Second-hand presents .. is that OK?

kraftkool

Last xmas my family (me, DH, Mom, Dad, Brother and sister in law) decided to buy all our pressies at charity shops. We set a limit of £10 per person and it was great fun seeing what we could get for this amount. Surprisingly quite a lot and most of it really useful or just quirky. So we had fun and had the cheapest Xmas ever, the charity shops had our money instead of the big stores and some stuff even went back to the charity shops to resell.

QueenB.

I have always brought a mixture of seconhand and new items. When the children are little it is a great way of picking up bargains and really giving them more gifts for the money.

Yes they have to be in good condition and yes secondhand gifts are not suitable for everyone.

But then i have found some people are just to ungrateful, turning their noses up at anything second hand or homemade and i have to say i find it hard to bite my tongue with such people.

I think you have to do what you are comfortable with.

aliasojo

I don't have a problem with second hand gifts as such, although there have been several things I have been given that smell of smoke. Just faintly, mind you......but to a hardened ex-smoker who can smell smoke a mile away, it's pretty unpleasant.

My smoking friend could not smell it, even with her nose pressed up th the thing!

One year when the Playstation first came out, my ex-husband couldn't get a new one for our son for Xmas so he bought one from the friend of a friend.

It stunk to the high heavens and OH and I had to spend Xmas eve cleaning the thing and wiping down every cable and switch that came with it. Wasn't best pleased to say the least but there was no way was I letting son have it in that condition.

SaverSarah_2

I've no problem receiving secondhand gifts, and often buy secondhand for my immediate family, it's kinda how I was brought up, in a car-boot-mad family! I'd be careful who I gave a secondhand gift to, though, as I imagine some people might be offended.

My kids are both used to secondhand pressies, they help me choose things from eBay, and spend their pocket money at car boots – they know they can get one thing for £1 in the shops, but 10 things at a car boot! Very savvy!

My OH's family would probably be funny about it. Saying that, my niece wanted a pink power ranger for Christmas but my sis-in-law didn't think there was such a thing and had told her so. When I told sis-in-law I could get one from eBay she (and niece) was chuffed to bits. It ended up being her favourite Christmas present.

Murtle

Interesting comments, I like second hand things - if they are things I want/like. I introduced my friends to the charity shop side of things when they were all interested where my fab and funky clothes came from!!! I bought my sis old books for her birthday, a new version wouldn't have been the same. and my little car, is just fab as a second hand baby, she is just fine!!! Apparently when I was about 10/12 I used to lecture my Dad about recycling and reusing so much he still hasn't forgotton nearly 20 years on, and says that my lecturing is what prompted them into recycling. I don't know where I'd have learnt about it....but I told him, he had to recycle/reuse as he was polluting my future

M

pdoff

i've been charity shopping since uni over 10 years ago. everyone i know knows so i do not mind receiving 2nd hand presents at all. my 2 boys have 2nd hand stuff - eldest nearly 4 so he doesn't care at the moment anyway. i have given 2nd hand books to mum & brother as presents, & mugs to dad & hubby (best dad etc - looked new). i always admit they are 2nd hand. otherwise they would get something rubbish as am on very tight budget! they get a lot more this way! i once got friend's son a 2nd hand garage & cars for his birthday - she buys 2nd hand herself & had been looking for 1 so when i saw it i rang her & asked if she would mind if i got it for his birthday - would not have been able to afford a new one for him. i think u can tell who would accept a preloved gift & who wouldn't.

culpepper

Golly! Why should a present have to be new?
When we were small,we always got 2nd hand books xmas and birthdays.
My Aunty would make things out of unravelled woollen goods for us too,sometimes they were funny(knitted bras LOL) but mostly they were lovely;gloves,hats,scalves,puppets.
When my nephews and neices were small,we would look around boot fairs and charity shops before looking anywhere else. I still do for most pressies. The only time I think I can remember ever thinking ,better be new , was when my kids went to parties and took a present with them.

rackstar

I normally buy new things for presents, but if I found something for my family second hand that I knew they would love I would go for that. My family is really laid back about that sort of thing, and we all spend a lot of time thinking about what to get each other.

I told my mum today that my husband is doing up a freecycled bike for her and she immediately declared that she wanted it to be her 60th birthday present! That could save a few quid!

My in-laws are completely different though. Before Christmas or a birthday they put in an order of something that they would like. It's usually only about £20 or £30, but that's quite a lot on our budget. They end up with one or two (boring in my opion) presents, whereas my family get really excited about all the exciting bargains, freebies and random things they get - and normally for a lot less money. Often I can't resist telling them where I got it from and they love the fact it wasn't expensive.

I might try to be more creative with presents for friends now. You lot have inspired me.

I know I love getting a present whether it is new, secondhand, free, recycled or anything! It's the thought that counts for me. I keep trying to convince my hubby that a little bunch of flowers picked for our garden will make me just as happy as a bouquet from the supermarket!

ocemeer

I love getting pressies that are second hand, in fact this year me and dh will be only buying pressies from sh sources.
even buy my most fussy sister stuff second hand, she just takes a little longer to find things for.
Even our valentines this year cost nothing (he got a book of promises)
Most people dont mind though I have to admit I dont tell everyone that the gift is second hand or shock horror from a charityshop.
Then again I haven'tm bought new clothes for ages more for a size issue, charity shops have older clothes at old sizes, even introduced my dh to the joys and hes a proud owner of two pairs of moleskins.
Have to admit though presents I dont like get pooledn with my mum and sis and we swap donate to each other then send the rest to charity shops. (i get all the smellys having been blessed with the hide of an elephant)

thyme_2

I was always taught to say thank you for a gift - not because of what it was but that someone had thought of giving to you. The same people who would not like second hand items are too picky!

Give them a stately home or a large diamond or too and see them change their tune I'm always in the market for one or two like that -- pretty please!:rotfl: