To capture business opportunities in the idle economy (meaning items with economic value that are being unused), new strategies were announced at a brand upgrading conference held by Xianyu, Alibaba’s branch for second-hand goods, in Shanghai on December 1.

The green development concept has in part driven the boom in the domestic idle economy in the past year. 1 billion items including 3C certified digital products, unused clothing and second-hand cars were put on sale on the Xianyu app last year with 10.25 million luxury items being sold and 31% of quality items in first-tier cities flowing to fourth-tier cities.

However, questions over the quality of the goods being sold has restrained potential buyers. To this end, Xianyu has launched a set of guarantee services for authenticity, refund and postage in transaction for luxury products, mobile phones, fashion shoes and cosmetics.

Moreover, to reduce information asymmetry between buyers and sellers, a content creation BBS and interactive community will be established for internet influencers to share information about quality items.

Last but not least, Xianyu announced that it will build second-hand item dealing bases in 20 cities within three years.