By Notes From The Frugal Trenches
Many frugal bloggers share the tips they learned from their parents about buying second hand, for myself I've had to learn as I go. Buying second hand was not something within my family culture, neither were hand-me-downs. Even today if I mention a charity shop find to my mother, she tells me I'm asking for flees and problems galore. Only, I've begun to not only find 2nd hand shopping fun and economical, I've started to see the art in it. So I thought I'd write about how I successfully find amazing things and ask you to share your finds & tips too!
1. I started familiarizing myself with the charity shops within my local area & local town, with no purpose of purchasing, but simply to see what types of products they get, if they specialize in anything etc.
2. I keep a notebook of things needed - this might include clothing items, gifts for upcoming birthdays and holidays etc. This little notebook accompanies me on all outings!
3. I size up what typical prices are, for example in most of the charity shops near me books are 75p to £1, however there are a couple of more expensive charity shops where books are £3, while that may be a acceptable cost for a more special or hard back book, I find that is not within my budget for every day items.
4. I make note of which charity shops sell new items - this means I can continue supporting the charity when purchasing items I would not buy second hand (for example underwear)
5. I remember that even if something is £1, if you don't need it then it isn't good value for money!
6. I take my time - if I am shopping for Christmas, I will try to make more of an effort to browse 3-6 months before hand and start purchasing items that would make good gifts such as a collection of cookbooks for a friend who is learning to cook, or jewelry, nice china sets etc.
7. I remember the value in waiting for something! For the last year I have wanted a specific book, it is £25 new and I have wanted it since the day I knew it existed, this week I found it at a charity shop for £3.50, yes more expensive then I would normally pay but it was in perfect condition! Waiting a year made the purchase all the more sweet :)
8. I look at second hand shops in expensive areas - it is well known here that in certain parts of the country celebrities drop off their unwanted goods by the van load, if I happen to be in an upmarket part of the country I'll have a good sift through. In fact I recommended a friend did this when she was away for a weekend, she only had £20 to spend on a winter coat and couldn't find one new, I told her about a specific charity shop known for higher end items and she got the most amazing coat for £4.50!!!
9. I remember that it is still good to purchase quality items, especially when it comes to furniture. It is silly to pay £20 for a table that is falling apart when you can pay £30 for a table that will last.
10. Some charity shops have voucher systems, similar to buying a £5 or £10 gift card to a high street shop! This is a great present or way or saving up funds for bigger purchases or more expensive times of the year!
While I tend to focus on second hand shopping via charity shops in this season of my life, there are also great mom to mom sales, sales via twin and triplet associations, plus car boot (aka garage) sales etc. There are also items available via the internet sites, or simply between friends.
Second hand shopping has given me some great lessons in waiting, prioritizing and appreciating what I have, I am sure that I'm only at the beginning of this journey! So now I turn to you, fabulous readers; Do you have any experience buying second hand goods? What was your best find? Have you got any tips to share?
9 comments:
I have recently found a couple of op shops (charity shops) that carry a lot of brand-new-with-tags clothing and other high-end clothing, for children and adults, including formal and business wear. While the items cost more than I am wanting to spend per item at the moment, I've filed away that info for when I return to work, and for if I'm looking for special occasion clothing. For $50 I could buy cheap chainstore "business" clothes that will look cheap, or buy from these shops and have much better clothes (or hope to luck out at regular haunts, but that doesn't always happen).
I'm pretty lucky as I have 4 charity shops within 6 miles of me. My favorite is the closest about 2 blocks away and again I am lucky because they always have a decent variety of crafting supplies along with everything else. My best find was a plastic sweater box full of high quality linen for embroidery. Some had the original tags on them-one piece had been $50 US. I got the whole lot for $22 and now I have wonderful linen to stitch upon for many months, maybe years. I shop there a lot and I wonder if the thrift shop fairies were helping me that day.
I've always shopped second-hand, and really lament the demise of the jumble sale where fabulous clothing (and other) items could be had for mere pennies.
I've often come across the attitude of 'Oh, yuk, how could you bear to wear something second-hand. You don't know who's worn it before?' The truth is, a good wash will usually put anything right and even if you buy brand-new clothes from a top-end shop you've no idea a) what conditions they were manufactured in, b) in what grubby container / lorry they were transported, and c) who has been trying them on before you. As far as I can see new clothes can be just as 'eww', flea-ridden or downright grubby as anything you can buy second-hand.
I LOVE buying secondhand as well! Just recently called in to see a girlfriend, found out she was selling her sofas, and voila a fabulous new lounge in excellent condition, at way less than I would have had to spend on new. I definitely shop at op shops as well but have found that I have to agree with point 5 - if I don't need it it's not good value, so I do have to stop buying just because....... it's there, and it's a good price!
Cheers
Judy
I don't know if you have craigslist.com there, but that is a source I use always. I have a great couch and loveseat that I purchased for $80 and a used washing machine that I picked up for $65. We also do a freecycle on our streets where I live. If a person doesn't want a piece of furniture for example, they put it out on the sidewalk or close to one and a sign that says free. Ususally by the end of the day someone has picked it up. (We don't put junk out there, just usable furniture, etc,) There are also our garage sales, which I love to go to. There is a lot of visiting going on and great things to look at and buy.
Great list. I adore second hand shopping but its only a bargain if you need it, will use it, it won't break, it fits, and so on. Following your list helps avoid those pitfalls.
Very nice post :-)
I love looking both at what I'm wearing on any given day ~ and around my house ~ and seeing so many great deals from thrift stores, yard sales, etc. Easily half the stuff in our house was bought or acquired "pre-owned". Diminishes it not at all in my eyes... and in fact gives me a little charge, knowing I got most of it for a song.
Spent 2-3 YEARS looking for just the right chair for my bedroom... looked *everywhere* ~ every furniture shop for miles around ~ but I wasn't going to buy until I found something I really liked. I generally cruise through the two thrift shops in our town every month or so, and one day, there it was. Found the *perfect* chair at the Salvation Army ~ for $30. And I had looked at $300 chairs (and might have bought one if it was what I was looking for... but none of them were).
Cheers for second hand stuff!
Great tips, i love second hand shops but some are better than others, but its always good to have a rummage, love the idea of a list/notebook, i'll be taking that on!
We buy almost all the clothing for our boy (4yrs old) at secondhand-sales.
Almost every Kindergarten in our area (in Germany) organizes two second hand sales a year - in spring and in autumn.
Clothes are sold very cheap - about 1 to 3 Euros every piece - and are in top notch shape.
The day before the sale people bring the clothes they want to sell(with price tags), the helpers put them on big tables (every clothing size on a different table) and the next day it's open for 2 hours. Usually on sunday mornings. People rush inside, and we helpers have a lot to do. In the evening everybody gets back what has not been sold. A little fee (15% of the sales) has to be paid for the Kindergarten, who buys new toys or other needed things with this money.
You can also sell/buy toys and other baby/children related useful things.
Bettina from Germany
Post a Comment