Buying second hand

Lizling

oldtractor wrote: »

Now I look at things and ask myself "would I pay full price?" If the answer is no then I dont buy it.
Does anyone else do this?

No. You'd really turn down something you really wanted and/or needed that was being offered to you at a bargain price, just because you couldn't have afforded the original price?

If I did that, I'd have almost no clothes or furniture, and for that matter, no home (since I'd never have paid the full asking price!)


My approach for is 'Will I actually use it?' If not, it doesn't matter how low the price is - it's a waste (unless I resell it.)

GreyQueen

I don't have a lot of money, due to being limited to part-time work due to health problems. Sometimes, I literally cannot afford something new, sometimes I would struggle to buy it new and would consider it an imprudent use of limited funds to buy something new when there is so much good stuff around for pennies on the pound.

When buying secondhand, I ask myself How much usable life is there left in this item? In other words, how much of its potential has already been used up. With a secondhand garment, I would want it to have 80-100% of its usable life left in it. For things like the stainless steel cooking pot which I bought about 20 years ago for 50p, and use weekly, it should go on almost indefinately.

Also, almost everything is subject to VAT at 20% when buying new. So, one-fifth of the price of that shirt, or that sofa, bears no reflection on the quality of the materials or the workmanship, or the mark-up of the manufacturer and the retailer, it's just the tax man's legal gouge.

I feel I pay enough taxes already and am happy to buy secondhand stuff without it, and to contribute to the coffers of private individuals trying to make a few ££ from their decluttering, and the charity sector.

thriftwizard

I'm in the slightly-odd position of selling old stuff to buy something new... I'd happily collected some rather nice old Lloyd Loom bedside tables, an ottoman, and a laundry bin, along with a stunning Wilton rug & some heavy lined velvet curtains, to "do up" one of our bedrooms 1950s-style. (It's an Edwardian house; this stuff all looked very much at home in there.) I'd planned to acquire a couple of old pine wardrobes and had also found an old pine desk/dressing table, with a matching Lloyd-loom style seat.

However, Him Indoors took one look at my cunning plan & announced that this would happen over his dead body - he tends towards the IKEA/B&Q white melamine lasts-6-months-before-sagging style of furniture - so it's all got to go, apart from the curtains, which even he can see are sensible, with original Edwardian drafts to cater for, and the desk - which had been painted white.

So today I am delivering most of the Lloyd Loom and the carpet to a customer from my stall, who also collects respectable bits with a certain faded charm, who actually asked me last week whether I had any Lloyd Loom, and rugs, and lamps, and pictures... well, it just so happens that I do! The proceeds of this and the sale of some rescued craft tools is going to buy me an IKEA bed for another bedroom, which doubles up as my sewing studio. This particular bed fits the space exactly (allowing for skirting boards) pulls out to form a good-size double, and has a 3-sided frame that I can use most of the time to place my cutting-out surface on, which will drop down behind the bed when it's needed for guests or "boomerang" offspring. And they are pretty sturdy; a friend in a small flat has one as her main sofa and guest bed, and it still looks like new after two years' hard service.

If I'm really lucky, I'll be able to find the bed secondhand too, but they seem to fetch almost as much as they cost new. Any leftover cash could go towards my next project - might be wise to consult/persuade Him Indoors first this time, though!

DD1 sleeps on a glorious 4' bed that we acquired when DS2 wrecked his 6-month-old fake-leather-bound monstrosity & mattress, (which took up the whole room, so it had to be placed diagonally, no storage whatsoever underneath) practising his rugby tackles. I refused point-blank to buy him a new one, and there was no way we felt we could claim for the one he'd wrecked, so I found him one on Gumtree. It has stunning walnut head & foot boards, and a sturdy iron-framed sprung base, there's plenty of room to store bits & bobs underneath, and it's very comfortable. Cost us £50; it was being sold by a gentleman in his late 80s, and had been bought new as a wedding present for his parents. As soon as DS2 was earning, he replaced it with another fake-leather monster, which fell apart & tore within 18 months; luckily his girlfriend has more sense & they now have a pretty but sturdy white-painted secondhand pine bed with plenty of room underneath!

[Deleted User]

Buying second hand these days is usually buying items that are hardly used before they become 'not the latest model' and people update and what is around is usually in very good condition and hardly used or one of those things bought on a spur of the moment decision that are used once and then sit at the back of the cupboard until they are discarded. I don't mind if it's not this years current fashion or colour and only want 'it' to do the job. Stretches the pension an awful lot further for us than continually buying new things!

nannaanna

We have always admired Grandfather clocks and happened to see one in one of our local Charity Shops - my husband did not hang around - was £250 - yes it seemed quite a lot, but the very same clock on e-bay was sold for nearly £1k - bargain or what!!! I buy most of my clothes from CS and lots for my husband too. Absolutely love mooching around CS's - don't always buy, but if l see something l really, really like, out comes my purse. lol.

thriftwizard

I took some of the bits I'm parting with to my customer's house yesterday. It was absolutely inspirational... a 1930s house full of colour and light, warm & friendly, beautiful old things totally at home in their setting. Not priceless shiny antiques, but sturdy, useful, comfortable pieces; pot plants, bare floorboards & gently-worn colourful rugs complete with two small boys, homework books, juice mugs and sandwich plates. A home for living, working, laughing & relaxing in, not a touch-me-not showpiece.

It was very much like the home (several different houses, but just one home, if you know what I mean!) that I myself grew up in, and that I've unconsciously been trying to re-create all this time. Everything handed down, well-loved & well-used. But my poor long-suffering OH grew up in a home where everything was new, carefully chosen & matched, but he & his brothers weren't allowed to touch anything or play in there, and where his mother was forever cleaning & straightening so that it looked like something out of a very upmarket magazine, but felt like a museum. So he doesn't feel at all at home in a cheerful old-style mismatched setting; my customer's home would be his worst nightmare.

I wonder if I can ever find a middle way that suits us both, between the solitary white melamine showpieces that he'd like and the random old wooden bits & colourful old rugs & curtains that I love, at a budget that suits our income?!

ETA: I'm not meaning to disparage the modern white minimalist look, BTW, it's just something I personally can't get the hang of. My parents had no money whatsoever & had to take whatever was going spare, hence the happy jumble; my in-laws chose very carefully, lived in "quarters" & bought on "the HP" hence being very careful with their stuff!

Azi1

Last year my husband and I completed the renovation of a 150 year old cottage in Grasmere. It had been our ambition for years. The budget rapidly escalated from our original estimate so there wasn't much money left for furnishings. I searched ebay and similar and bought only antique oak pieces. If. They didn't match I refurbished then, some I painted in chalk paints and waxed. I found very good quality sofas and recovered them. I also bought vintage denby crockery and original old postcards and photos of the local area to put in frames to use as art work. I spent a lot less than I would have done, even from ikea and the quality is superb. I also met lots of lovely people on my travels collecting bits and pieces and I know the personal story of most pieces of furnature in the cottage.
Once complete we had the cottage assessed by the Visit England tourist board, as the cottage was to be used as a holiday let. We were delighted that the cottage was awarded the highest ranking - 5 star Gold, for exceptional levels of comfort and quality.:T:T

Now I'm gradually changing all the rubbish quality post 1990 furnature in my home too.

Ozgirlnc

Hi, newbie here.
I'm just wondering how you all transport these furniture items/large purchases etc.
I'm a single woman with a dodgy back and only a hatchback car. I'm not sure that paying someone to pick things up and deliver them for me might not counteract any savings I make. :-/
I assume you have to go to the CS quite a lot to find stuff, as the few times I've ventured in there's been little furniture in many. Maybe I'm going to the wrong ones?
When I was young and trim I bought a lot of clothes from CS, now I'm middle-aged and fat I never find anything nice.

fatpiggy

purpleshoes wrote: »

You know, I was walking past one of these places, brighthouse or similar and saw a couch (sofa) in the window, 2 and a half grand over the payment terms.

So ordinary looking. My couch cost me less than 100 quid 20 years ago, its now looking a bit old and weary but I just shove throws on it.

Some people on low incomes with poor credit are getting stung, I think theres a lot to be said for buying second hand and donating as well.

When I moved into my flat 20 years ago I think I spent 800 quid and that was for everything I needed. Some bits I bought from mates cheap, some second hand, but that got me a bed, washing machine, couch,tables, chairs, fridge and assorted smaller bits and pieces.

Ive now got a second hand freezer and tables and chairs for my living room. My cooker was given to me and its still working 20 years on


I watched a TV programme where a lady's washing machine had broken down. SHe borrowed £250 from Wonga and ended up owing thousands. I don't understand why people are so obsessed with buying new. SHe could have borrowed £100 or less and got a second hand machine from a local British Heart Foundation outlet. It would have been easier to repay and she could have saved what she would otherwise have been repaying and put it to good use if another emergency cropped up. I grew up in a family with not much money and the only new items I ever had was underwear and shoes. Mum made lots of stuff and Dad fixed things up or created from scratch. People today seem to associate second-hand with shame. Stuff shame - if you are broke you have to swallow your pride. I spent many years literally having to watch every penny and only had £10 per week to feed,clean and clothe myself but I still managed to save a little every month so when my car was worn to a frazzle and not worth repairing, I was able to go out and buy a replacement with cash. Actually I got a zero rate credit card, put it on that and dumped the cash into an ISA until the zero interest period ran out. Having made the minimum payments of £25 each month, the balance was a little reduced plus I'd earned some interest on my savings. You just have to be prepared to do a little work to maximize what paltry funds you have but so many cash-strapped people seem to prefer to stick (waste) £5 on lottery tickets and scratchcards in the vain hope of a quick buck.


When I bought my house 10 years ago I moved in with a mattress, two 20 year old wicker chairs and a microwave, plus a few manky pots and pans, plates and cutlery. I gave myself £1000 to decorate it and buy what I needed. Most of it came from a certain auction website and the rest from charity shops. The only new things I bought were a fridge-freezer, a bedstead, a rug for the front room which isn't carpeted, two sofas and some cushions. Even now when I am much more comfortably off I still scour sales and charity shops for a good quality bargain. Old habits die hard I suppose!

happydays89

I love second hand,I managed to buy a pine wardrobe with 2draws for £20.I painted it a cream colour added some crystals knobs and some green jute fabric down the middle of the doors and then added some small tarten bows,the bedroom we decorated had everything in it from charity shops,friends and family think the room looks amazing. It only cost about £60 for the whole room,that included the wardrobe,bed frame,chair,paint,curtains and pictures for the walls.