To think that the majority of people don't realise stuff can be bought cheaper?

[Namechangearoonie123]

Who is buying new retail stuff

At a car boot sale yesterday everything was 50p-£2, DVDs, furniture, dresses that would cost £50, shoes that would cost £60,chests of drawers that would cost £40, books - almost new 10pence

Everything I buy from EBay is half/third of what it would cost new

I got a barbecue for free on freecycle, I'm just about to give away a leather sofa for free that would have cost £600. (It's as new and was in the house when we moved in)

Who is buying new ?

Oops dotted with MrsWinnebagos much better find!

The last thing you want is for people to stop buying first hand as they are the people helping other people to get things cheaper. The more shopaholics the better!

If people can afford and prefer to buy new then what business of yours is it how they spend their money? I think most people are aware of car boots etc.

I have brought Lego on Ebay. Alot was not Lego, it was MegaBlocks.

I have brought DVDs on Ebay, charity shops and a local second hand dealer, no issues.
I have brought a Powerline Wiresless access point from Amazon (when the price dropped - Amazon varies pricing so there is a web utility that can monitor prices for you) doubt that could have been brought from a car boot sale.
Some places do not have car boot sales near them.

Convenience - people don't have the time to be going to various car boot sales in the hope of finding something. Easier to Click&Colect.

I rarely buy anything new but I've noticed how much less choice there is these days, and how much second hand things, particularly furniture, have gone up in price.

You used to be able to buy some lovely wooden furniture fairly cheaply but now it's all been snapped up at auction or house clearance by people who slap a coat of white Annie Sloan paint on it and flog it for an eye-watering price as "shabby chic". I've seen lovely old furniture ruined by this - just check out Ebay for endless examples of such shitery.

Clothes too - I donated some half-decent stuff to the charity shop earlier this week and I notice a lot of it's on the local FB selling site this afternoon. I don't have a huge problem with this as the charity shop obviously got what they wanted for it (at least I hope they did, and that it wasn't snaffled by a "first dibs" staff member at a discount), but the buyer must have snapped them up the minute it got onto the rails, and it does mean that someone else is making a profit out of it. I wouldn't mind but she's also selling puppies, a kitten and a ferret on there so she's clearly out to sell whatever she can.

I agree. People are always amazing when I tell them x item of clothing they are admiring was bought of ebay for a quarter of the price.

Who is buying new retail stuff

People who are cash rich but time poor.

Car boot sale sounds like my idea of hell.

We do a mixture of both. We always buy electronics new. Most of our clothes are second hand. My oldest dd prefers new things, she works, so she buys most of her clothes herself. I cannot bring myself to buy used shoes. I am unable to launder shoes and don't relish wearing someone else's feet sweat.

I'm glad people are buying new - keeps the chain going dotchyaknow lots of from me!

I can generally get better quality stuff than I could afford brand new and take the view that if it's been used and still in good enough nick to resell then it's been very kindly road tested for me. Some of the best quality, best wearing things I've owned have been seconds.

It is a time consuming business if there's something in particular you want, but often a bit of patience is all that's required. Incidentally if anyone has a fire screen tealight holder they want rid of I'm your lady!

I suspect that car boots are just a cheap way to indulge consumerism; it just makes a bad habit seem cheaper and just as much money spent in the end.

DD goes on a school trip Tuesday & last night announced that she HAD to have xyz items for the trip. After much Intense bickering we ended up at Next today for 2 new items. There simply wasn't time to buy 2nd hand and I wouldn't trust us to get the fit right anyway from catalog shops (=online)

A style of clothes that suits me happens to be in fashion right now (having been unusual in last 2 decades). I have scoured charity shops but it's hard to find what I want in right size-colours, I will end up buying new planning these items will be worn a lot in next 5-10 yrs. And it's even harder to find the right shape jeans for me, if I find them anywhere, new shops, charity shops, whichever, I buy there & then.

I don't buy stuff for me out of catalogues. Never a good fit.

I enjoy going to a car boot sale but I would hate to have to find what I needed at sales. Too hard.

My mum and dad buy everything new. I was brought up this way. It suits them and they can afford it so why not.

DH and I are really struggling atm and have to live of about 30 for the weekly shop (we exclude DSs essentials for this).

It's made me rethink everything to do with consumerism. I get expensive things bought for me by my family and I just think... why do I need this.

If I want to buy second hand clothes (which I sometimes do) I'd go to a second hand dress shop. I'd be looking for 40s and 50s originals. I'm not interested in second hand high street clothes.

I've never been to a car boot sale and I might be wrong but I'm guessing they're not heaving with original 50s dresses (as the owners will get a lot more selling to a targeted market)

If I want to buy books or cds whether new or second hand I go to a shop because I like book and record shops and think they should be supported.

I don't sell any of my stuff; I gave away suitcases of utterly gorgeous classic evening and formal wear that no longer fitted to an equally clothes obsessed daughter of a friend, less ordinary stuff and books and CDs I don't want go to Oxfam.

But I'm sure you can get some great bargains although for books and CDs you'll get some great bargains in charity shops too. Not everyone is the same, the world would be dull if we all liked the same way of doing things.

I always buy new - never second hand. We are moving house soon and I am saving up for a new book case, wardrobes etc. It would never enter my head to buy second hand ones. I buy new because I can afford it, but I always donate clothes/electricals/house stuff to charity for people who cannot afford to buy new ( and I dont mean that in a snobby condesending way).

I do buy from Amazon and ebay, but only new stuff. I tend to shop in the clothes sections that are on sale, so they are new but cheaper.

I have bought plenty of children's clothes from charity shops, especially when they were babies and toddlers. Much of the stuff was very cheap and hardly worn as children of that age grow so fast. I have also donated stuff as mine have outgrown it, and have bought the occasional bits and bobs for me too.

Things like jumble sales and car boot sales are my idea of hell on earth. I don't go if I can help it.

I find it hard to trust ebay after one or two issues we have had. I sometimes buy from Amazon. We now nearly always buy new electrical and electronic stuff, having had bad experiences with second hand and reconditioned stuff. I like to have the safety net of the guarantee.

I must admit too though, I like the idea of making something "mine" right from the beginning. The exception to that is cars. We buy used cars in order to take less of a hit on the depreciation of them, even though you can't avoid it completely.

I'm getting inspired by this thread now actually. Can I ask, how do you clean second hand clothes to make sure that any sweat or bodily fluid type stuff is well and truly gone? I quite fancy the idea of saving a bit of money next time dd needs clothes!

Me. I buy new furniturebecause I am choosy.

It doesn't always work out though. I bought an armchair for $10, but it need recovering. By the time I buy the fabric, which I still haven't done a year later, and get it covered, it will cost the same as a new chair!

Some people just dont like the idea of it. My mum for instance wont eat own brand foods, is really picky over carrier bags, buys everything new, and is very easy to rip off. I just dont see why she does it as you can often buy the exact same thing for 20% of the price but she doesnt like the idea of people touching it etc.

I just buy it second hand and tell her its from John Lewis anf shes like 'oh its lovely' I could show her the same item and say its from facebook and she says 'I dont think I like it'

Most new clothing on ebay is fake, it's not the real thing...it may have a brand label on it but it does not mean it came from that manufacturer. I have never ever been to a boot sale and I certainly wouldn't buy anything from a boot sale nor would I buy clothes or furniture from ebay...

Sorry mine time costs more than it's worth trawling these places to get something which is probably fake .

My furniture is a mix of new (well it was once) and second hand from second hand shops.

I buy new but in the sales and in TK Maxx. I love a charity shop bargain though.

I bought loads of second hand books as a teen, but the bookshops that had new diwnstairs lots of second hand upstairs have all gone.

Just tat in boxes on the street, here and even that shops shut now.

Non of our charity shops bother with books.

camel camel camel is your friend in the Amazon.

I don't go to carboot sales because I want what I want when I want it. I don't want what someone else doesn't want when they have had enough of it.

I get the majority of DSs clothes from eBay. You would never in a million years be able to tell and I regularly get compliments on what he's wearing.

Myself not so much but that's only because I need to try on or be able to return if it doesn't fit, ect.

My sofa set is from a charity shop. I paid £200 and it was like new. Prob cost around £900 new.