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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to buy kids birthday pressies off Ebay?

61 replies

mustsleep · 19/08/2009 08:30

right it's a bit long so bear with

dh is self employed and just been earning half what we need in a month! the washing machine has just died so I will be doing it in the bath for the forseeable future!!

anyway it's ds (11months) and dd's (4years) bbirthdays next month, dd is now not having a party as we don;t have enough cash

we just don;t have enough cash to get them loads of toys for their birthdays I have got dds an elc garage and lift off rocket for ££30 off ebay and have just bought dd a load of bratz stuff

will just be having a little family party for them both

my sister has just said to me that she thinks it's really scabby that I've got them second hand for their birthdays and that I should have jus got them one thing brand new each
If I had of just done that though ds wouldn't have got either thing and dd would have hardly of had anything

so IABU the stuff looks in good condition and you only throw the boxes away

OP posts:
WhereTheWildThingsWere · 19/08/2009 09:03

YAsoNBU, even if you can afford new, 2nd hand is better anyway imo.

For my dd this Christmas I am builing up a collection of original My Little Ponies and accessories that I am buying from e-bay and restoring, I just wanted to give her something that hadn't cost a lot of money but I had put a lot of effort into.

I also make them dolls and teddies and blankets.

I hate that the value of a present is judged by how much it costs.

weegiemum · 19/08/2009 09:04

No you are not BU.

My dh has a good salary (we can afford for me to be a sahm/student and not worry about money too much!) and we still buy loads of things off ebay for kids and each other.

More environmentally friendly to reuse/recycle, gets a bit of cash to the folks who are selling rather than to big business, and also quite good fun!

Including - nintendo ds's (half price), iPods (half price), Lego (fabulous deals on lego - you can buy mixed bags by the Kg and it has kept ds amused all summer), playmobil kits, hamster cages, hifi and camera bits for dh, My Little Ponies, you name it.

we usually look at eBay first.

I don't get the obsession with "new" - especially for small children who don't know any better!

weegiemum · 19/08/2009 09:07

Just remembered - one of the best toys my dd1 ever had (that she played with most) was a plastic toy horse she bought in a charity shop in Canada when our luggage got lost and she had nothing to play with for 3 flipping days while Air Canada sorted it out.

It cost her 10 cents (about 4p!) in a wee shop and she still (4 years later) plays with it in the bath.

Second hand is great.

In our house we are total tarts for second hand clothes and plastic tat!

tethersend · 19/08/2009 09:19

My dd (and me for that matter) are dressed exclusively by ebay- I would be lost without it! Better to get them something of quality second hand than a cheap new bit of plastic that will break in 30 seconds...YANBU. Have you thought of hiring a washing machine until cashflow gets a bit better? I think some places are quite cheap, you can pay monthly or weekly- but I don't know too much about this, maybe someone else does?

picc · 19/08/2009 09:24

YANBU

Better for the environment. Less landfill.

I think it's more "scabby" (her word not mine!) to insist on everything being new for young children who just like to PLAY! Wherever the toys came from....

glasgowlassHatesthetwuntingDM · 19/08/2009 09:25

YANBU!

Agree your sister is out of order!

I fully intend to buy DS some Pocoyo stuff from Ebay for his birthday in November!

Never mind your sister, do what you want to do but remember that kids dont generally care if toys are new, just that its new to them IYSWIM?

IdrisTheDragon · 19/08/2009 09:27

YANBU. Was just thinking about presents we have got for DS and DD at various times and lots of them have been from eBay. Much better all ways round IMO.

Overmydeadbody · 19/08/2009 09:27

Of course YANBU

Your sister is a materialistic idiot, obviously.

What difference does it make whether something is new or not? Ebay is great.

Ignore your sister. She knows nothing.

gagamama · 19/08/2009 09:29

YANBU at all, how many times have you had to wrestle heavily used toys off your DCs at friends houses/playgroup/doctors waiting room because they want to take them home... they do not care in the slightest if it's second hand, as long as they want it! And they play with them for so little time that it's criminal not to re-use them anyway.

Your sister is BVVVU! 'Scabby' indeed!

AramintaCane · 19/08/2009 09:43

I haven't read the rest but YANBU at all I buy second hand things all the time for xmas. The kids do not care/know and it is environmentally friendly.

Stigaloid · 19/08/2009 09:50

YANBU - Ebay rocks and much better for the environment to recycle gifts than to purchase more items made in china out of plastic. A good clean with dettol and given with love and the present is as good as new anyway. I love ebay for presents - let other people buy new and save your self some pennies and stress

Original poster
mustsleep · 19/08/2009 10:03

thanks everyone!!

I do normally buy quite a bi off ebay buggies and the like and have sold quite a bit she was just that I would get gifts but if it's fine by you lot it is by me

plus I have spent the money now anyway lol, we're not going mad anyway! we have ds1's birhday coming up in Nov too and then xmas lol

we seem to have jinxed ourselves by booking a holiday for next year everything has been downhill since then and at this rate we'll have to cancel it!

I've just done all the washing in the bath lol i's taken me ages and noe is all dripping on the washing line

The thing with freecycle is that we don't drive so we wouldn't be able to collect anything

OP posts:
Firawla · 19/08/2009 10:04

yanbu your kids wouldn't even know the difference especially at those ages, im sure they will love the toys and have a great bday.
much more sensible to get it cheaper and 2nd hand than put yourself into debt to only buy new as some people do. your sister is being rude and ott. i would tell her well feel free to buy them a load of brand new presents yourself if you are that bothered.

minouminou · 19/08/2009 12:30

Your sister's being ridiculous.
Full stop.
Hope your DCs have great b-days.

ninedragons · 19/08/2009 12:32

Could you book one of those man-with-a-van services for an hour if you do get offered a machine on Freecycle?

But to the real issue, your sister is a loon.

I don't think my DD owns anything at all that was new when we got it - we live in a posho suburb with truly excellent garage sales.

In fact last weekend I found a gorgeous wooden dolls' house that someone had put on the footpath with a sign saying it was free to a good home. DD will be getting that for Christmas.

TheProfiteroleThief · 19/08/2009 12:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

superduperminder · 19/08/2009 12:42

YANBU at all! I get most of my kids stuff of ebay!
I can't understand why more people don't do it instead of spending silly money on toys that will get wrecked.

MissSunny · 19/08/2009 12:47

Message withdrawn

ninedragons · 19/08/2009 12:47

I don't understand that either, but thank God they do.

If there were no-one buying DKNY jeans new for $100, I wouldn't be able to buy them for 50 cents at their garage sales.

OtterInaSkoda · 19/08/2009 13:23

YANBU! Good grief!

As for the washing machine - you need one. Are there any schemes near you where they recycle household goods and sell them cheaply to people on low-ish incomes? You don't have to be totally penniless and I'm pretty certain they deliver. Here's a link to one in Bristol: www.sofaproject.org.uk/

babyignoramus · 19/08/2009 13:52

Mustbesleep - they are just little devices that you can spin your clothes in so they don't take an age to dry. You bung in the clothes (after handwashing obv!) and stick a bucket under the spout.

They're usually about the size of a kitchen bin and you can get them second hand pretty cheap - prob on ebay in fact!

Original poster
mustsleep · 19/08/2009 17:53

oh cheers I'll have a look for one

I've joined freecycle just waiting for them to accept me lol and fingers crossed there will be a machine, not bothered about it being new as long as it works

OP posts:
PM73 · 19/08/2009 18:09

Sometimes on freecycle people will deliver if you ask nicely.

My Mum gave her old once away on there & delivered it cos the person having it had no car.

Whereabouts in the country are you? I might know someone who is getting a new machine soon & if you are near to me i will ask her for you if you like.

mamadiva · 19/08/2009 18:19

YANBU! Not even a teeny tiny bit !

I buy lots of presents from Ebay, infact last year I bought my sisters an ELC castle (half the price on Ebay pretty much hardly used) and my mum thought it was a great idea taking the packaging off and building it before giving it to them LOL she still does'nt know it was second hand

I have also bought DS a marble run from Ebay for christmas, the box is a bit bashed up but I will pay a pound or 2 for a shiny cardboard box to put the bits in and he will love it even more, by the way it's the Galt super marble run £25 in shops... I got it for £7.50 inc delivery.

Does'nt bother me and certainly does'nt bother DS.

Saves money and waste so well done you!

Habbibu · 19/08/2009 18:24

Oh lord, YANBU at all. Makes so much sense, so much better for the environment, and your children won't have a clue. I just wish I'd discovered it properly before dd was born...

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