To think we all need to learn to love second hand

[Ravenspeckingontheroof]

Second hand almost everything? Go onto eBay; there are 92000 used size 10 tops for sale, 4500 used travel systems, 1700 used Bluetooth speakers. Go to your local recycling centre and watch people throw perfectly useable furniture away.
We are literally drowning in cast offs many of which will go to landfill, but which are perfectly useable.
I’d say about 1/3 of my wardrobe is preloved and maybe 10% of our household furniture. I love going and choosing new things. But I think choosing preloved needs to become a first choice, and we should be incentivised to do so.
But if I walk down any high street, read any magazine, pick up my phone I am bombarded with ads for all the new things I ‘need’. Every single shop is rammed with more stuff to buy. Our society depends on us buying more stuff. How do we fix this?

I love second hand. Most of my baby's stuff is second hand and I'm buying second hand for myself now too.
I'll resell things aswell which means I'm barely spending anything.
For example. Bought a bundle of "first size" clothes, baby came out huge, so now I'm reselling that same bundle for the same money. So it didn't cost me anything to buy those clothes that went unused. I actually made a quid on a sleeping bag I'd bought him and he's never fitted in.

And dismissing second hand as "other people's cast off shit" is just plain rude.

I’d say about 1/3 of my wardrobe is preloved and maybe 10% of our household furniture.

I'd say I'm pretty much the same.

I usually throw old crappy furniture and stuff up on Facebook marketplace as free to take away, I find people will take anything if its free!

Left home 28yrs ago, and have never bought new furniture. My family and friends always send me photos of what they are replacing and if I want it they give it to me.

@TheGenealogist

imo a silly attitude, but ive found people like this in real life and often they have had financial issues (not always) and refuse to change their outlook or help themselves

Im happy to buy/pick up free second hand stuff. But I draw the line at the wanky phrase "preloved"

There are very few people in the UK who never drive a car, never fly, buy second hand everything, eat a vegan, locally-sourced diet. Everyone could in theory do more.

I misread this as a suggestion to "eat vegans" . Thank you for that!

To the "cast off shit" person... this morning I went to collect two car seats from a friend - new £200 each, barely used because her twins were born in lockdown. I've also gratefully been handed a bundle of tiny and 0-3 clothes (£50 if I went into Sainsbury's now for the same quantity) and a bouncer (this particular one is £100+, but a bog-standard one is, say, £30 new?). So that's close to £500 I won't have to spend to kit out my two, for things in really good condition. Now we're not hard up but I'd rather put that £500 towards my mortgage, a holiday or a great meal somewhere.

@TheGenealogist

And dismissing second hand as "other people's cast off shit" is just plain rude.

Yes it is rude, and I wonder if posters saying they don't want things that have been used or even touched by other people ever eat in restaurants, stay in hotels etc. Presumably they take all their own crockery, cutlery, bedding, towels etc if so.

Problem is that while there are some amazing treasures to be found, from that 92000 half will be absolute shite.

When it comes to electronics it's the warranty. While i buy happily refurbished I want warranty. I will not buy 3 year old laptop for 200 when new one with warranty costs 350.

Often the economics totally work. Often they don't.

It takes 5 minutes to search your item online, compare the prices in a few shops, order, and bam, it's delivered to your door.

If it doesn't fit, or is not as expected, you send it back - usually free of charge.

It's a lot more time consuming to buy second-hand...

If you are talking about bigger items, unless you have a very good friends with a van who can help, it's unrealistic to trek with them them around town.

Also, if you are lucky to have lots of friends and family around, it's very easy to swap and share things. Not everybody has that choice.

a lot more time consuming to buy second hand, id agree it takes longer to find what I want but, its not that much longer

ive looked online for a fridge freezer last year - that started at £300 quid approximately and id have to be in when its delivered - all day or pay extra for a slot

I went on market place and found a local fridge freezer for £80
found a man with a van to move it, during the evening for £30, we set a time

arrived at flat and picked up item, it was immaculate took home and saved another 2 weeks wait, along with a few pennies

it just depends, always worth looking second hand first to see if its out there to pick up

I’m a fairly recent (last five years) convert to second hand - apart from books, and in the past cds and dvds, but I’m amazed at what’s available. We’re currently clearing my deceased mother in laws furniture, and taken the good condition stuff to the British Heart Foundation furniture shop. It’s incredible there and I’ll definitely make it my first stop in the future.

I think young people are way better at this than the middle aged. My daughters are 20 and 22 and both (particularly the younger one) love depop. It’s a great idea especially for girls who might only want to wear dresses once or twice.

One thing that’s worth knowing is that charity shops take bags of clothes that aren’t fit for reselling. Put them in a carrier bag marked ‘rags’ and they can get a bit of money from rag traders. They can also get money from tatty old books as they’re sold for pulping. Always keep things that you don’t think will sell separately though and mark them so that staff don’t have to waste their time sorting it. Also if you donate utter rubbish, the charity will lose out as they have to pay for rubbish collections.

I do buy bits on eBay, give my old stuff away on Facebook marketplace etc...

But clothes from charity shops. I want to buy more secondhand for environmental reasons, but two reasons or me off.

1. I don't have the time to search and search for a specific item.
2. My local area is not a wealthy one. The clothes donated to the local charity shops are not what I would consider paying for. I'm not paying £3 for a Primark best to that only cost £2 in the first place.

I can't think what the easy solution is I'm afraid.

@notyourmummy

I don't know how to fix it but I agree with you. My children both go to schools with vvvvvv expensive uniforms - both are largely kitted out from second hand uniform shop, where the stuff is in excellent condition and so much cheaper (daughter's full uniform for Reception around £100, would be £500+ new and they're changing uniform in September 2022!!) In this case it's a status thing, most other parents I know don't want their child in "old" clothes, and they say they can afford brand new so why not?!

That’s interesting. Where I live, it’s usually the middle class parents and the people who have been plunged into poverty by the pandemic who get second hand pieces of uniform where they can. I am not sure why but maybe it’s an eco status thing with the more wealthy families, along with driving a Tesla, ground source heating and solar on their homes etc. Mine have a mix of used and new uniform.

I have no issue with buying second hand but for me I think it's more important to minimise the amount I buy. That means I'll buy a few items of clothing that are good quality, I love and basically wear them until they fall to pieces. I've tried to do the same thing with buying second hand but it's much harder to source exactly what you want that way.

@kindaclassy

It takes 5 minutes to search your item online, compare the prices in a few shops, order, and bam, it's delivered to your door.

If it doesn't fit, or is not as expected, you send it back - usually free of charge.

It's a lot more time consuming to buy second-hand...

If you are talking about bigger items, unless you have a very good friends with a van who can help, it's unrealistic to trek with them them around town.

Also, if you are lucky to have lots of friends and family around, it's very easy to swap and share things. Not everybody has that choice.

I agree, especially that it’s a lot more time consuming to buy second-hand...but it can be worth it sometimes.

I kitted out my house with second hand stuff when I lived in London, much of it from the naice areas of the city. White goods, art, clothes, even a second hand kitchen for about £5K that cost £70K new. But yes it was very time consuming to dismantle, collect and refit the kitchen especially. It was worth it because it looked amazing once it was finished and was far better quality than the wickes or IKEA kitchen I might otherwise have bought new. It also kept a load of quality hardwood and fittings out of landfill.

Fast forward to now and I am making some furniture for my DD and will use reclaimed materials where I can, and new where I can’t find the right thing or quality,…but I enjoy doing it and am not under any time pressure to get it made.

I love getting preloved stuff I use to love going and buying clothes from charity shops now instead I get them off Facebook or family pass me things when my DH and I moved into our new flat I completely furnished it with 2nd hand furniture that I got off Facebook for free I don’t see the point in buying things new when you can get the same thing in a charity shop for a lot less and it still has plenty of life left in it.

@UserAtRandom

I have no issue with buying second hand but for me I think it's more important to minimise the amount I buy. That means I'll buy a few items of clothing that are good quality, I love and basically wear them until they fall to pieces. I've tried to do the same thing with buying second hand but it's much harder to source exactly what you want that way.

Yes I feel the same. There’s a second hand designer shop I have bought a couple of things from, but only because the clothes are well made and will hopefully last a long time. I have got into mending clothes more too lately and have found I find it quite relaxing!

I don't have the time or inclination to trawl ebay or charity shops for clothes of the type that I need and are unlikely to fit - about 90%+ of anything I try on even in the right size doesn't fit well, so buying from ebay especially is totally impractical.

See, this is where I find that eBay is really useful. I know that, for instance, H&M size 8 or Topshop petite size 6 stuff is my size - though you do need to know on a brand by brand basis.

If I want a new top, I can go on eBay and type in "Topshop Petite 6 top" and see what comes up, reasonably confident that what there is will fit. 90% of the time what turns up fits well. The other 10% of items end up at the charity shop (I rarely have time to put them back on eBay).

Items are often only about a quarter of the original price - frequently less - so I'm still quids in even if occasionally items end up down the charity shop.

I also find that there's more choice on eBay than there would be in store - particularly if you're looking at the petite section which is always limited for choice.

I don't have the time to trawl charity shops either, but eBay does most of the filtering for me.

I love second hand stuff. Apart from my bed and DS' wardrobe/drawers, all our furniture is second hand. Granted, I didn't pay for any of it as it all came from family or it was ex's when I met him and I ended up keeping it when we split. There's some great finds out there!

If you have the ability, any clothes that don't make good cloths or are too crap to donate take them in a rubbish bag on your next camping trip and burn them in the fire peice by peice. Or even in a backyard fire pit. Saves a trip to the tip.

I try too but I just don't like buying second hand. The thought of someone else using it or touching it beforehand makes me shudder.

But think how many pairs of hands have touched brand new clothes (and tried them on, in non-Covid times) before you buy them off the hanger in the shop!

Have just donated three large bags of goods to the charity shop including new things and a lovely pure wool coat!

I asked the lady about some handbags that I would normally get mended at a free repair event and she said that they would take them ad people like to mend, or if not, then they send the bags to textile recycling. I was very impressed.

I bought hardwood furniture from an auction once and some more basic stuff.

Omg do not burn clothes in a camp fire

You have no idea what toxins will be released, especially from man made fibres. You're basically burning plastics with some of them! I really hope you are joking @AzraiL