why do people think second hand is manky?

[WhereAreMyAirpods]

Why do people think second hand things are manky/dirty/unsafe? Have just read a comment on another thread about second hand jewellery not being safe because it's dirty.

Really? Are there really lots of people out there who think just because something has been in someone else's house for a while, it's unclean? Do these people not own washing machines or have a bottle of soapy liquid to clean things with?

I love that type, means more choice of stuff for me. I love 2nd hand and always will. Does anyone know why pyrex is so cheap 2nd hand, no one seems to want it. I bought 3 pyrex dishes with retro print at a car boot sale, lady only wanted 2 euro for them.

I do send worn out holey stuff to the charity shop but I send it seperately (and clean!) in a bag marked "RAGS" as they can sell them by the kilo and get money that way. So its not always being lazy or selfish.

And I love a charity shop bargain. My personal best is a £200 bnwt Karen Millen dress that I got for £37. It was part of their donation of old season stuff and best of all.....IT HAS POCKETS!!!! Great big deep ones that I can carry all my stuff in and because its a full skirt, you cant tell that I am carrying a handbags worth of crap in them!

Sounds like my daughter. She gets books out the library but then never reads them cos she thinks they are dirty.

If I bought her the same book she would read it.

I know someone who refused point blank to live in a "used" house, despite the fact that they could afford the much bigger dream home she wanted if she didnt insist it had to be brand new.. I am sure I read on MN a few years ago that someone else knew someone like this too!

And I do know quite a few people who would never consider a used car but that is mainly down to the fact that they dont want anyone to think that they cant afford new, part snobbery part insecurity I think.

My theory is that they just can't be arsed sorting it so give it to shop to do it. They KNOW the stuff is ready for bin but can't be arsed

My mum always told me never to buy second-hand hats (lice? She never did explain) or shoes, but anything else was fine.

You're probably right @Bubblebubblebah - as others have said we can make money on textile "rags" but not on other broken stuff. It costs us money to get rid of it.

Not everywhere though. If people know the shop wants rags, great, but most people don't. They are just lazy bastards😁

I volunteered for a week in some sorting centre for donations🤮 You know the ones from bix boxes on streets. Never again

Certain things I would be grand with second hand and others not. For example I wouldn’t take a second hand cot from someone as in my experience baby’s chew the bars. Maybe I am BU, but I have the ice factor going on with it. However, I will be passing the current cot we have down to our next child.
I wouldn’t buy second hand shoes for me or my children and the previous owners feet will have imprinted on them.
Things like rings, necklaces etc can be cleaned and worn again by others.

This is why I don't buy anything I'm not prepared to clean myself!

My sofa was taken apart and the covers washed. Earrings cleaned with alcohol. Clothes washed. Used furniture always wiped down.

Do love secondhand but only good quality, clean and able to be cleaned again by me.

A lot of it is to do with being poor as a child. i can afford to buy new i won't put myself or my kids in second hand ever again, second hand was embarrassing as a kid so it is rank.

I have relatives who have responded this way. We love their hand me downs

Princess Beatrice must have been really slumming it getting married in a second dress AND second hand jewellery.

Whereas at school, there was great kudos associated with using hand me downs from a mother / aunt / grandmother. The older the better, demonstrating a long established privilege.

I thought the big boxes on the streets were for manky items that get ragged, but still raise money for the charity?

I know some buyers from mainland china don't want to live in a 'used' house because they think they might inherit the previous owner's bad luck! I think its a big reason why they buy new build flats! I am chinese but I am not superstitious; which is why my flat is from the 1930s.

I don't have a car but I am not sure I would get a used one. No one in my family has ever bought a used car (this is because in my home country, the certificate to buy a car is in the 6 figures and when you buy a new car, you get 10 years but if you buy an old car, you would get whatever number of years is left and then have to spend 6 figures renewing the certificate of entitlement) ; and neither has DH's family. Maybe his paternal side (who are English) has but I don't know them well enough to say for certain. But it is definitely environmentally friendly to get a used car so perhaps we would opt for that if and when we do get a car (we live in London and have no DC yet, so we haven't felt the need for one)

Brilliant- I’ve had some fantastic 2nd hand... all i brought last time was my car seat, isofix base and the cot- everything else was 2nd hand and doing me a 2nd time around!

Not unwashed underwear, single shoe with mould, smelly socks and half a shirt. Half!

I love buying second hand - got most of the baby stuff for my pfb second hand. IME private school second hand uniform sales are very popular so there is no issue in wearing used clothes. I suspect the latter is due to the parents being comfortably well-off and so not such much of a thing?

Summed up in one post!

Such a heartening read.
I love the fact that every time I decide to buy something second hand as opposed to new, I am not contributing to the unsustainable extraction of the planet's resources or the considerable carbon footprint generated by the manufacturing process, packaging and transportation.
Brilliant feeling.
I prefer new knickers and socks, but am fine with swimwear, shoes, towels and bedding. And pretty much anything else: beauty products, technology, jewellery, kitchen utensils, home furnishings, crockery and cutlery, I buy it all second hand.
Hell, I even gift second hand items 😬but only with family and close friends who I know are aligned with this way of thinking and would much rather I didn't buy new on their behalf.

I love charity shops and secondhand. Anything but underwear and towels.

My best recent buy are my new (to me) wedding shoes: Vivienne Westwood suede Mary Jane's. Absolutely beautiful with my wedding dress and probably my favourite part of the outfit because they're pre loved. A bit like the fiance 🤣

Wish more folk bought secondhand. I live near landfill

I wonder ehat will happen to second hand in about a decade because the quality of the clothes ain't what it used to be and with pressure for cheaper and cheper, it might get worse.
Frankly, it might just end up as shein outlets (of that few pieces which eill last more than 4 washes)

It’s the Claire’s Accessories one…