Second hand toys

[17caterpillars1mouse]

What age do you think I can get away with Santa bringing second hand toys?

Last year dd wanted a sylvanian house and I managed to get her a second hand bargainwith loads of furniture sets plus a car. It was good condition but not as new. To buy it all new would of cost well over £100 and I only paid £45 so she got slot more than if I'd bought new and didn't seem to notice.

This year she will be 5.5 and is wanting the barbie plane and a my little pony ice castle. To buy both new would be over budget, but I can get both second hand, plus again with more accessories, but at 5 is she likely to notice and question why they are not new in box

Any age, it's fine. We get a lot of toys etc second hand. I'd tell her she couldn't have both if they were brand new and also these toys needed someone to play with them. My DDs love my old toys, there's a whole herd of 30year old my little ponies stashed around the house. Go for it!

Nope I plan on getting second hand for as long as I can. I've trained my 4 year old to hunt for charity shop bargains. Less waste, better for the environment and more money left in your pocket. It's win win.

Any age imo!!
My 5 year old didnt seem to care when I got her a puzzle and other toys that were used. She doesnt really notice, and even if she does a toy is a toy and I'm sure she wont care :)

I think you should be fine OP.
You can always buy a fancy gift box and put a large bow on it.

I love second hand gifting for our little ones. The key is massive bow, etc. Dress the item to look "wow". Maybe wrap some fairy lights around the roof? Big sparkly wrap with an enormous ribbon?

My 6 and 8 year old get a mix of new and second hand for birthdays and Christmas and will continue to. I'm not sure they would know/remember which is which. We've had some bargain big ticket items like bikes, and toys/bags etc for much loved TV progs/film where no new merch exists. The craze for unboxing toys (lols etc) especially means they had those new.

If she asks about the box, say Santa (or yourself if it's not a Santa gift) built it up so it was ready to play with and recycled the box.

DS is 9 and he's still happy with second hand gifts. He's really not bothered if something comes in a box.
He's a recent Harry Potter fan and some of the older Lego sets are no longer available unless buying second hand. He'd much rather have the set he wants in a substitute box than not have it at all.
I was looking at getting DD the Barbie Dreamplane for Christmas (she's 4 and more than happy with 2nd hand). They are about £30 second hand on FB marketplace which I thought was still a bit expensive. However, Amazon had them on offer a couple of weeks ago (including the pilot doll) for £35, so I got a brand new one instead.
Personally I like buying 2nd hand as it generally saves me money and gives toys a new lease of life.

My six year old wouldn’t care about second hand at all he’d just be happy to receive what he wanted!

My 15 year old was delighted with his second hand gaming pc and we've had lots of used stuff over the years for him and our 9 year old.

Neither care where their gifts come from and both enjoy a good charity shop rummage!

Santa brings a sack of 12 toys here but they are simple cheap toys (for instance so past items included inflatable guitar, whistle, football, rubber ducks, art kit, slinky etc... usually I just go get 12 things from poundland).

On top of that Santa 'brings' extra presents that we send him money for, some of these presents are 'recycled gifts' other children grew out of and gave to Santa to be reused.

This story started because I use to have to buy something with the kids there so I said we sent money and toys etc... to Santa and other people did too and it grew from there.

It also helps explain why some kids get way more than other kids (they werent naughty their parents just sent more money/toys like an exchange) and gives and enviromental aspect to it.

Its my story and I'm sticking to it.

@mam0918

Santa brings a sack of 12 toys here but they are simple cheap toys (for instance so past items included inflatable guitar, whistle, football, rubber ducks, art kit, slinky etc... usually I just go get 12 things from poundland).

On top of that Santa 'brings' extra presents that we send him money for, some of these presents are 'recycled gifts' other children grew out of and gave to Santa to be reused.

This story started because I use to have to buy something with the kids there so I said we sent money and toys etc... to Santa and other people did too and it grew from there.

It also helps explain why some kids get way more than other kids (they werent naughty their parents just sent more money/toys like an exchange) and gives and enviromental aspect to it.

Its my story and I'm sticking to it.

• the other kids parents

Santa does one small but requested gift (has to fit in the santa gift box) and sticking but main presents from parents.

Dd has just turned 8, I still buy second hand bits for both birthday and Christmas. She is obsessed with the lego friends fairground sets but as a single mum I can't afford them new so when I can get complete sets second hand I pick them up. Sometimes they have boxes, sometimes not but I just pop into pretty bags or gift boxes and she gets the same joy out of it.

I just say they are new to us, but we've normalised buying second hand for environmental reasons already. Plus we try not to make Santa and presents such a big thing - lots of lovely experiences and plans instead at Christmas (except COVID).

I dont agree with buying second hand toys as a Christmas present. Im not against second hand at all but not as presents.

@Viviennemary

I dont agree with buying second hand toys as a Christmas present. Im not against second hand at all but not as presents.

And why do you think like that?

Another reason we only do stockings from Father Christmas, much easier to explain things like this. Everything under the tree is from us.

My 11 year old last year wanted a Baby Annabelle rocking crib.I wasn't prepared to buy a new one when I thought she wouldn't want it in a year's time. She played with it for a month! It was second hand and she didn't notice. We just told her that Santa let it out of the box so she could play with it straight away.

Surely the point is, Santa isn't you, so how would you know why he didn't bring things in a new box anyway!

If she asks (really doubt she will notice, I've often bought second hand and my Dc have never noticed/mentioned it), just say "Ooh, I don't know. Why do you think? You'll have to ask Santa".

No need to tie yourself in knots creating a backstory, just profess ignorance.

I used to use charity shops for my dc stockings. They’d be packed with books, videos, jigsaws, toys at a fraction of the price of new. I did have to use the ‘oh look, the elves have written their names in the books’ line a few times.

I think if second hand is a normal thing in your house then your children won't notice. And if you tell your Dd that Santa re-gifts to make sure there is enough to go round or similar there will be no issue there either.

Wouldn't bother mine in the slightest albeit my eldest is 4, but I would like to think they won't care as long as they get what they want. I've brought a load of second hand playmobil and lego already for eldests birthday (Oct) and Christmas , I will just tart it up abit and he knows the boxes go on the bin anyway. And like you said, you get more for your money. I also brought DS a second hand bike, excellent condition for £10 on ebay. I can't wait to give it to him 😁 he's going to scratch it in, oh, three minutes I reckon so what's the use buying new for £150 when I could spend my money on other things.
Seriously go for it.

The card factory sell big festive boxes. Shove some shredded tissue in and she won't know anything!!

In our house we leave out a box/bag of old toys for Father Christmas a week before Christmas Day. These toys are then given to other girls and boys as an extra gift if he sees something he thinks you'll like.