Considering a second-hand toy as xmas present - feel guilty

bravobeastie

Soubrette wrote: »

My tips for ebay.

Watch the item for a few weeks and get an idea of how much they go for.

This is good advice. However if you don't want to wait a few weeks, just search completed listings and it will instantly show you the prices they have sold for in previous auctions

soblivion

Slightly different but we were so lucky to be given a laptop very recently, the battery won't hold it's charge but it works fine when plugged in. I say 'we' were given, my son 17 has adopted it and I've not even had chance to use it yet , we'd have never have had a new one and even buying second hand would have been more than difficult this year especially as we have the main computer anyway.
Ask my son what he thinks about it being used and I know for sure he'll tell you it's brilliant and is very grateful.
Getting what you can afford for your children shouldn't make anyone feel guilty.

Lillibet_2

My Son's getting a 2nd hand Tomas the Tank railway set for Xmas, bought piece-meal from ebay & car boot sales. He won't care that it's 2nd hand, in fact tha the hasn't got to grapple with several layers of cardboard & twist ties to get at the things will be a bonus in his book, and will keep our dustbin emptier over the dreaded Xmas long collection period! We plan to set it up in the living room so that he walks in to it ready to use Xmas morning (hope we don't have too much Christmas spirit on Christmas eve or it might be a bit wonky though!).
The bottom line is that if we had bought it all new than he would have had less than a quarter of the set we've afforded 2nd hand. Ask him which he'd prefer, I gurantee you he'd say more rather than new!

HTH;)

margaretclare

Not sure exactly what this 'thing' is that your son wants and that you'd like to buy for him, but....IMHO the mere fact that you feel obliged to ask this question encapsulates all that is wrong about Christmas 2008.

I had numerous 'pre-used' Christmas presents when I was a child. In fact, except for clothes knitted and sewed for me by my aunt, if I hadn't been given second-hand presents I'd never have had a Christmas present at all!

None of this seems to be acceptable nowadays - the youngsters don't want hand-knitted clothes, they want the latest 'designer'.

There's a small second-hand shop near here and part of it is given over to pre-used toys. There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of them - they look in really good nick, but have just been grown out of or discarded in some way. Why do parents feel that they have to keep the manufacturers and the whole consumer society going out of their own pockets?

RoxieW

Get the cheapest you can find. My kids had one and they're rubbish anyway. Only got played with for a day or two. So dont feel guilty. Feel glad at the money you saved - expecialy when its discarded in the bottom of a toybox come Jan 5th

JimmyTheWig

Absolutely go with the second hand one.
What would the Elves be wanting to make the boxes for, anyway? Surely it's easier for them (and Santa and the reindeers, for that matter) if it doesn't have a box.

Most of the stuff we buy for the kids (especially this year) is second hand. The other place to get it (and sell stuff) that hasn't been mentioned is NCT nearly new sales. More expensive than boot sales, but you tend to get better quality stuff.


Just a couple of comments on what's been said...

Pssst wrote: »

This might sound corny but the greatest gift you can give a child is love,care and passing on all you know.

Agreed, but you forgot time. A child would much rather a second hand toy and a parent to play it with than a new toy and left to get on with it.

Soubrette wrote: »

If you collect, still pay by paypal as this will give the same protection as above.

Seller may not be too happy about this. They would have little choice but to accept it, but collection isn't recognised by PayPal as a valid delivery option and so if the buyer claims not to have received it PayPal will refund at the sellers expense.
I'd say pay cash on collection, but have a good look at the item before getting your wallet out. If it's not as described then walk away.

kyh wrote: »

"You know I do lots of recycling and grow my own veg?"
Answer "Yes"
Me "Well I wrote to FC for C and said that as she wanted a Dolls House and they were made of plastic which doesn't break down very well could he find her one that had already been loved by somebody else"

She responded with "Wow I didn't know he would do that" - I said "only on special request"

I think this is a wonderful story.

oliver2008 wrote: »

Easy I have a robotraptor I think its called upstairs that never gets used, and your welcome to it as Im moving house soon and need to declutter anyway. I will have to check that its working and work out postage but otherwise its yours

Makes me proud to be part of the MSE community.

thevicster

I had a secondhand my little pony's 'majesty's castle' when I was about 5. My Mum tied red rope from my bedroom to the castle downstairs, which was set up by Cristmas elves, complete with ponies and it was amazing!! I played with it every day! Ididn't know until about 2 years ago (I'm 26) that it was secondhand! It really doesn't matter whether it's secondhand or not!

Glpark01

I would go for it, he'll be just so happy to get what he wants.

Siren137

I was given a lot of second hand stuff when I was younger due to the fact that my dad owns his own business and when times got hard my mum would buy second hand. It never ever bothered us and me and my brother would spend hours looking at second hand games in the local computer shop and still do now (we are 20 and 18!)

ellies_angel

I love quality
I love second hand!!

I would rather have something I wanted of good quality second hand, than something which wasn't going to last new.

Many of my clothes have been recycled several time. I've bought from ebay, worn and sold back on ebay.

Kids nowadays have no idea of the cost of things, I bought my boyfriends daughter a new bubblegum pink salon style hair dryer for Crimbo last year. It cost me £30. She wasn't impressed.....................she loved the dryer later on, but you could see her looking at it and thinking is this it!

How chuffed will she be this crimbo with a driving lesson............yes just the one and some smellies!