To buy baby clothes from Ebay?

[memoo]

Long story short, I'm pregnant with my 3rd, baby isn't due til sept but we are absolutly broke, struggling to pay the rent let alone buy new baby things.

So I decided to start buying a few little things each week from ebay. I've bid on some babygrows and a pramsuit, both used but look lovely and clean.

I was casually telling a work colleague about it today and she turn her nose up when I told her I was getting stuff from ebay. She said she "would never put her baby in second hand clothes" and "you don't know where they've come from" she went on to go on about how baby clothes aren't really expensive anyway etc etc

Maybe I'm being over sensitive but she made me feel really bad, as though I was getting second best for my baby but the way I look at it is that the baby won't know or care and newborns are only in stuff for 5 minutes so even second hand stuff will have lots of wear left in them.

Like I said, maybe I am being over sensitive (pregnancy hormones are raging) but she has made me feel like I'm not doing the best for my baby.

Is it really so bad to get second hand clothes for a new baby?

memoo don't justify your decision to get pregnant, baby will be loved and looked after and that IS all that matters.

I would like you to thank you for re awakening my E-bay baby clothes addiction though

No memoo - don't go their - you're thread is about ebay clothes, you're not asking for comments on your pregnancy and neither should you be getting them.

I think ebay is fantastic. Regardless of my financial situation, there are certain things I'd always look for on ebay. It's not just about saving money (which you do, loads) it's also about ethics of consumption and demand. It's recycling - and there are often no better recylcled items than baby clothes, that get used for so little time.

There's nothing a hot wash can't sort out - never mind where they came from for goodness sake!

Also, clothes you buy off ebay hardly lose any value at being sold back again for to a third owner.

Don't even question it - it's brilliant.

Don't go THERE - sorry, typing in haste.

I've bought some wonderful stuff on ebay and am only sorry I didn't discover it when DD was tiny. I've since made up for lost time and DD has many a designer item I'd have been hesitant to pay full price on.

Am at the people who don't do secondhand because of the germs. How on earth do you cope with leaving your house every day? Blimey, I suppose it takes all sorts....

I think some people were thinking about the germs in terms of newborns specifically, Brangelina, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I don't think.

I would just say for all those who love internet shopping - I know loads of people who have ended up in lots of debt because they got addicted to the bidding, in a gambling kind of manner. To some people it's a kind of entertainment. I know that if I don't seriously rein myself in I can go overboard, once postage etc is added up.

Plus I have bought several things that haven't lived up to expectation once
received, and have been too busy to send back, so they haven't been used or worn. I bet we all have Ebay bad purchases stuffed in wardrobes and drawers whether for DCs or ourselves.

IMO nothing beats getting the cash out and spending on something you have chosen in front of you in reality, than on a computer screen where your imagination makes it seem nicer than it really is.

Yes, but as was mentioned earlier, the clothes do get washed (you can even stick Napisan in to disinfect if you're that way inclines), plus from a microbiological pov exposure to germs is a plus (unless we're talking about the ebola virus or similar of course!).

Anyway, I think the issue was less about internet buying than secondhand in general. The same people who wouldn't buy off ebay wouldn't buy in a charity shop either.

Can't believe the length of this thread!

I though everyone bought second hand.

tigerpaw, agree that buyer experience on eBay is not always great. Although not all sellers are reasonable, if you have a seller with good feedback history and a nicely put together listing, chances are you will get a refund on an item that was disappointing for whatever reason.

The fact that the buyer cannot see the condition for herself is already factored into an inherent discount in the price anyway.

But I have ended up bidding on eBay items I did not need simply because I went on eBay to search for another item and they popped up in my search. Yes, it is addictive.

I know blueshoes, the discount makes the item all the more attractive and also, all the harder to return ("oh well, it's not how I thought it'd be but it was "only" £3.50/£4.99/£5.90/£10.50 (note the desensitisation to the amounts after a while). "I'll sell it back/get a refund/might give it away" - one year on, NONE of those things happened!

Sometimes I wonder how much stuff in the charity shop is guilty unused internet shopping purchases!

I once did a round up of my last 20 purchases then worked out honestly which items were a bargain that I have actually used or worn.

Once I realised that I only really used and really liked about 1 in 4 purchases I pretty much stopped buying stuff because it was a false economy under the guise of "bargain".

You know what, tigerprint, I would also agree with you there. I find buying boys' clothes generally a more disappointing experience than girls' - the condition is more likely to be disappointing. And I have kept things because the value is too low to bother to return.

eBay has lost its shine for now. I am buying, still online, but during sales, for the next size/season up. At least the condition will be mint and the price not too far off from eBay. It is safer to buy clothes from eBay in hardwearing fabrics like denim and corduroy, than jersey or T-shirt material, as far as condition is concerned.

Arf.

This thread is hilarous.

I know, must get back to the thread!

But finally, I have now got rules to buy clothes by that I do not deviate from!!

1. Item must be new with tags, new without tags, or at the very most, described as worn once for special occasion
2. Item must be brand name I like or recognise or if I don't, then Google it to find out more
3. If item for me then must be brand name I have bought before (so I know how their sizing run
4. No crystal-clear picture = no bid

I once bought a pink and gold embroidered chemise top at great expense. I wanted a dressy vest to wear with jeans. It was pink and gold and embroidered but was also backless and cut away to show all midriff and bellybutton, which was just about visible on the poor quality pic when you knew to look for it after the event. Item was described as pink and gold chemise. My brain made up the rest of the description. The seller had not lied or misled.

Ok back to thread! No YANU OP

I also look at the other items the seller is selling or has sold and try to make a judgement about what sort of house they come from, cleanliness wise .

If you are buying nice clothes second hand, the people selling them also tend to be nice.

Thats my logic anyhow.

Memoo, if it weren't for ebay and the nct my ds would be practically naked.

Sounds like your colleague is suffering from a serious case of PFB syndrome and needs a reality check. I know LOADS of people whose kids wear fantastic 2nd hand clothes (including us!) - we pay £5 for a Gap coat in brilliant condition, rather than £35 or whatever it costs. Your colleague is an idiot with no financial nous. Give her a good slap next time you see her.

(okay, rant over )

having just come back to look at this thread again I am appalled that Dicksbird seems to be saying that when she found she was pg again with her 3rd unplanned pg, she chose to terminate rather than put too much financial (or whatever else) pressure on her and her family. While that was the right decision for her, her implication (imo) is that memoo should have thought about doing the same thing which is BEYOND outrageous - no one should impose their own decisions in these scenarios on anyone else, especially when the background is unknown!

Memoo, well done for sharing your background and sad that you felt you had to in order to justify your baby - no one has any business making you justify it.

I personally haven't bought any clothes off ebay but only because of the Paypal fiasco -I got disillusioned with it. But I have looked for things and if I had found what I wanted (and couldn't get elsewhere) I wouldn't have had a problem with it. I didn't buy DS any new clothes for nearly 6mo of his life because I had so many gifts and handmedowns from other people, I didn't need to. Not a problem for me or my DH.

thumbwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!!

MrsMH!
if you want a feel-good thingy, go look at my thread here
how are you?

hijack over...

why people post in the AIBU topic at all is beyond me.

As soon as someone comes onto the thread who may talk any sense they get flamed.

Yes Db is a Cheeky bitch but hey she is entitled to her opinion isnt she ? The Op did comment that she was stuggling to even pay her rent. What relevance is that to buying clothes off Ebay? If she didnt want to be judged on that point why mention it ?

I earn a 6 figure salary and still dress my children in 2nd hand clothes because I am committed to recycling and beleive that we live in a wasteful society. BUT If I was struggling to put a roof over my families head I would not bring another child into this vastly overpopulated world if I wasnt confident I couldnt pay for it.

If the op is struggling now what will it be like with another mouth to feed ?

I think that is the point DB was making.

I am sure OP will love this child more than most but somebody somewhere is picking up the tab for its healthcare and education and possibly a roof over its head when OP cant manage said rent.

back to the clothes - I was an arty student in the 80s and loved to wear "vintage" clothes. When I got pregnant with my longed-for son, I very happily took great pleasure in dressing him in my gorgeous finds off Ebay. Little French designer numbers. Vintage football gear (my husband's fave team changed their badge; we got babygros and vests with the old-style badge on). DS went home from hospital in an Armani babysuit that had come in a bundle of clothes - he looked gorgeous. We have had loads of compliments on how well turned out he always is.

I just think of it as "baby vintage".

no1andno2, NOBODY is picking yp the tab for my DC and won't be for this baby!!!! DP and I both work full time so who exactly is picking up the tab for it????

TBH I'm not sure how the hell you came to the conclusion that somebody else will be paying for my DC education and healthcare????

Message withdrawn

no 1 and no2 what a stupid post, I don't understand what you're getting at the nhs and education system are free because EVERYBODY pays tax, if you choose not to use them then your call....

As for a 6 figure salary, don't know why, as the op said in her first post that it was a WORK colleague, so she is paying into the system just not quite as grandly as you!

memoo even if you and your DP are both working full time I doubt whether your taxes cover the costs of 3 children at the estimated £9k a year per child it costs to educate a child in the state system.

I dont suppose any of us who have children cover those costs so it stands to reason that those who dont have children are paying their taxes to fund the essential services for our children's education and healthcare.

I wasnt criticising you in any way so please do not be offended.

I guess I do feel that however economics should come into having a baby when things are tight for money already. Genunely I would be worried for you. I know what its like to struggle too ( thouhg thankfully things are much much better for us now )and I predict with the state of this countries finances we will see handouts and tax credits etc frozen or even reduced in the future.

I am a natural born worrier about money and in many ways I admire someone who isnt.

Good luck.

sorry came out more rudely than i'd planned but still not nice to question someones reason for a baby.

Message withdrawn