Ricardo celebrates 5 million members

The community of the Swiss online marketplace Ricardo has recently reached the 5-million-member milestone. This means that, theoretically, every household in Switzerland has at least one Ricardo user account. The online marketplace, founded in 1999, reached its first million members in the spring of 2006. And the Ricardo community continues to grow steadily: on average, around 1,000 new users register every day.

The Swiss online marketplace Ricardo has surpassed the 5-million-member mark in the 25th year of its existence. This means that, theoretically, every household in Switzerland has a Ricardo account. Founded in 1999, Ricardo reached its first million members after 6.5 years. The second million followed five years later, and by 2016, the platform already counted three million registered users. With around 355,000 registrations, 2012 marked the year with the highest membership growth, followed by 2021 (approx. 339,000) and 2020 (333,000). Currently, more than 6.5 million items are successfully auctioned or sold through the platform every year — 71 percent of which are second-hand. Fashion, household goods, collectibles, toys, and sports are among the most popular categories in terms of number of transactions.

A recent analysis of the Ricardo community shows that the online marketplace is most strongly represented in the 31–45 age group, accounting for 36% of users. This is followed by the 46–60 age group (30%), the “Zillennials” (18–30), and the 61–75 age group, each making up around 15%. Four percent of Ricardo members are over 75 years old. Most Ricardo users live in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Aargau, Vaud, and St. Gallen. 77.6% of Ricardo members use the platform in German, 19.4% prefer the French version, and 3% use the Italian version. Looking at gender distribution, 64% of Ricardo accounts are used by men and 36% by women. However, this number should be interpreted with caution, as a single Ricardo account is often used by several individuals within the same household.

Francesco Vass, Managing Director of Ricardo, says: “We are absolutely delighted to have reached the impressive milestone of 5 million members. The fact that around 1,000 new users discover Ricardo every day — either to give their used items a second life or to search for something special — and thereby support the circular economy, makes this achievement even more rewarding and motivates us to continue.”