2023 was verified as a year of significant socioeconomic instability and resilient inflation, with the Eurozone seeing zero growth. All of this, however, has not slowed the online auction market, which, year after year, is becoming an increasingly popular way of buying - and selling - rare things, with increasing numbers both in terms of value and volume. Catawiki, Europe's leader for special objects, confirmed this trend by publishing a report with the global and local results of 2023 that closed with records, starting with the number of sales: in fact, there were over 3 million objects sold on the portal globally, with a growth of about 20% compared to 2022 and a real boom of more than 40% of new first-time bidders in an online auction. As a result, record numbers make both sellers looking for new sources of income - thanks to the ability to access an international marketplace - and buyers happy, divided between collectors motivated by the desire to find a unique object and those who, on the contrary, frequent the platform in search of new forms of investment. The most popular categories for new bids included gold bars, fashion goods such as sneakers and designer bags, and pop culture relics. Italy remains the largest market in terms of spending among the key nations where Catawiki operates. The ratio of first-time bidders in one of the auctions grew by 22%, and they focused on things such as manga and anime, LEGO, and Pokémon. Watches have risen to the top of the sales charts in Italy, up 33% from the previous year, but ornamental goods have outperformed in terms of volume (+14%) compared to 2022. The most costly things brought home by Italians were a 1958 Jaguar XK 150 OTS 3.8 SE (112,000 euros), a Louis Vuitton trunk (35,658 euros), and an Ado Chale coffee table (18,500 euros).
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