To hate buying second hand

[PumpkinKlNG]

I rarely buy second hand as all it is is bad experiences, I have just bought a second hand push chair for my daughter, had it a week and it’s already broke! No come back as obviously I have no rights, I get why people buy second hand but I’ve mainly only had bad experiences now I will have to pay out to buy a brand new one 🙄 which I should have just done and saved myself £30!

Some second hand stuff is pretty foolproof. In charity shops you can have a good look at the clothes and items. Lots of toys do well second hand like the Peppa small world toys, duplo, brio etc. I also bought a full dinner service the other day for £4 which would have been about £70 new!

I love second hand but im choosy about what I'll buy. I'm wearing right now an Esprit top that cost 2 quid. Bought it, as new, no bobbles, no wear. Mostly I buy stuff like tableware and furniture from the 60's. Sometimes I even pick stuff up from the kerb thats been left out for the bin men. 70's Danish furniture and G-plan is wonderful. Even barely used IKEA is a good deal when its less than 40% price.

I'd never buy matresses, underwear, electricals. I sell a lot myself on ebay. I like that its not getting dumped.

Because I know quite a bit about MCM stuff, I'll even buy it for pennies and sell it on for a profit. Second hand is fabulous IMO.

Personally I really dislike second hand and would always buy new. I get it, it's cheaper, better for the environment etc but I don't feel comfortable with it myself.

I always want to buy second hand but the reality is never as good! Apart from cars and hand me down children's clothes and toys.

Scuffs, wear, especially for charity shop adult clothes, I tried really hard to give that a go but just not for me + not enough time to trawl through stacks of randomness to what I need.

I’m looking at my Persian rugs, Victorian fireplace, my silk curtains and my TV cabinet all bought second hand. Today I’ve also picked up a cashmere sweater, a blazer and a kimono jacket bought for £20 from a vintage store. Sometimes I’ve bought something online and it hasn’t fitted but those haven’t been big ticket items. There are a few things I wouldn’t buy used but I’ve definitely saved myself hundreds of pounds by buying used.

If it was a cheap umbrella fold then you paid too much for it. You can get them for £50 new and then you have a guarantee. A lot of the cheaper models are crap quality as well and don't last so there's no sense in buying them second hand.

OTOH if you wanted something of quality in good nick you probably spent too little.

I bought a Britax B-Agile second hand for £30 and that's not in perfect condition, I had to clean and lubricate the wheels and the recline mechanism is a bit stretched out - because it's old and I paid very little. To get a buggy like the one I got in better condition was more like £100.

I read it that OP paid £30 for the second hand item but is now paying full price for the new item, and so she could have saved the £30 by not buying the second hand buggy at all.

But I think this is where some experience and research helps.

Having children has definitely opened my eyes to the joy of secondhand (other than books, learned that one as a student!). I'd never really thought about it before as I just tended to use/wear things until they were past the point of no return and then replace as needed, so not really feeling too guilty about buying new, but putting bags of really good condition clothes up in the loft as DD outgrew them made me realise that other people must be doing exactly the same so I've got quite into searching out good quality secondhand bargains.

To the extent that when our next child outgrows things I'm looking forward to sorting and selling them on to their next home as I get a lot of pleasure out of the delivery of a secondhand clothes bundle! Some bits will be kept back to pass on to family and other bits might go to good causes instead, especially equipment.

I've had a couple of second hand pushchairs and been really happy with them but I think this is a big factor (and it's probably a bit judgy but there we go) you can tell if something is a genuine 'please buy this because it's getting in my way' bargain or if it's someone offloading crap by asking the right questions and looking at the photos they choose to use. I've walked away from things where I've not go the right vibe even when it's been a particular style/model of item that I've been looking out for.

Secondhand isn't all one thing. You have to use your judgement.
I'd usually rather have a good quality thing pre-owned (both for cheapness and recycling) than a rubbish new item, certainly for anything that can be washed or cleaned.

The problem is a lot of things are crappy quality to start with, and also people aren't very good at repairs and maintenance even if it's possible.

Bad luck on the pushchair, but if it was only £30 maybe it was cheap to start with?

Unfortunately it's a bit of a privilege to be able to pay more for good quality secondhand items i.e. a well off person will buy a top of the range (£1000) used pushchair for £250, and feel they got a bargain. But if you're hard up you could get a cheap used pushchair for £30 that cost £60 new, but it wouldn't last well.

Some items aren't worth buying second hand depending on the buyer.
I would never sell or pass something on knowing it was ready for the dump.
Yanbu.

The pushchair has all good reviews online so just bad luck I guess but like I said my point is I would have been protected if I bought it from the shop, not sure how I could have avoided it as it was fine when I bought it, I think people are missing the point, the point is there is no protection so you are better off buying new for that alone, it cost £70 new

Yes it was a umberella stroller, wasn’t obvious it was damaged when I bought it but then I didn’t test it with my daughter in

I’m totally with you OP - I never buy second hand, I just personally don’t like it. I’d rather have less stuff but new, then lots of pre owned bits.
Even my house and car were brand new.

Yes for that price difference, new is well worth it. Especially if £70 is full RRP as you can often find discounts/sales. Umbrella strollers are so common there is always one or another brand on offer.

I bought it second hand because there was no stock of it in any of my local stores and like I said I did research it before hand and looked like a good brand but I would have just bought another one rather than second hand, won’t make the mistake again!

@teaandpastries

I love buying second hand. It's very rarely not worked out. Everything from musical instrumental to clothes.

I can easily afford to buy brand new but prefer to do my bit to stop things ending up in landfill and I've saved tonnes and it feels better. I just don't understand why people want to buy everything new

This ^

We're not missing the point OP, we are just letting you know that, in so many of our experiences, you save so much money by buying things from charity shops, picking up on free giving sites, buying second hand out of the paper or cards in windows or on local selling sites etc, that if, occasionally you are unlucky with one item, then you can afford to suck it up as you have saved so many hundreds ££ over all the rest of your purchases.

I understand why you don't like it.
I have many good experiences especially with fb. My favourite buys are some very large silver mirrors that I had been wanting to buy for a fraction of the price and an electric airer for £5 which has been fabulous.

I would rather not take the chance that one item might be good at the rest a load of rubbish as you aren’t really saving much then are you 🤷‍♀️ Paying out twice

My absolute favourite has to be jewellery though - second hand jewellery gets you so much more for your money. And I think second hand fine jewellery looks nicer too, especially when compared to stuff from the main high street chain jewellers who buy in mass produced factory stuff dirt cheap and whack a huge mark-up on it. If you must buy new jewellery, please go to a decent jeweller!!

I agree. I only buy second hand jewellery and when I look in shop windows and see flimsy pieces for sale at much more than what I paid for my sturdy stuff I smile. People buying new are being well and truly ripped off - and that applies to buying from a decent jeweller as well.

@PumpkinKlNG

I would rather not take the chance that one item might be good at the rest a load of rubbish as you aren’t really saving much then are you 🤷‍♀️ Paying out twice

If you have made your mind up anyway, I'm not sure why you are asking if people think you are being unreasonable

Of course YANBU to do whatever you want if it is within your budget, but what posters are sharing with you is that their experience (and in my case I'm talking about 50 years worth of experience, including my parents buying things secondhand when I was a child) is that overwhelmingly secondhand things are just things that other people have out grown / replaced / no longer need anymore and there is overwhelmingly nothing wrong with them.
People are saying that it doesn't happen to anyone else that only "one item might be good and the rest a load of rubbish".
Inspect something before you buy it, and 99.9 times out of 100 it will be fine, and a real bargain to boot. The very rare thing that isn't is collateral then, from all the savings you make with the other 99.9% of things

I agree OP, I wouldn’t buy second hand things especially not for DD.

When I was younger I bought a couple of designer dresses on eBay that were used but they were never in as good as condition as described. With new you know what you’re getting is right.

I used to run a second hand stall at our central London nursery. The middle class mums were all over the second hand stuff, maclaren strollers, clothes from gap, Boden etc. The working class mums wouldn't have it - it all had to be new! It was a real eye opener for me. I have four DC and even the oldest has nothing either new or that wasn't on sale. You should see our (private) school second hand sales -- they are rammed!! If I bought everything new there is no way I'd feel comfortable about the environmental impact!

Having just bought a Laura Ashley sofa in absolutely perfect condition, looks brand new, for £38 on ebay, I think you are being unreasonable. It cost close se to £2000 new.
There are many similar sofas going for a song as people move and can’t fit them into the new place.

This thread is so depressing. So much disregard for anything other than convenience. It's the reason the planet is literally drowning in HUMAN laziness.

It was most likely possible to fix the stroller. Nope, too much hassle. Fuck it pop it in the magic wheelie bin and forget the rest. You and all the other posters who turn up their nose at second hand would do well to remember that the wheelie bin is not really magical. Your trash does go somewhere

We literally have no hope. NONE, ZERO, NADA.

I quit nursing and set up my own business on ebay this year selling second hand items. Maybe try buying via ebay OP as you do have protections under distance selling regs, all sellers have 30 day item not as described protection and business sellers have to offer 14 day any reason returns under distance selling regs. You can also see the seller track record too on their feedback and detailed seller ratings, which will help you see how trustworthy they are.
Not all second hand sellers are dodgy/mislead you. I spend a lot of time photographing items, describing defects if there are any and making sure the buyer gets exactly what they expect.
That being said market place on facebook can be a minefield, there are some great bargains to be had but it is very much buyer beware.