015. All participants were split evenly according to gender, with an even spread of individuals from each of the UK regions.
Firstly, respondents were asked whether they had made any purchases within the technology sector during 2015 that they had barely used. Almost three quarters of respondents (74%) said that they did not, whilst 26% admitted that they did buy tech products in 2015 that had been effectively forgotten about.
Those who said that they did buy tech that had gone to waste in 2015 were asked to estimate how much they’d roughly spent on the items in question. Researchers compiled the results to reveal the average answer given as £348 on unused technology in 2015.
Following on from this, the same group of respondents were presented with a list of possible answers and were asked to select which technology items they had purchased but not used in 2015. The top 5 results emerged as follows:
- Smartwatches – 36%
- Gaming Tech– 29%
- Kitchen gadgets – 22%
- Wearable Tech – 14%
- Tablets – 9%
Based on the assumed findings that 26% of Britons (16,586,744) bought tech items they no longer use during 2015, spending £348 each on unused technology, respondents were able to calculate that £5,772,186,912 was spent on forgotten items during the twelve-month period.
Finally, respondents were asked to reveal whether they would look to sell their items in 2016. Only 1 in 3 respondents (32%) said that they would be looking to sell their unused tech, with a majority of 68% admitting that they will hold onto them in case they are of use to them in the future.
George Charles of www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk commented:
“With the amount of advertising and influential people pushing various tech items, it’s incredibly easy for Britons to fall victim and splash out on the ‘next big thing’. As a result, though, there’s a lot of unused tech bought every year. £5.7billion’s worth of unused technology is absolutely ridiculous and Britons should think hard before splashing out and think hard about whether they really need the product in their life.â€