Look for second hand Christmas presents now!!

[ToddlerSAHM]

I’ve just got my little one 3 HappyLand Sets that would have cost over £100 brand new for £20 on marketplace!! With the way things are right now it is going to be hard to buy presents this year so I am really happy that I have found this and my little one will be able to wake up to a nice present that I wouldn’t have been able to afford new :)

Great suggestion!

I love pre own stuff and when kids are that age they wouldn't know
I bought my son games consoles and games pre owned he gets more that way

OP it’s a great thing to do! so many benefits, cheaper price, better for the environment - win win. I quite enjoy spotting things on market place early doors and avoiding the last min Amazon purchases pit fall (or trying to at least!) Good luck searching!

That's a great find

When mine were younger I always shopped for Christmas toys in the summer. Car boot sales are excellent for things like Lego.

So I did this for a few years, but now DS is 6 and his favourite thing changes so much. In sept-dec this year he was obsessed with Pokémon, since then it's been mario and football. If I tried to buy Xmas presents now he'll have discovered something new by Xmas.

Also to add if you usually do a post-christmas clear out to make space for the new things, do it in Autumn instead. That way people can buy it from you ahead of Christmas, or stock the local charity shops.

We have been living like this for some time, since DTwins arrival, and (not sounding like a dickhead) but not through necessity, but the almost buzz of a feeling to know we are saving so much, being better for the planet and putting money back into the hands of either charities or fellow locals.

I was a terrible hoarder. Now, if we haven't used it in two years, it goes on FB. Likewise anything bulky of the kids. Old cooking stuff, books. The house is looking so much better, like it can breathe again. And it's nice having the small, but steady cash inflow.

I buy nearly all DC clothes from FB, charity shop or boot fairs. Bundles are the best. I pick out the bits that fit DD/DS best and put the rest straight on eBay and generally make £20 profit, so the kids are clothed essentially for free and I have £20. I get them both a bundle for around £5-10 nearly every month. We also have a kids clothing charity nearby and I take a lot of the excess there as well.

Toys, both their big presents last year came from FB. A full Sylvanian set up, as new, about £300 worth of stuff, £40. And a huge car garage with linking race track, £25. This year I already have a hotwheels motorised crash arena, complete and boxed from the charity shop for £8.

It's the way forward. It's about value. And often profit.

Yes. I have plenty of money but buy nearly everything except food and toiletries on the secondhand markets. Save money, help the environment and frankly a better selection than what is in shops.

Just took delivery today on a set of sheets that are like-new but probably from the 1980s in high-quality cotton with a beautiful cabbage rose pattern. And coincidentally saw a very high-quality woven cotton blanket for 3 quid at a charity shop that will coordinate beautifully with the sheets.

Those with whom I exchange Christmas and birthday gifts agree that "pre-owned" is better. A framed photo, a framed recipe card, interesting plant pots, you name it. The other day an old friend gave me, as a belated birthday gift, a small box containing the old bakelite-type keys from a typewriter he spotted in his office garbage container; the typewriter was probably from the 1940s and the keys an unusual green with cream-coloured markings. He knows I love the vintage typewriter motif; I'll make fridge magnets and more out of these. Better than any expensive new-bought gift to my mind!