AIBU to buy second-hand toys as birthday presents for my daughter?

[Sadian]

I have purchased a variety of toys for my daughter for her birthday second hand- it was £45 for 5 of them - think Disney etc
She's also got a few new toys too
Main reasoning for buying second hand is environmental rather than financial but still, the toys would have been £150+ new
I was talking to my mother and told her I'd got sets off vinted
She was outraged. Said new toys are 2 for 20 in B&M, no excuse for buying second hand as a present. Also thought I'd vastly overpaid and no second hand toy should go for more than a few pounds
So there you go- am I a total cheapskate?

Great to see toys reused and saves some cash. Especially with plastic toys as easy to clean.

I did think my years of it would be limited tbh but I also hope as she gets older presents will involve fewer giant plastic sets 😬

My kids understand they get bigger value stuff if it’s second hand and are fine with it. I’d get the majority new but they’ve never had a new bike. Plenty of second hand computer games too.

Which would make you a minority...

@Sadian nothing wrong with second hand. I wish more people would seen the benefits of buying second hand.

1. you can get far more for your money, often in near perfect condition.
2. it's much better for the environment.

I am certainly not poor but nearly always buy second hand if I can. Toys, clothes etc... I refuse to buy plastic tat too, or any single use plastic rubbish that ends up in the bin.

Nothing wrong with it at all.
Sometimes things that my daughter has wanted over the years you can only get secondhand (ie old Nintendo Wii games).

I did this all the time when the dc were little! Why wouldn't you? We were able to afford a lot more of the toys I wanted to buy because I wasn't paying full price.

I really don’t get this attitude. The world is drowning in plastic and we have more than enough toys to go round again and again. Most of my kids clothes are second hand as well, your Mum would be horrified with me!

Agree ,We had a very wealthy upbringing mMy father a war correspondent for BBC …we had second hand clothes from jumble sales…my mum loved a bargain 🤦‍♀️
Her outfit for my extremely expensive wedding she got from a charity shop…she looked fabulous 🩷

why would you be horrified if it was a good quality item that would otherwise be out of their price range?

I suppose I wouldn't get someone a second hand present unless I knew they wouldn't mind
I tend to stick to experience gifts for others, or money/ vouchers

but why get two or three new toys cheap, so poor quality or just whatever is in sale,Vs something sgell5realky enjoy?

Absolutely buy quality second hand. Nothing worse than B&M 2 for £20 that break easily.

op it's fine. I now have an 11 yo who appreciates the value of a decent charity shop and Vinted. He knows he gets more for his money. for me there's also the "less new plastic tat" angle cos they love they love that stuff but it doesn't need to go into landfill a year after production because my kid out grew it

My goodness you sound ghastly

do you honestly bin everything once it's no longer of use to you or the kids? and if you don't have kids, is this really what you think people should do?

My DD gets SO much pleasure from the treasures that can be found at charity shops, boot sales and toy tombolas. I really don’t think kids mind whether toys or clothes are used or not

I buy anything I can secondhand which includes gifts - it has to be immaculate and in as new condition
DGD Xmas presents are a mix of new and second hand along with BNWT eBay and vinted

It means you can give more to your child, and not as painful later getting rid of something (especially if they barely play with it), thinking about how much it cost you. Is just logic, your child didn't know the difference and doesn't care, but you have more to give them things, take them on days out etc. Who wouldn't do that.

How would you know?
I buy a lot of secondhand books that are in "as new" condition (ie no damage to the spine) and are often fairly new releases.
You literally cannot tell the difference between the secondhand ones and one sold brand new.

I've just bought my daughter a secondhand lego set for her birthday. I couldn't afford it new and she won't mind - I'm pretty sure she'll love it. She has some new things too, and it is in really good condition. I'd rather give her something secondhand that she'll love rather than something new she'll play with for a few days then lose interest.

YANBU
I have a friend who has a DS who is into specific Lego. When his birthday comes around, she hunts about on Vinted. The box might be a bit bashed, but what actually matters is what her DS is after.
She is disabled and does not have a lot of money to go wasting on a brand now Lego set.

I did this and got some beautiful wooden toys like a moulin roty rocking horse for a complete bargain. Mum had kept all our old sylvanians, lego and brio so the kids had that anyway, but one year I redecorated and furnished my old dolls house and gave that to dd as her gift.

I've done this for my son more than once, think a set of Jurassic park cuddly toys for the price of one.

He can't tell the difference, better for the environment as well as our finances

Absolutely the norm in my middle class circles

Birthday party requests usually say hand me down items only but no presents required.

I spent £10 on my son's second birthday present. He got an outdoor kitchen and a Wendy house. Got both off facebook marketplace. My son doesn't care and loves both.

It's better for the environment, as you say, and what business is it of hers? Everyone buys clothes and toys second hand, and shares/passes things on, or almost everyone (including some very well-off people)-the only person I ever heard complaining about second hand clothing was someone who was offered them as she said she couldn't afford uniform for her kid, and she moaned she didn't want second hand (while even private schools have second hand sales).

If it's about health/safety, I'm sure you're careful to clean things, and literally thousands of people might have touched/coughed on the BM toys.

And you don't have to get annoyed by those plastic wraps all over them, and they'll be at least partly ready assembled!