Second Hand Sales / Pre-loved Markets for Moms?

[ChicagoCoco]

Can anyone recommend a good second hand sale / pre-loved market for new moms? I've heard of NCT's nearly new sales - are they worth the trouble for big items (pram/travel system, car sear, bassinet), and are there any others?

Have you tried EBay? If you do an advanced search you can search by postcode, you never know what you might find in your area pick up only????

If you are in Scotland their are Jack and Jill Markets in most cities. They can be great for bargains.

I think you should be very wary of buying a second hand car seat as the advice is that they should be less than 5 years old and replaced if they have been in any sort of accident. You can't guarantee that with a second hand one. I did have a second hand one free from a family member who I knew wouldnt' want to endanger my DD and wasn't getting money for it.

Ebay is great. I think gumtree might also be useful.

We have a local sale which runs like an NCT sale but is run by a different group. I wouldn't have wanted to get a travel system from there as there were only a few to choose from and we researched which one would suit us best.

We got a cot from freecycle but bought a new mattress for it (again there is guidance suggesting that mattresses not be reused).

It is also worth considering what you can live without. I am not sure we would get a whole travel system if starting again as something like a baby jogger stroller can be used from birth and the travel system was really heavy and bulky. We didn't have a changing table and never missed it.

Depends on what item you are looking for!

NCT Sales apparently have awful queues and its mad, so that may not be an option.

Freecycle is obviously fab, I got my moses basket off freecycle :), but I've also had the experience of picking up a travel cot that was disgusting and looked like rats had cut through it and made holes, it was awful. But don't worry, most people don't do that!

Gumtree is good as you get to see the items before you buy. So that's good.

With Ebay I've had two experiences with clothes, one was great and the other is a complete nightmare (clothes were nothing like described). I would not buy second hand clothes on ebay anymore due to that, but I would consider buying furniture. But where I live, very little comes up in my area for furniture, as its a small city.

I think its best to buy things when you can actually see them. Unless of course the bargain is too good. I also found with Gumtree that some things are not worth buying second hand, as you can add a couple of quid, and get it for new with discounts/sales/code/cashback. I therefore decided to buy my cot instead and got it for less than £50 from mother care for new!

NCT sales are great. Get there early, or email the organisers (just google NCT in your area). Ask to volunteer- it'll be a 3 hour shift or even making a ale for them to sell. That way you can go to the presale and get first dibs

I think you can get some quality stuff very cheaply. Just go with a list and don't go mad!

Search out some sales groups on facebook they are great the local ones near me are always selling baby items. There are some specific to baby/kids stuff other general ones most have baby stuff on.

Try eBay. We bought our pram, cot bed and if you search baby boy/girl bundles you get amazing deals for clothes. We got about 20 baby grows for under £2. No point spending heaps on new born clothes as they won't be in them long.

Check out the local for sale boards on the netmums website (Sorry to mention the rival website a second time tonight!) I found some good bargains nearby, and also try other areas if you have family living in other areas of the country and they're willing to pick things up for you

Depending on where you are there are other organisations that run nearly new sales too. The one in my area (north England) is called recycle for children and I've had some fantastic bargains from them. I also agree with the Facebook selling sites, I've had some lovely things from those too.
And friends of friends, toucan get nice things that are hardly used for free/cheap as most people just want rid of things their baby outgrows so you can get some lovely items that way too.