Searches for second-hand products by U.S. B2B buyers on Alibaba.com in November of 2009 were 113 percent higher than one year earlier. Examples of popular pre-owned goods include boats, cars, golf carts, auto parts, laptops and clothes. Alibaba said the surge in searches for pre-owned items started in mid-2009 and carried through the fall.

Alibaba.com is a global product-sourcing marketplace based in China that offers over 2 million second-hand products from around the world. The company said 37 percent of all buyer inquiries for second-hand goods went to U.S. suppliers in the past year. China accounted for 12 percent and Japan accounted for 9 percent of such searches.

Sabrina Peng, Vice President of Alibaba.com, said, "Clearly, the downturn has prompted those looking for certain goods to consider pre-owned products as a way to cut spending, and it also seems that a portion of the increase in interest in second-hand products is driven by environmental appeals to cut waste and to recycle. The procurement and sale of used products could become a growing line of business in the U.S. for years to come."