To ask what is NOT okay to buy second hand

[minddeter]

I try to buy second hand stuff as much as possible. I need some new towels-are second hand towels unacceptable?

I think second hand knickers would be a line drawn and towels have probably been just as close if not closer to someone's Front Bottom.

Where do you personally draw the line?

@DDIJ

I have heard charity shops get a lot of donations of false teeth. I'm not sure how true that is.

In my five years plus of volunteering I've never seen false teeth!

Lots and lots of prescription specs (we can't sell them, please ask your optician if they have a recycling project - most do) and random other medical stuff like walking sticks, blood pressure monitors or packs of incontinence pads - unused of course, and sell very well.

@ftm202020

Moon cups!

There's a whole facebook page for buying/ selling menstrual cups. Would love to donate ones that haven't suited me to charity but seems ick to me.

Condoms?

I wouldn't get a second hand car seat, cot mattresses or underwear but would consider anything else. Clothes can be returned to shops and then put back out so have always happily bought second hand clothes.

[quote PattyPan]@Brieminewine you wouldn’t consider a secondhand book?[/quote]
I mean I have used libraries in the past which is kind of second hand, but all the books I’ve bought recently have been new, for both me and DD.

Before all the lockdowns, I went into the local charity shop,and there was a box on the floor, with lots of fluffy towels in it. I bought four of them, they looked unused, as the little labels on them were like brand new. They were all the same peach colour, two large bath towels,and two hand towels, like some one had taken a whole set in.

But on the side of the box they were in,it said dog drying towels. !
I know quite a few people, who buy things, and then don't like things when they get home, wrong size or wrong colour etc,then things end up in a charity shop.,for people like me !

Mattress & knickers.

Personally I wouldn’t buy any soft furnishings (beds/sofas) second hand because I had a really traumatic experience. Logistically I know most times it would be fine but I was really put off for life.

My boyfriends auntie bought new beds and sent her old ones to his Mum’s house where he lived at the time. I was staying there and I started getting bitten. Treated my cat for fleas. Still got bitten. My boyfriends Mum was on holiday and we didn’t put two and two together about the new beds until she got back two weeks later and was eaten alive in her bed. Inspected the beds and noticed all of the bed bugs. Had to get the whole house fumigated and I think it traumatised me for life.

Still have no idea how his aunt didn’t know about the bed bugs. Or maybe she did and gave the beds away anyway?

I love how weird people can be about this kind of stuff.

There’s quite a lot I would be unlikely to choose to buy second hand, but would have no problem with using second hand if they were offered to me.

So I doubt I would ever think to buy second hand towels but if there was a lovely set in a I saw charity shop or someone offered me an old set I certainly wouldn’t turn it down based on the “yuck factor”. No different to using a towel in a hotel or someone else’s house!

About the only definite “no” would be intimate hygiene products like a toothbrush.

Underwear, sports clothes, loungewear.
Any soft furnishings- upholstered bed frames, mattresses, etc.
Towels and bedlinen- including blankets.
Jewellery too- unless it's vintage and very sparkly

@blacksax

I don't think I'd be happy with a second-hand parachute.

You can buy them. They get advertised at parachute centres when people upgrade etc.

As I am "qualified" to pack parachutes I would but a second hand one as I know what I am looking for it terms of safety. Plus when learning to parachute the ones you borrow are effectively second hand!

I pretty much draw the line at carseats, baby mattresses, and all pillows. Bed mattresses I'm ok with as long as they aren't stained or dirty.

Knickers.

@VettiyaIruken

Dildo.

Yep, first thing that came to mind ( no pun intended )

@Daisiesarecute

Cutlery

Except for inheritance silverware?

@Rubyupbeat

Trousers or Jean's they can be in just as much contact with a fanny , as a pair of knickers. Bedding or towels, too much intimacy with bodies. Nightwear, Bras and socks, Intamacy issues too. Not sure I could put a new baby in 2nd hand clothes either.

A proper wash sorts this out.

A “Fanny” isn’t inherently dirty.

Am I the only one who has passed on underpants from my three boys down to the younger one? Surely we don’t always buy brand new in our families.

Hand-me-downs are logical, and (I’m not an eco-warrior) sensible.

Not sure I could put a new baby in 2nd hand clothes either.

I think this is the most bizarre - I’ve never understood spending lots of money buying new baby clothes. The baby doesn’t care and they’ll grow out of it in about ten minutes anyway so it seems a waste to not buy second hand.

Carseats. Never buy second hand.

I buy second hand towels for the dog.

Cutlery ?
Restaurants re use the same ones.

I did gag at "toothbrush" though

I'll buy most things secondhand, only a few exceptions really. Underwear, mainly.

I love vintage jewellery and I often hear how some people would never dream of buying "tainted" diamonds or diamonds from unhappy relationships etc … but come on, diamonds are like a bazillion years in the making. You're the tiny speck in the diamonds lifetime, not the other way around. Your engagement ring you're wearing right now will probably be passed on through hundreds of hands long after you're gone, in many different guises. Fascinating when you think about it.

@Iamtooknackeredtorun

Ivory.

Fur.

Intimate apparel.

Shoes.

Better than buying new fur or ivory!

If you're looking at something antique, there's really not much point fussing about whether it's fur or ivory. Your options are use it or bin it - nothing you do is going to bring the animal back, and nor is it adding to demand.

A relative will leave me a side table of hers that has ivory detailing in it. I could chisel out the ivory, but what would the point be?

I say this as a vegetarian who would never buy non-antique fur or ivory by the way.

Knickers? Although you can make good money I've heard from selling used underwear! I think the purchasers tend to be men rather than women though

I have a friend that worked for ebay who told me about the problems they had in controlling sellers and buyers of worn underwear . I think its fine to sell used undies but not unwashed but apparently sellers who advertise their undewear use certain words to hint that the knicks havent been washed etc

I'm happy buying most other things secondhand as long as they are in good condition and cheap. We used to get loads of good quality childrens clothes in a charity shop near us -as others have said children grow so fast they only wear them for a month or two. Plus secondhand toys and books too - its like they would use in nursery or school or get out the library.

Most things we buy/have (except for food and consumables) are second hand. I agree with PP about furniture - why would you pay £100+ for some new veneered chipboard when you can get something made of solid pine or oak with a few 'character scuffs' for less?

I always remember Johnny Vegas saying that he liked to buy second-hand jumpers and "make up my own memories"!

Seconded apropos toilet paper - clearly not all keen bargain-hunters agree with being so precious, though....

I have a friend that worked for ebay who told me about the problems they had in controlling sellers and buyers of worn underwear . I think its fine to sell used undies but not unwashed but apparently sellers who advertise their undewear use certain words to hint that the knicks havent been washed etc

From other MN threads, I gather the phrase used by those in the know is 'clean to eBay standards' or something like that. Grim though it obviously is, I've seen random things pop up in innocent searches that would best be described as, erm, 'adult interest'. Morally speaking, is there any real difference between selling a 'vintage' scud book and some manky worn knickers? They're both most probably bought for the same purpose

I have no problem with second hand underwear or towels or anything really as long as it is clean, unstained and in good nick. Im pretty easygoing for stuff like that