Ricardo strengthens secondhand trading with new fee discounts

To further promote secondhand trading as part of the circular economy, Ricardo has introduced a series of discounts as of April 1, 2026, enabling sellers to save up to 30% on standard success fees.

On April 1, 2026, the online marketplace Ricardo launched a range of discounts designed to lower barriers to secondhand trading, encourage and reward recurring activity, and further enhance transaction security. Depending on the sales format and activity level, sellers can benefit from discounts of up to 30% on standard success fees.

A key element of the fee reduction applies to a particularly engaging and effective sales format: auctions starting at CHF 1. These auctions currently achieve a successful sale in over 70% of cases and often generate higher prices due to dynamic bidding activity. Over the past year, 80% of items listed on Ricardo were offered via auction, and around 25% of all sellers chose to list their unused items as auctions with a starting price of CHF 1. With the latest fee reductions, Ricardo aims to further incentivize this promising sales format among an even broader user base and continue to drive secondhand trading in Switzerland. The overall discount system is designed to benefit not only occasional private sellers but also highly active sellers with higher transaction volumes.

The new Ricardo fee model offers the following discounts on success fees:

• 10% discount for auctions starting at CHF 1
• 10% discount on every fifth successful sale
• 10% discount for transactions secured via Buyer Protection+ (formerly “MoneyGuard”)
• 10% discount for sellers with a transaction volume exceeding CHF 100,000

These discounts can be combined, allowing for a total discount of up to 30%. The existing cap on success fees of CHF 290 remains unchanged.

“According to recent studies*, unused goods worth an average of CHF 4,000 are lying idle in every Swiss household—items we aim to bring back into circulation. With these new discounts, we want to lower the barriers to selling secondhand goods and make Switzerland’s circular economy more attractive and accessible to everyone,” says Francesco Vass, Managing Director of General Marketplaces at SMG Swiss Marketplace Group.

* McKinsey & Company: Unlocking Switzerland’s potential: The rise of online marketplaces