To buy 2nd hand clothes for my children?

[slightlyconfused85]

Just had a bit of a friendly disagreement with a friend. I told her I had spied a couple of bundles on gumtree that will be perfect for my daughter next year and I'm going to get them - 5 h&m summer dresses for £5 and 2 Next jumpers for £3 in perfect condition. She grows like a weed and she wears things out quickly so I resent spending a lot of money on day to day items. I always buy her new shoes and underwear, but if I see second hand bits in charity shops or gumtree that are in good nick I'm always pleased. I have a baby DS and I have also started picking him up some little charity shop bargains of good quality brands. They both get new items bought for them from grandparents and of course I buy the odd new thing too.

She thinks I'm being unreasonable to buy my children second hand clothes as 'who knows who has worn them'. She also said no one she knows would do this. Is this very unusual or indeed unreasonable? I don't think it is at all but interested to see if others do. The way I look at it it's more money to save for them, or to spend on days out/activities.

I've bought and worn mostly secondhand clothes for 40 years.

DS (17) has converted all his mates to scouring the charity shops as none of them has much money. It makes perfect sense; I would have thought buying brand new for teenagers would break the bank for most people.

Of course YANBU.

If you can find stuff worth having, then go for it. (I didn't have so much luck with DS1 and we gave up after getting a particularly musty bundle).

It's better for the environment to re-use stuff, too. A lot of DS2's clothes were DS1's. And I know exactly where they've been and what they've been through, in some cases!

Most of my DD's clothes are second hand. She outgrows stuff so quickly it would be mad to spend £££ on new clothes for her every few months.

Upto her what she does likewise the same for you.

I don't like second hand, I don't buy used clothes for me so ?ouldnt for my children.

I just don't like the thought of it or like clothes that look worn or tatty/stained. Friends know it's not something I like so no bags gets passed to me.

I do pass on though as we are big on recycling.

With the exception of a particularly itchy brown polo neck, I loved wearing my cousin's handmedowns as a child. She had some wonderful hippy stuff with rick rack and everything!

OP your doing fine, your friend is BU. some items at charity shops still have original price tags on them. loads of reason why second hand items can be in perfect condition.

it's a great way to save money.
story: gran bought a lovely new outfit for 12mth old, the child wore it out to a family dinner gran loved seeing her in it......totally ruined by food stains first night of use. no one minded though it was all in good fun.

I buy second hand clothes for my son. Kids are stupidly expensive without having to buy clothes!
If it was unusual would charity shops and people sell them off? I always wash them before I put them on my son though so what does it matter?
I would gladly buy ALL his clothes 2nd hand, it's cheaper. You can pay £10+ for some little jeans that will last a few months but you can get about 4 pairs for that price and when they grow out of it, you can sell them on (as long as they're still in reasonable cond.)

The only reason I buy some of my son's clothes new is because you can't always find what you want 2nd hand unfortunately. I just don't like paying "empty money" for something just because it's a brand name or something.

Your friend mightn't think that spending vast amounts of money needlessly is an issue, but for some it is. Charity shops wouldn't be as popular as they are if everyone thought as your friend. She has every right to spend what she wants on anything she likes, but to cast judgement on anyone who does things differently is just incredibly rude.

She's bonkers! At toddler groups I go to people are always passing stuff on. So long as it has been washed I don't see any problem. You can save a fortune and help the environment by using second hand clothes.

I have some hand-me-down clothes for DS from a couple of friends with older children, but I haven't bought anything second hand. DP and I earn enough that we can easily afford new stuff, and I like shopping for him. I was brought up in a very poor household and a lot of my clothes were secondhand or hand-me-down, or cheap market stuff, and I hated it. He's too young to care at the moment, but I care.

On the other hand, we did get his Moses basket and various toys and his crib (not mattresses) from NCT nearly new sales, so I'm not hugely averse to secondhand things. Just not clothes.

My children have had plenty of secondhand clothes over the years, either passed on by friends or from charity shops.

I knew someone who had triplets. Every time she bought something secondhand or had something passed on, she put aside the money she had 'saved' by not buying new. This applied not only to clothes, but to toys and bikes, too. When they got to 18, she had enough saved to pay for the first year at university for all three of them

I did it always with my DC and saved a fortune, put to better use on holidays :)

We get everything off Ebay. So although we have little money my DCs have loads of really nice clothes (approx. 1/3rd full price), delivered to our door. Also pick things up from charity shops sometimes.
Some people are just snobs. And how wasteful, not to recycle good clothes.

YANBU second hand clothes are brilliant I do prefer ebay or small charity shops now as I find the big ones have gotten pricey. ]There are loads of people selling clothes in really good condition now I very rarely see 'tat'.

I love people like your friend!
If it wasn't for them buying brand new in the first place then the rest of us wouldn't be able to buy second hand.
You are yin and yang: embrace your differences.

Unless you've got money to burn it's a very sensible thing to do and she is being ridiculous. You can always buy a special dress or coat but for everyday clothes it makes sense, kids grow out of things at a silly rate.

It's environmental, economic and caring to use second hand

I've probably saved myself 1k per year clothing all my kids second hand or with hand me downs. We also do hand me down/charity shop bags, toys and school stuff second hand, saving us a further 1k per year.

My dh and his siblings were all brought up on second hand clothes or something like Tesco Economy jeans when they were pining for Levi's. Not one of them will now wear second hand clothing and all veer towards higher end brands dh in particular.

I was brought up in a similar way and love a good bargain no matter where it comes from. It does seem, though to be a very emotive issue for some people. My DC got heaps of second hand gear and never minded a jot.

Remember that in the OP it is clearly stated the items she buys are in excellent condition . Probably none of us would be all that keen on sick stained tshirts from Primark.

Most of my dcs clothes are secondhand, sometimes third and fourth........We pass them back and forth through family and friends. Dc2 is now wearing some items that were originally bought from a car boot, passed to dc1, then two other family members then back to us again, some still in great condition. I love to think of the tales those clothes could tell

Each to their own. I have a couple of friends who will only buy brand new but I don't have a problem with second-hand. Although I always buy shoes and pyjamas new.

Half of the clothes are new or barely worn. DS grows really quickly and I think its pointless dressing him in brand new for nursery as they just get ruined anyway.

Today in charity shops I bought DD a duvet set, a Christmas t-shirt with a sequin reindeer on it and two books, and for me I bought a blouse.

I love second hand bargains, it's a way of life for me and even if I had a massive disposable income I think I'd still scour the charity shops and eBay.

I bought two dresses for dd1 in a charity shop today and she's delighted - insisted on putting one on straight away even though it's almost bedtime! I can afford new but wouldn't just buy something for the hell of it that way - she'd have the bare minimum. I am wearing a shirt that I got in a charity shop myself today. I see less stuff I like for me but am not averse to it if I do spot something. I particularly like second hand stuff for babies. I hate the thought of them being little consumers before they're even sentient.

My daughters are now 6 years old and they have only got second hand clothes (and sometimes 3rd and 4th). My friends have older daughters and pass them to me. Oh shoes also...