Second hand toys…Is it really that bad?!

[Bunbum]

So I was talking to a friend this afternoon about how expensive this xmas is going to be (for various reasons). I’m stressing to be honest as my eldest (4yo) is hopeful to be receiving a few specific toys which are costing up to £100 each (honestly, a paw patrol lookout tower is over £100……. Like what?!).

I looked on FB marketplace and there’s lots of these toys on there that are clearly in good working condition and I asked her if she thought I should just get some second hand toys and wrap them up but she was mortified and said that she couldn’t gift her child a second hand toy for christmas….

Is it really that bad?!

We were on a tight budget when the children were small. Second hand toys were the norm and there was nothing wrong with that. I now have 2 adult sons who have not been remotely damaged by having second hand toys.

My dd regularly buys her young dcs’’ presents from charity shops, or from e.g. FB marketplace. She’s had some amazing bargains, and if it’s something they want or would really like, the kids honestly don’t care.

2nd hand toys (and passed-on clothes) are very normal within her social circle.

I bought a furry push-along dog on wheels (for when they’re just starting to walk) for Gdd1, now 9 - it’s done the rounds of several friends, besides her own dcs 2 and 3, and is now with a cousin’s baby boy. I dare say it’ll then go to a charity shop, for someone else’s baby to enjoy.

Another mostly second hand here. Especially plastic stuff that is so easy to clean.

It sounds like you are able to exactly what your DC is asking for second hand so sound like an obvious win win. As a child I got mainly second hand presents and didn't really get what I asked for. The left field surprises I loved but the ones where I asked for say a barbie and campervan but got a sindy with sports car I was disappointed.

I gift DD alot of secondhand stuff. Its ridiculous to buy new if you don't have to. I always clean them up and ahe doesn't know nor care.

Actually currently on the lookout for the same thing as you secondhand! Reading the reviews of all the towers it seems they're a pain to put together. So i'd have made it up before christmas anyway. But a note to check them if buying secondhand as lot of reviews have said about parts popping out/not clicking in well. So check its all together.

B&M near me also had the rubble and chase vehicles and figures for £6.99. They're usually £9.99 if it helps.

We bought our granddaughter a second hand doll’s house for her first Christmas present - it was in beautiful condition, and she loved it and plays with it every day. Ds1 and our lovely DIL are huge fans of FB marketplace and gleefully tell us of their bargains.

There is nothing wrong with second hand toys - it is eco-friendly too.

In so many ways it is better to do this. Recycling and financially more sensible.

When my children were young I would only get new toys for Christmas and birthdays because we lived in a poor area and there were no good second hand toys. Nowadays you can get amazingly good second hand toys.

When DS wanted his Lookout, we got it off eBay as part of a bundle including about 10 figures. Same with Octonauts, OctoPod plus massive bundle of figures and vehicles for £40.

If your child is young enough to like Paw Patrol, they are young enough to be impressed by a massive bundle of figures, and to not realise it didn’t come in a box.

Buy them second hand.
IT IS THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE OPTION.
Be proud of your sustainable approach to plastic toys instead of apologetic.

When the kids in our family were small, I used to buy them dvd’s/books/toys from the charity shop. It was something new for them to play with when they visited…once they finished with them, they were taken back to the charity shop to be resold!

Some of my DS favourite toys are second hand, he is non the wiser!

Agree to buying them as you see them

It's fine to give second hand toys and also environmentally better.

Most of the expensive presents my kids got until they were teens were 2nd hand
Laptop
Xbox
Phones
Big sylvanian items
I didn't have the budget to buy new and they got what they wanted.

My DD is 18 and apart from her first very basic phone, she's never had a new phone

It's fine! Santa sometimes unwraps toys so they're ready to play with you know 😉
You should definitely make the most of it before they're old enough to know about boxes!

Second hand toys are the best !
even better if they are hand me downs from friends “ Ben gave me this, it was his favourite now it’s mine “ or the hilarious game my eldest and I played re gifting her baby toys to her 6yr younger sibling - she was thrilled Santa gave smallest what she used to love !

Gosh l was a struggling single parent in the 80s... the toys l bought came from jumble sales ( no Internet then).
My young daughter never knew.
She loved her Big Yellow teapot and dolls pram and doll. I knitted dolls clothes and bedding for the pram.

Not bad at all, sensible for anyone to do from not only a financial point of view but also an environmental one.

Mine had loads of 2nd hand toys and clothes, even now, preteen, they'll go on vinted looking for things. Their devices are also reconditioned, usually. I could afford new but I choose to buy 2nd hand for various reasons.

And at 4, he'll have no clue!

There was no way I was wasting silly money on new toys that ds would have grown out of/got bored with in a year or two when I could get them second hand on ebay. DS couldn't care less even when he was old enough to know the difference. It's a good lesson for kids that they don't need things to always be brand new - new to them is enough.

Honestly they will like second hand better because it comes ready to play with.

At that age things in boxes attached with clips that you need scissors (and a degree in engineering) to remove are a nightmare.

Christmas day is busy and they just want to get on and play, not be told 'we'll build it once aunty Susan has been round/ gone to granny for lunch.

If it reassures you at all my seven year old is still playing with the giant paw patroller which has never had the back door because I paid £2 for it. She has never questioned it (and if she did I was just going to say 'oh those poor tired elves must have forgotten it).

Your advantage is that paw patrol stuff is abundant second hand. It doesn't retain it's value well and it's lumps of plastic so easily cleaned.

Take advantage before they start wanting bloody surprise eggs where the packaging is basically the point.

The paw patrol cuddly toys go through the washing machine a treat too.

Sadly if you lived in north Scotland I have one I'm desperate to be rid of (bought second hand for daughter's birthday and of all the paw patrol toys it's the least played with).

Actually DS’s favourite ever toy is a garage we rescued from the bin at nursery (it hadn’t reached the bin, it was just earmarked for the bin).

I did then have to carry it home across Toronto on public transport, along with a toddler, snowboots, and my own work bag and laptop, in deep snow. But it was free, and he still plays with it 5 years later.

It’s loads better for the environment - especially plastic stuff like the paw patrol tower(ours is from fb marketplace)! I just got some extra metal diecast cars for ours from Vinted to go in DS Christmas stocking.
The stocking was from Vinted BNWT a few years ago.
This seems very standard amongst my mum friends - doctors, teachers.

I love the snobs who refuse to buy second hand, more choice for me. My DD loves the Playmobil Ayuma range but it seems to have disappeared from the shops and catalogue, so I got her the tree with eyes on eBay for less than 10 euros, already assembled.
I buy clothes and toys in bundles second hand, then sell when they are outgrown or are duplicated. I sell at car boot sales and children's sales, it's my side hustle.

Most of DC’s gifts are (good condition) second hand

Could easily afford new, but I care about the environment & don’t see why I would spend £200 on a brand new Barbie house when I can get one for £50 second hand.

Your mistake I think was asking for your friends approval.

Children don't care. The big toys that need assembling you'd take out the box and put up the night before anyway. As long as you can clean them first go for it

You DFriends child is likely going to open all her toys wrapping for them to then be in the boxes and not be able to open them properly to play with until everything else is open. Your DC can have them in nice gift / storage boxes ready to go.