Buying second hand clothes for DC

[KatnissMellark]

I have bought a large bundle of second hand clothes for my son at each age group to be the bulk of his wardrobe. It means he has many many everyday clothes so I don't have to stress about washing, it's also much cheaper and better for the environment (I hate the idea of something being worn for just a few months then discarded).

We don't need to do this, could afford new but choose to buy second hand due to the environmental reasons more than anything else. A couple of people (friends and family) have mentioned that they find this odd, not really provided any reason why, other than we could afford not to. I do buy him new bits and bobs if I particularly like them or he needs something for a special occasion.

I would (and occasionally do) buy second hand for myself, but tend to have more new things, but do wear them til they wear out completely, so IMO not as wasteful as buying new and discarding after a few months as you have to with a child due to growth.

When he is older and growing more slowly, so getting more use out of things, of course we'll buy more new.

I think second hand is fine for now, AIBU?

I had loads of secondhand baby stuff for DS, and some toddler stuff. There seems to come a point when there is less around in the charity shops in the relevant sizes, though - I think it's when they slow down in their growing speeds and they are more active, so stuff gets worn for longer and more thoroughly trashed - either stained in a way that no washing will clear, or falling to bits.
But then I have always been a charity shop hound and still am - both for me and DS. I'm only likely to buy new when I want a specific item and the charries haven't got the necessary in the right size. I like clothes, particularly for me, that are not just what everyone else has got. Quite a lot of my existing wardrobe is 10 years old or even older: one of two items do go back to the early 80s, but they are the type of thing that gets worn about twice a year, if at all.

We had mostly new for ds1 but some charity shop buys and hand me downs from family. Ds2 is wearing ds1 stuff and more friends hand me downs plus the odd new thing. Complete waste of money buying all brand new.

I love a charity shop rummage. My dd1 had a lovely cardigan from the local charity shop for 50p and it has done her,dd2 has just finished with it and now dd3 is wearing it. I think it was originally from next.

All of dd2 and dd3 clothes were charity shops and hand me downs,sometimes even hand me down charity shop items. It didn't matter,the kids were clothed and happy and when the item reached the end of its life it was either binned or sent for rags.

I don't see how there is anything wrong woth charity shop stuff, our local one is full of next,baby gap,Tesco, George and some brand name bits, all for 25-50p.

If I werebt such a hippo I would also shop in charity shops for myself.

I think some of it comes down to how good you are at finding good quality second hand stuff when you don't have access to hand me downs.

I bought some second hand clothes on eBay which ended up being a lot more faded & worn than the photos showed so now I just get clothes in the sales of retailers I like & we bulk out clothes with supermarket £1.50 tshirts for nursery as at least then we know what we're getting & can just pick them up 1 or 2 at a time when we need them.

It has made me make a point of only passing on / giving items to charity that haven't faded from multiple washes to get rid of stains though & we have kept newborn/neutral clothes to be used again when the time comes.

DD(10) has had some beautiful clothes from Ebay. Things are less of a bargain now that postage is so high so her wardrobe gets supplemented with sale items. Particularly at the baby/toddler stage I think I benefited from a lot of shopaholic parents whose children had outgrown the clothes before they had a chance to wear them. Later on it's been things like pristine riding boots etc. (though I do sometimes ask for better photos to confirm lack of wear and tear).

DD really hated going shopping when she was smaller, and isn't too fussed what she wears as long as it isn't pink) so it was a lot less hassle to buy bundles of clothes for not much money rather than coax her in and out of stuff in a shop.

I always buy second hand clothes for myself, and nearly always for my DS - although now he is a fussy teenager he buys his own clothes - some new, some 'vintage' .

I've worked in both high end fashion retail and charity retail and the mark up on clothing is horrendous, especially when the vast majority is manufactured under pretty shocking conditions in the Far East. I just prefer to buy 'pre-loved'.

bertrandrussel oh yes, it's funny how this issue plays into reverse snobbery. I.e. it's seen as lower class to buy bad quality new and being averse to second hand, so it's seen as being mark of being comfortable with your status to be able to be relaxed abut second hand. This is very true.

Bottom line: Do what you're comfortable with and don't judge others for their choices. And don't pay attention to people who judge you.

Bertrand, ebay is full of choice. I prefer buying stuff on there than in shops because there is so much choice and you don't have to trawl around the shops to get it.

That said, I don't think that new cheap is always poor quality either. Primark does fantastic clothes that are cheap and reasonable quality, as do Asda and the other supermarkets.

Exactly bertandrussell. If charity shop hunting is such a persuit of the wannabe middle class then why are there so many located in deprived areas?

I grew up in one of the poshest parts of the country. I can assure you people round there weren't scraping round charity shops or buying black bag bundles on eBay. I'm laughing at the idea that this is somehow an indicator of being upper class. Dimwits

And as for keeping your money for when the kids are teens, they'll still be buying second hand, but it comes with the label (and price!) of vintage.

DS buys mostly secondhand but would never be daft enough to pay over the odds because something secondhand is described as “vintage”. His latest purchase was a secondhand Fred Perry for £3.49

I'm still banging my head on the keyboard about this "I buy everything from Ebay" thing. If everyone did that, every shop would go bust!

It seems bizarre to judge people who buy new things, and then eagerly hoover them up off Ebay or from charity shops. Surely you should be grateful that people like to buy new things which then make their way into the food chain.

Well you can do both - I buy new, and from ebay, and I take old clothes to the charity shop (or occasionally ebay them if I have time), of which some I got new, and some I got second hand.

I like ebay, but I don't judge people for buying new at all.

IME charity shops are in the nice areas, either that or studenty areas.

Who would judge someone for buying new? It's a totally bizarre thing to have to defend yourself against because who would actually do that?

Well your wrong there stigmastyle, whatever your experience. They're in the cheap areas. Of course , however, charity shops exist in all areas to some extent

Erm no I'm not wrong "whatever my experience"!

I live a well-known posh part of a large city. Its main street is stuffed to the gunnels with charity shops. I can think of 2 other similar areas in the city - one is similarly very posh, the other is very studenty.

I grew up in a poor, working-class town, and it has no charity shops.

I have also been to several very deprived areas of my city. I have never seen a charity shop in any of them. What they have is Lidl, betting shops, chippies and job centres.

Perhaps we have different experiences, doesn't make mine wrong!

Well my experience is from working for a major retail landlord, not looking around my city and assuming everywhere is the same

I love a charity shop find. I have had some good stuff in great condition over the years, but often the only things there are bobbly and faded. If I find something good I snap it up, but there's often nothing worth buying.

I have had some good stuff from ebay too, but again that's risky, you can't look at it beforehand to check the condition.

I only buy new if I can't find anything good second hand. I find older clothes are often much better quality then things available new in the shops - old stuff from Next is great quality, but the stuff they sell now is made to fall apart!

Um, well I have been to other cities...

I think charity shops are in mixed regions - ha!

My favourite one is in Knightsbridge - you can't get much posher than that. I regularly drop off to one in a town well known for its scummyness, but I'll resist naming in case anyone is from it.

Their location will depend on how much the rents are. The big charities will have shops in the more well to do areas, whereas smaller charities often have shops in the lower rent areas. Ultimately a charity shop is either there to make money or as a flag ship for the charity itself. They can't afford to pay rents in high rent areas, if they are only a small local charity, with limited turnover of stock and no other form of income.

I don't care what anybody else does. My 2 DC have probably about 75% second-hand clothes in their wardrobes, I buy a few bits new (funny/fashionable t-shirt, pants, socks). They both have small and narrow feet, and I'm fussy about shoes, so everyday school and sports shoes are always new, but I'll happily take second hand snow boots, wellies, water shoes etc. No charity shops here unfortunately, but plenty of generous friends with older boys, and all my dcs outgrown stuff is passed on, sent to villages in N. Africa through contacts, or charity binned depending on their condition.

charity shop hot spots in london

This isn't my city, but as an example.

Yes and I lived for many years in the Knightsbridge area. There are charity shops but I can assure that isn't an indicator that the local upper class residents use them (every area of London has deprived residents also, including belgravia)

I can also tell you our hotspots for charity shop rentals are cheap rents, short term leases. The number of high streets which are mainly charity shops and pound shops is significant. Knightsbridge is really an exception that it's not worth worrying about.

Couldn't tell you about the social class of the footfall in the shops Bubble, but there are sooooooo many references for "the best charity shops in London" if you google it, that I think you'll find the Oxfam in Knightsbridge is far from an exception.

I don't think that really means anything tbh. I could google Best resturant special offers doesn't mean they are used by a certain class of person.