Buying second hand items to give as Christmas presents?

GabbaGabbaHey

The best presents I have ever received are those where the giver has put some thought into what they are giving, and I've ended up with something that I like and/or find useful. Whether it's second-hand or new, cheap or expensive, etc, is pretty well irrelevant.

And I certainly would get no joy from receiving a present where I thought that the giver had to go without food so that they could afford it.

Tammykitty

I bought my now husband a limited edition LP for an engagement present, and he loves it!
All (or 99.9%) antique items are second hand, and collectors love them.


I also bought a board game at a car boot sale - all parts included cost £2 versus £20 new (And the game was only out the year before) - give it to my parents as a xmas gift, for us all to play Christmas day.


I think a lot of our presents when we were children were second hand, we didn't even know it.
My mum volunteers in a charity, and still gets us some Christmas decorations etc - I love them, they are much more unique than a new decoration!

Gold_Shogun

To me personally, it is the usefulness & desirability of the present to the recipient that counts more than anything, and irrespective of whether it is new or secondhand. ... I hate both giving OR receiving "useless krap" just for the sake of "giving a present".

For example, I got my auld Dad a Disability Powerchair a few years ago for a cost of under £200 from a charity shop as opposed to a new price of circa £3,000 ... Old, but clean & fully functional, and it's been a lifesaver for him as neither of us could afford a new one, so we were both delighted.

For another example, my son bought me a Dual-Motor Rise & Recline chair for my arthritis earlier this year from an ebay charity shop for the princely sum of £21, and when we collected it from the local depot, the original purchaser's receipt from some eight months earlier when it was bought brand new for £1795 was in the side pocket along with all the original manuals & guarantees, etc, and it turned out that the original owner had died shortly after buying it and left her furniture to the charity shop .... Did I care that it was secondhand? Certainly NOT, as it was the usefulness of the item AND the thoughtfulness of my son that mattered to me, and I was dead chuffed & proud that my lad had managed to buy an otherwise unaffordable item so cheap.

Goods from Charity Shops, etc do NOT mean "Rejected, Faulty, or Krap" as some have suggested, and I like the thought that at least some part of the sale proceeds goes to benefiting the charity.

Mistral001

I have to buy most of my clothes, shoes, books, furniture and luxury goods such as TV's etc in charity shops, car boot sales or secondhand on ebay just to stay solvent 364 days of the year. Pretty much the only new things I get, apart from groceries, are presents at Christmas. I look forward to it. Even if it is something I do not really want or not my taste in fashion, it is new.

When everybody around me gets new things for Christmas and I am singled out to get secondhand presents, then it does affect me. Offense is probably too strong a word, but it does not raise my spirits.

Kynthia

Mistral001 wrote: »

I have to buy most of my clothes, shoes, books, furniture and luxury goods such as TV's etc in charity shops, car boot sales or secondhand on ebay just to stay solvent 364 days of the year. Pretty much the only new things I get, apart from groceries, are presents at Christmas. I look forward to it. Even if it is something I do not really want or not my taste in fashion, it is new.

When everybody around me gets new things for Christmas and I am singled out to get secondhand presents, then it does affect me. Offense is probably too strong a word, but it does not raise my spirits.

If receiving new items is that important to you then I hope that's what you get. As has been said it's about the receipent and not the giver. However if people you are buying for are fine with a second-hand gift that is "as new" then its fine for you to gibr tgem something pre-owned. At the end of the day we all just want to give a gift that is wanted.

ukwmo

Well, the boy liked his famous person letter, spent an hour trying to decipher the handwriting and figure out what it was all about. Has been handling it with disposable gloves, as if it's the Magna Carta lol.

My Brother and his 2nd hand Kirby vacuum cleaner ? His initial comment was a bit, um, ripe anglo saxon. But he tried it in his living room, just about took the carpet up off the floor. Showed him the neutral/drive switch ... now he's posted on FB to say that his vacuum cleaner is absolutely minted because it's got automatic transmission lol. "The Rolls Royce of hoovers", as he said. It's a bit old fashioned floor thumping noisy, though.

Aww well, both happy chappies.

Hope you're all enjoying your day too.

[Deleted User]

Yup, the action figures went down a treat, best present he got.

awindup

Speaking personally I have a very lovely ex-wife and we are good friends regardless of our 9 years split. I still buy her presents but this year she has banned the purchasing and exchanging of unnecessary gifts not on cost grounds but purely on packaging waste and unwanted items. Even consumables have packaging. She watched Blue Planet 2 on TV and the next day she was both anti waste and plastic along with being semi vegetarian lol. Anyway I know for a 100% fact she would rather have something that is repurposed or recycled (aka second-hand and without packaging) than something that came brand new in a box and that she would actually appreciate a second-hand gift if it was something she actually wanted.
I also think that the value or condition of a gift is totally irrelevant ( IT'S THE ENJOYMENT OR USEFULNESS IT BRINGS) and I would rather somebody buy me a second hand gadget that works perfectly and would have cost too much as a gift, ordinarily, than to buy me something new but (at the price they were willing to spend) completely irrelevant to my life lol
Imagine getting a ring doorbell 2 for Christmas instead of a ring doorbell 1 (or God forbid a normal doorbell lol) for example ... I know which I would rather have!

Owain_Moneysaver

awindup wrote: »

Imagine getting a ring doorbell 2 for Christmas instead of a ring doorbell 1 (or God forbid a normal doorbell lol) for example ... I know which I would rather have!

One of these perhaps.

longforgotten

I admit I would not buy a present for family or friends unless I was confident they would be ok with it............


But for several years now hubby and I have an agreement that we spend £10 on each other at Christmas time and it has to be spent in charity shops. We've had some cracking bargains and fun doing it. And once they're finished with they can go back to the charity shop