To give people second hand gifts

[GADDay]

Please be honest. Is this a really crap thing to do.

The gifts are good quality, in exceptional condition and if bought new, would cost £100's.

I would prefer to receive repurposed or second hand. So a bit biased.

I know of 3 families who do this amongst themselves, or for neighbour children. The neighbour children have always been happy with their gifts. They're not close to these children, just if the child mentions it's their birthday or something they'll pick up something for the child whilst they're out, sometimes it's poundland stuff instead like a colouring book or something. The family members themselves obviously don't mind as they all do it amongst each other. They've always done it, especially the older ones like grand aunts, grandparents, great grandparents etc.

I think it depends on the items and the people receiving. You know if they'd mind or not. Are the usually the type to pick up something second hand? Would they prefer a second hand big ticket item over a very cheap brand new item?
Maybe try to put the feelers out about it without actually saying it, see their opinions.

Ok...the camera - is this one of the newer ones or vintage? I don't know if they all work the same.
If someone has asked you specifically for one I would just ask them if the old one is ok. Say something like "you know you wanted that camera - I found an old one secondhand. Would it work the same? Would you like that one?"
Books - depends. Have they asked for specific books? I saw a copy of a hardback book in a charity shop the other day. A book that was released about 3 weeks ago. The original owner must have bought, read and passed on straight away. It looked brand new.
I often buy/recieve secondhand books as gifts. For example if I read a book by an author I had never read before, enjoyed it and wanted to read more I might say " I just read X book by so and so and would love to read more" and would be happy to receive a pile of that authors books from a charity shop.

All my family love second hand stuff as most of the time you really can;t tell it is. Yesterday I bought my dd 10yrs a pair of pink glitter genuine doc martain boots, bloody awful things they are but she loves them,so I got them from a lady on facebook market place for 20 quid,They look and I am not kidding ,brand new.No way would I pay full price for these boots I couldnt justify it for a child but shes got them now and \i wrapped them in bubble wrap put them in an old amazon box and they look great! She will be over the moon.

It depends. I personally wouldn't want to receive a second hand gift and I don't buy second hand for myself.
But if you're buying gifts for your family and agree in advance that second hand gifts are ok, then I don't see why not.

I don't care if it's new or second hand or home made or found in skip by the side of the road if it is given because someone specifically thought I would like it. I would take a 50p paperback from a charity shop over a £ 20 Bayliss and Harding gift set any day!

I have bought second hand presents for friends and family, especially out of print books/music and toys that are hugely expensive such as model railway items.

Family members who reqquest books will prefer second hand if available. I always buy ones in very good condition. In fact I can't think of anyone in my family who would think second hand was 'cheap' as long as it's a wanted item in clean, good condition. None of us would want loved ones to waste money unnecessarily.

Go for it!

I don’t know anyone who would want an alarm clock for Christmas. Surely if this is something you needed you would buy one as you would need it but most people use their phone.

I’d rather you didn’t bother.

I personally wouldn't want second hand items as gifts and wouldn't gift them either. Are they going to be giving you similar back or will they have spent a lot more? That would be the deciding factor for me.

we increasingly give second hand items as gifts. It all either looks new or is new with or without tags. Financially we can't justify getting inlaws gifts of the nature 'expected' if we don't get second hand. They'd likely be offended if we got e.g. BIL (who we barely know) a gift for a tenner. However I got a posh scarf, new with tags and in original wrapping, for £10 on marketplace buy worth £70-80 new. and SIL likes a particular expensive brand of cosmetics, could get her a small bottle of one thing, or buy a few more but second hand (obviously unused).

my family are fine with 2nd hand, we've got mum 2nd hand books and jigsaws the last few years and particularly jigsaws she'd prefer 2nd hand over new. I found a lovely eco throw, about £50 new, for £17. it's in original packaging and new with tags. probably will give to one of my sisters who've just moved into their new homes.

So I buy things year round on vinted, marketplace or charity shops if I see something that's good enough to gift, would be liked by someone we normally buy for and is a good price. I have a collection of things that we can use to gift. All would be liked by the recipient, not randomly chosen. e.g. if I find new looking kids books in charity shops I buy those and keep them and then when someone's birthday or Christmas comes up I have stuff 'in stock' and I pick something they'd like.

really glad you asked this OP as interested in what people think.

we spend a similar amount but the recipient gets more. e.g. my scarf example above - got a lovely new in packaging scarf on marketplace for £10, but worth a lot more. would have spent about £10 anyway but it wouldn't have been as good a gift, albeit new.

And recently for DH birthday I got him something that he was desperate for but would have been £160 new, I cant afford that but I found one on marketplace for £75 which was still in packaging however had been opened. he was thrilled! £75 is probably roughly what I'd spend.

When DDad was alive we used to give each lists of wanted books with the challenge of finding them second hand if possible. For the same money we’d each get five times the number of books…lists were swapped in the autumn. Bliss!!

I wouldn't mind receiving a second hand gift but I couldn't bring myself to give one to someone else.

It very much depends. If a lot of thought had gone into it and it was something the gift giver genuinely thought I would like then yes.

If however it's a case of picking up something off the shelf that doesn't look as if its second hand and little care for whether it would be appreciated then no.

The latter is just as bad as picking up a generic bath set as a gift.

Also why would anyone want an alarm clock in the first place, let alone a second hand one?

Price isn’t everything. It doesn’t matter that it would cost hundreds new if it’s not something they actually want.

It sounds like you’ve just been collecting a load of random old junk and are trying to give them away as presents

I thought this thread was more about regifting, which I completely enthusiastically uphold.

I was given a beautiful silk Kew dressing gown this year by someone I had looked after. It's lovely but I have two silky dressing gowns already and don't need another.

Perfect for my sister though :-)

Thanks for the varying opinions.

The things I have bought are what people want. The alarm clock is a limited edition - specific interest of the recipient.

Books - variety of children's books in near new condition.

The camera is a near new one. Again on a specific wishlist.

Other items include a robotic coding specialist item, jewellery for somebody else.

My main reason is to try to reduce what we buy as a household. We are going to try and buy nothing new in 2023 for a whole year.

Absolutely 100% yes. More people need to regift and give preowned items, it's essential for the environment and reducing waste. If you refuse then you're selfish and ignorant imo.

What sort of alarm clock is it if it would cost £100s new? I would be worried about it working properly and not having a guarantee if it’s something that is normally really expensive. Same for the camera.

It was my sons birthday earlier this year he got 3 of the same jigsaws. I absolutely have "redistributed" them - why wouldn't you do that????

100% for my kids, my toddlers main present (paw patroller) was off vinted plus a couple of my eldest's (nearly 10yo) gifts, cost me half the price of new and ment I could get them something else while staying within budget. Last year they had loads of Preloved bits and my eldest's declared it the best Christmas ever 🤷

For other people it depends, what it is, condition and who the recipient is. I've got my mum a NWOT (and it does appear to be unworn) sweatshirt off vinted this year, she won't care about the lack of tag at all.

As others have said, it totally depends on the gift recipient and how well you know them.

Personally, I have no objection to receiving preloved items, as long as they are things I genuinely like, in very good condition.

I have a family member who takes pride in buying all birthday/Christmas gifts from charity shops and car boot sales. However, everything is dirty, broken, bits missing, age inappropriate and frankly embarrassing to open in front of the family.

I really do not see the problem and it seems like your gifts are very thoughtful too! I can't see how a thoughtful secondhand gift is better than a thoughtless new one? So much new stuff is tat that people get given because they're packaged like gifts but aren't really meaningful.

What could the issue be? Is it a status thing?