Second hand clothes for kids?

[Chattergpt]

Would it be better to buy my children's clothes second hand from vinted or new from primark

All my 3 kids clothes are form Vinted. I buy new or very good JoJo Maman Bebe or Boden etc. even new with tags George or TU.

Have always done charity shops/carboots/vinted.

My DD is 18 now and a charity shop obsessive. She hates buying new 🤣

I always did a mixture when DD was small, they grow out of things so quickly it was good to save some money. And usually anything I bought new I managed to sell on.

Primark stuff can be cute but not always the best quality. You can often get second hand things for about the same price which are much better quality.

DD is 18 now but loves a Shein haul 🤣🙈

Personally i find buying decent 2nd hand clothes cheaper as you can resell again (especially 0-2 - they grow fast so there little wear)

I make good money but its wasteful I am not spending £30 on an outift...when spend £5 and invest £25.

I bought a £50 12-24m bundle for my oldest. 20% was ntw or nwot i resold the stuff I didnt like, donated the junk and still had enough to clothes 2 children for a full year bar the cost of a couple of pack of vests...

Second hand all the way. I buy a mixture of brand new and second hand but more second hand. I do buy school uniform new

Absolutely second hand - and even if it doesn't save you money (which it will), you'll have saved items from landfill AND reduced demand for fast fashion items which leads to reduced production which is what we need!

Second hand here. DD is togged up on Boden Joules, North Face, Frugi, Helly Hansen, Nike, Amaia etc etc all for a few quid
.

We do a mixture. I mostly use primark for nursery clothes that get wrecked as I find its cheaper after delivery and buyer protection etc. And then try to use second hand/vinted for other bits (sets from next etc)

Personally, I find the quality of the kids clothes in Primark to be absolutely horrendous anyway. I buy loads for DS second hand - mainly from Vinted ☺️ We also love TU at Sainsbury’s & George at Asda for reasonably priced bits and basics.

I do also use Next quite a bit as I find their stuff much harder wearing and it washes really well. But obviously the price point is slightly higher.

When she was younger I essentially bought my daughter clothes when she needed them.
So pretty much every six months I would just get the next size up relevant to the season.
I could walk into Primark (or a supermarket, Peacocks, Pep and Co etc) and literally buy everything at once.
With secondhand it involves a lot more seeking out specific items. One seller might have some things you want, but not everything.
I preferred to the convenience so for me it would be Primark.
(she's 18 now and loves charity shops for clothes...buys far too much)

Pretty much all my daughter's clothes are from Vinted or charity shops. Primark stuff doesn't last.

A mix of both is probably the most sensible. It depends on what you mean by best though and the specifics depends on age ? I'd do pants, socks and from Primark and the rest look at Vinted and second hand. If you are worried about price though buying individual stuff e.g a t shirt or baby grow off Vinted isn't always the cheapest so look at bundles. Things like coats are often better buying second hand for much better quality.

I find the "Primark stuff doesn't last" a bit untrue.
My daughter is 18 but stopped getting any taller at around age 12 or 13. So she has some clothes bought from Primark 5 or 6 years ago that still fit and the quality is excellent.

I think what is often forgotten is the chemical impact; new clothes can have quite aggressive chemicals which are continuously rubbing against your children’s skin, which may lead to skin sensitivities in the long term. Brand new clothes leak chemicals for a considerable amount of time both on the skin and into the sewerage system, and whilst doing so, the thread can shrink. Not to mention the cost of washing and bleaching cotton (and the west’s obsession with white clothes) even before it is made into clothes.

buying second hand or similar reduces all of the above.

washing once on a hot wash after buying does not alleviate the chemical impact to neither the wearer nor the environment.

Yes that one of the things i was thinking Postage soon adds up. I'm going to see if i can find bundles

My daughter has barely had any new clothes , mostly gifts! We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of hand me downs but also Vinted, charity shops and we have a local clothes swap which runs every few months

The thing with bundles is do you end up with stuff you don't need/want and you then have to find a way of getting rid of that stuff yourself?

Right?

I love Little Bird stuff and used to buy a fair bit of JoJo etc for DD from Vinted but new with tags, leggings bobbled beyond recognition within one wear, a few of the summer dresses came apart of quickly got little holes - can’t say that ever happened with Primark stuff honestly. Although their leggings aren’t great - in general leggings don’t last for my daughter however much I spend!

I’ve always done a mixture of both, we are lucky to have older cousins the same sex as well as friends with girls a couple of years older, so we get an awful lot of hand me downs which DD is still young enough to think is brilliant because she looks up to these other girls and loves getting their stuff. I look for specific things/ brands on Vinted. But sometimes if I just need a multipack of t-shirts or something or a couple of cheap hoodies whilst the weather is a bit in-between then I’ll buy new - sometimes Asda, occasionally Primark and more often than not Tu at Sainsbury’s - I really like their kids clothes and we live very close to a big superstore so it’s easy enough.

I found it easier to get stuff for her from Vinted as a baby/ toddler. She’s 6 now and it seems like people want crazy money for everything, by the time you’ve added postage and fees it’s not always worth it - plus we’ve received a few things in a condition I wouldn’t give away let alone have the cheek to sell - but too much hassle and lost postage to dispute it. I’m still a fan of Vinted overall, but it’s not my first stop for DD’s clothes as much as it used to be. I’ll still check out the charity shops for her too, though it’s a long time since I’ve seen anything worth getting which is a shame - used to pick up some beautiful things (still good for books, games, jigsaws etc).

So?

I gout 2 massive binbags of clothes for £10 for DD when she was 3-4.

I just passed the ones I didn't like on to charity.

What I meant is if that is something you can easily do then that's fine - but if you can't easily do that then it could be a pain.

I see

But... They'd have to get rid of clothes anyway, once the kids have outgrown them?

I often bought second hand clothes for my DD when she was small. Usually items from Next, Jo Jo Mama, some individual bits, pumpkin patch, boden etc.

i would also buy new clothes in the sales. We were lucky to sometimes have second hand clothes given to us from friends. What I didnt like I passed on to others or gave to charity.

If I was buying new it was usually from the supermarket.

True 😂
I just suppose if you literally only buy what you need rather than a mixed bag of random bits it's just less sorting out for you.

My kids need everything replacing. Also I won't buy unless I know exactly what's in the bundle with photos. None of this fold in a neat pile take one photo of the pile.. i won't buy unless I can see what I'm buying.

That makes sense. I know some people do just buy a mixed bag and hope for the best !
With me it was all about convenience.
If needed I could essentially do one trip to Primark (or wherever) and get everything in one go and it's done for the next 6 months.
Whichever is easier for you is the one you should do.