why do people think second hand is manky?

Brilliant- I’ve had some fantastic 2nd hand... all i brought last time was my car seat, isofix base and the cot- everything else was 2nd hand and doing me a 2nd time around!

I know some buyers from mainland china don't want to live in a 'used' house because they think they might inherit the previous owner's bad luck! I think its a big reason why they buy new build flats! I am chinese but I am not superstitious; which is why my flat is from the 1930s.

I don't have a car but I am not sure I would get a used one. No one in my family has ever bought a used car (this is because in my home country, the certificate to buy a car is in the 6 figures and when you buy a new car, you get 10 years but if you buy an old car, you would get whatever number of years is left and then have to spend 6 figures renewing the certificate of entitlement) ; and neither has DH's family. Maybe his paternal side (who are English) has but I don't know them well enough to say for certain. But it is definitely environmentally friendly to get a used car so perhaps we would opt for that if and when we do get a car (we live in London and have no DC yet, so we haven't felt the need for one)

I thought the big boxes on the streets were for manky items that get ragged, but still raise money for the charity?

Whereas at school, there was great kudos associated with using hand me downs from a mother / aunt / grandmother. The older the better, demonstrating a long established privilege.

Princess Beatrice must have been really slumming it getting married in a second dress AND second hand jewellery.

A lot of it is to do with being poor as a child. i can afford to buy new i won't put myself or my kids in second hand ever again, second hand was embarrassing as a kid so it is rank.

I have relatives who have responded this way. We love their hand me downs

This is why I don't buy anything I'm not prepared to clean myself!

My sofa was taken apart and the covers washed. Earrings cleaned with alcohol. Clothes washed. Used furniture always wiped down.

Do love secondhand but only good quality, clean and able to be cleaned again by me.

Certain things I would be grand with second hand and others not. For example I wouldn’t take a second hand cot from someone as in my experience baby’s chew the bars. Maybe I am BU, but I have the ice factor going on with it. However, I will be passing the current cot we have down to our next child.
I wouldn’t buy second hand shoes for me or my children and the previous owners feet will have imprinted on them.
Things like rings, necklaces etc can be cleaned and worn again by others.

I volunteered for a week in some sorting centre for donations🤮 You know the ones from bix boxes on streets. Never again

Not everywhere though. If people know the shop wants rags, great, but most people don't. They are just lazy bastards😁

My mum always told me never to buy second-hand hats (lice? She never did explain) or shoes, but anything else was fine.

My theory is that they just can't be arsed sorting it so give it to shop to do it. They KNOW the stuff is ready for bin but can't be arsed

I know someone who refused point blank to live in a "used" house, despite the fact that they could afford the much bigger dream home she wanted if she didnt insist it had to be brand new.. I am sure I read on MN a few years ago that someone else knew someone like this too!

And I do know quite a few people who would never consider a used car but that is mainly down to the fact that they dont want anyone to think that they cant afford new, part snobbery part insecurity I think.

Sounds like my daughter. She gets books out the library but then never reads them cos she thinks they are dirty.

If I bought her the same book she would read it.

I do send worn out holey stuff to the charity shop but I send it seperately (and clean!) in a bag marked "RAGS" as they can sell them by the kilo and get money that way. So its not always being lazy or selfish.

And I love a charity shop bargain. My personal best is a £200 bnwt Karen Millen dress that I got for £37. It was part of their donation of old season stuff and best of all.....IT HAS POCKETS!!!! Great big deep ones that I can carry all my stuff in and because its a full skirt, you cant tell that I am carrying a handbags worth of crap in them!

I love that type, means more choice of stuff for me. I love 2nd hand and always will. Does anyone know why pyrex is so cheap 2nd hand, no one seems to want it. I bought 3 pyrex dishes with retro print at a car boot sale, lady only wanted 2 euro for them.

I wonder if all those people who are put off by anything second-hand are forced to live in new-build housing and buy brand new cars.

This ^

And 'the kind of people who have to buy their own furniture'.

Takes all sorts.

Quite. There was a thread recently when people were having paroryxms over a child borrowing another childs swimsuit...they seemed to think having touched another childs nether regions it then needed to be burned.
The prospect of it being washed and then worn by the owner stunned them entirely, they simply couldn't compute it.

Haven't voted as I am not sure what you are asking if YABU or not about but some people having different views on things can't be news.

I love a charity shop buy myself, or something given away on a giving page, and think people who turn their nose up are bonkers but I understand they think differently from me and that is fine - all the more chance for me to pick up a bargain.
I'm not sure MN reflects society proportionally though - there are so many on here who wash towels after one use or have all sorts of extreme clothes washing habits and are horrified at the thought of sharing a meal (as in the same plate) with a loved one, or having a swig of water from a bottle that another family member has drunk from.......or dare I mention toilet brushes again

Well, more people don't think second hand is manky as Antique Dealers appear to do very well.

Most of my very lovely wardrobe is secondhand. So much so I've had to delete certain apps to reduce temptation.

Once you know which brands/sizes suit you it saves an absolute fortune.

I just bought a gorgeous swimming cozzie from.the chazza, 4 quid. Looking at the label inside, I don't think it's been used