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

easy

Well I've done it...

Got a Robopet from a seller with good feedback, who assures me it's all in good working order, and has it's original instruction manual, less than £15 inc. postage.

Biting my nails now. Hope the seller packs it well.

Thanks all for your encouragement. Ds will get new things too. Wants games for the wii that we got him last year (actually that present was shared by all of us), but buying toys "pre-owned" means he can have toys as well as a Wii game (cos I limit Wii time).

belle2008

easy, well done! :T
Rest assured you will not be the only one buying secondhand toys this christmas. I know several people who are doing the same thing, and getting totally addicted to ebay in the process! A work collegue of mine has just discovered ebay and been buying her DD loads of Baby Annabelle accessories for xmas, which are ridiculously expensive new.
Once you have discovered a few secondhand bargains, you will never look back. Your child won't mind, as it means you can buy them things that you couldn't afford to get new. And TBH, most of the stuff from ebay looks BN anyway.

My own best bargain so far is getting a dvd for my DS for just £2.79 from Playtrade - RRP £16.99!! :eek:

RustyFlange

I have bought things second hand from charity shops and ebay for both my children ... infact my son came home from a school trip yesterday and said mummy can you look on ebay or freecycle for a cheap skipping rope please could I have been very good and I would really really like one and I do really love you lol

Bless him I am still looking for a skipping rope which isn't pink then I will buy him one bless

elektra-2007

look for one in really good condition these robots are often a whim so there will be ones out there hardly played with and maybe even in the box....be careful though and look around online to see if there is any sales on..try amazon...I got some playmobil the other year and it ended up costing me near the retail price...look around...but dont feel guilty....i get my sons computer consoles from the shop pre-owned which is just the same.

paddingtondoo

One of DD's favourite shops is the pound shop. I also look in the charity shop. It's worth asking which days they put most of the new stuff out - ours is Wednesday.

It always amazes me how much great stuff is in there - I got DD a brand new pair of trousers with the tags on for 99p in the summer as well as a brand new summer dress for me that should have been £15. A lot of her clothes come from eBay as she loves jeans but grows out of them so quickly and I really can't afford to spend £15 a pair every 6 weeks or so.

I never pay any more than £1 for a book - I always get my mum a bag of books for xmas and birthdays and read them first!

OH finds my savings a bit weird as he never looks at the prices of anything but he didn't complain earlier in the year when I managed to cut £2500 off our wedding budget.

DD got loads of stuff last Xmas (mostly from her dad's family - my ex) that she has only played with once as they asked her to go through the Argos book but it was their money not mine :eek:.

It's not about the price tag it's about knowing what they would really love and getting it at the best price you can. Why pay any more than necessary?

Primrose

Easy - stop feeling guilty! Is it more important for your son to have a secure roof over his head, or a second-hand Christmas present? Don't allow yourself to be highjacked by the current "Must have everything perfect - spend, spend spend" concept which has virtually brought the global economy to its knees. We all managed to survive Christmas perfectly well during the last war, and post-war austerity years, with simple Christmas gifts. There will be many families up and down the country doing exactly the same as you this Chrismas. Go with your gut feeling and don't apologise for it. Your thifty actions will be helping to make your son more secure and that's the most important thing of all. The economy is going to get much worse, so reducing your debts is your first priority.

sweetnskint

i buy second hand games all the time even got two used as extra presents! i dont feel guilty cos nothing wrong with them and saved few pound.isnt that what money saving is all about! DO NOTfeel guilty-its fine!

consultant31

When my son was about 8 (he's 29 now) all he wanted for Christmas was a GameBoy. I had already explained that they were a lot of money and I really couldn't afford one (we have 2 other children too) and he replied that he knew that they were too much money and he didn't expect to get one but he did really like them - I was devastated not to be able to give him the only thing he'd asked for.

In the run-up to Christmas I found a used one advertised locally (pre-eBay days, lol) with 4 or 5 games included. The whole lot was at the very top edge of my budget but I managed to scrape it together.

I couldn't wait for Christmas day to arrive - was dying to see his face when he opened it. Our family tradition meant we each opened a gift while everyone else looked on so it took ages for this, his main pressie, to come to the top of the pile. When he opened it he burst into tears and it took a while to realise they were tears of delight and not disappointment.

It's something that has always stuck in my mind and still makes me choke up when I think about it. The joy of getting something he wanted so badly far outweighed the fact that it wasn't brand new.

He played with it for years and says he can still remember the thrill of finding he got the one thing he wanted above all else

soblivion

consultant what a lovely story, it choked me.