海角大神

I vastly prefer to buy items at secondhand and consignment shops if I can.

There, I said it. I love going to secondhand shops and consignment shops. My wife and I stop by such shops all the time in our area, particularly for a few specific items that we go through at an amazing rate. There are many, many non-consumable items that we prefer to buy secondhand because, frankly, buying new doesn鈥檛 add much to the product other than the 鈥渘ew,鈥� and that鈥檚 something we don鈥檛 want to pay for.

Here are twenty things we usually look for used before we even consider buying new, along with some reasons for doing so.

Children鈥檚 clothes Do I really need to say more? Children can be very hard on clothes at times, plus they outgrow their clothes very quickly. The end result? We don鈥檛 want to invest much in individual items. Luckily, children with plenty of clothes will often wear specific items only a time or two, so you can often stumble upon used children鈥檚 clothes at very good prices. We are (very) regular customers at the excellent in Ames, Iowa, a store we recommend to any parents of younger children in central Iowa.

Holiday attire As with the children鈥檚 clothes, any items that are rarely worn are good candidates for purchase at consignment shops, and the figurative 鈥淐hristmas sweater鈥� is a great example of this. There are certain colors that we tend to only wear during the week or two before Christmas and I can usually find great clothing in those colors at consignment shops.

Maternity clothes Another example of clothes that are only worn for short periods are maternity clothes, something we鈥檝e learned a lot about over the past five years. My wife has used in Ankeny, Iowa in the past, with good results.

Costumes I don鈥檛 directly mean full-fledged costumes, but instead elements for more creative costumes. Rather than going out there and buying a prefab 鈥渮ombie鈥� costume, for example, just head to the used clothes shop and pick up some worn items that you鈥檙e fine with ruining. We鈥檙e doing this very thing for our children鈥檚 Halloween costumes this year.

Silverware It鈥檚 often easy to come across complete (or nearly complete) silverware sets at secondhand shops. Take it home, clean it thoroughly, and you鈥檒l find yourself with all of the dining utensils you need without much of a bill.

Plates Similar to silverware, dinner plates, saucers, and cups are often easily located at secondhand stores. The set I used in college and before my wedding came from such a secondhand store (we received a really nice set as a gift, so we started using those because we only had about five plates left from the old set).

Kitchenware Small appliances like hand mixers and blenders, plus common tools like spatulas, pots, pans, and rolling pins are often easily found at such shops, particularly items left over from an estate. If you hunt around, you can stock a kitchen quite well from secondhand stores and consignment shops.

Sports equipment The in Clive, IA is my first stop for most sports equipment. In fact, I plan to take my son there next spring to look for his first 鈥渞eal鈥� baseball glove and first 鈥渞eal鈥� bat for backyard use. In the past, I鈥檝e found soccer balls and other such material there (and at similar stores).

Exercise equipment Such stores aren鈥檛 just a good source for sports equipment. Exercise and training equipment, like free weights and exercise bands and pedometers, can often be found at secondhand shops. Even bigger items, like treadmills and ellipticals, can easily be found secondhand if you search a bit (they鈥檙e equipment that people buy and sometimes never use).

Bicycles I鈥檓 including this separately from exercise equipment because, quite often, there are stores devoted solely to secondhand and refurbished bicycles, particularly in college towns where they buy abandoned or forgotten bicycles from the college, repair them, and sell them at very reasonable rates. in Ames, IA is a great example of this, but they themselves have quite a bit of competition.

Video games I鈥檓 almost exclusively a used video game buyer. I shop at both GameStop and Gamers, both of which buy and sell used video games with a strong return policy, and I鈥檓 in the trading club at each store, which gets me a 10% bonus on trade-ins and/or a 10% discount on purchases. Careful trading gets me new games to play for just a few bucks.

Books Used bookstores abound, providing a great place to pick up books at a very low price and also trade off your already-read books for new reading material. Aside from moments of weakness, the only books I acquire at this point are used ones.

Toys We often pick up toys for our children used, either at consignment shops or at yard sales and the like. A used toy is just as good as an old toy 鈥� a toy鈥檚 value comes in whether a child plays imaginatively with it. Just take such toys home and wash them carefully before using them (but that鈥檚 true of any item bought used).

Hand tools Everything from screwdrivers to hammers and drills can be found secondhand if you鈥檙e patient and shop around for it. My screwdriver set is a mismatched lot, with many of them coming straight from secondhand shops over the years.

Musical instruments Many music stores sell more used instruments than new ones. In fact, they often act as brokers in a way. Go in, tell them what you鈥檙e looking for, and wait for a while, and they鈥檒l often come up with a great used version of what you want at a very nice price. I鈥檓 waiting for some electronic piano models right now.

Home decor The best home decor isn鈥檛 stuff bought at the Pottery Barn or at IKEA. It鈥檚 used stuff, stuff with character and a bit of wear which reflects your own tastes. The best places to find such things are secondhand shops and consignment stores, where all sorts of interesting things pop up.

Gardening supplies Hedge trimmers? Weed trimmers? Hoes? Rakes? All of these things pop up secondhand on a regular basis. Sometimes you鈥檒l find a shovel that needs a bit of work, but when you can pick it up for a buck and it does the job, that鈥檚 good enough for me!

Furniture Almost all of the furnishings in my home up until about 2003 were secondhand 鈥� and we still have several items of secondhand furniture in our home. It holds up well, looks good, and does what we ask of it, so why spend a mint on a 鈥減erfect鈥� bed for the guest bedroom?

Art supplies I wouldn鈥檛 have believed this myself, but I鈥檓 constantly running into brushes, paint sets, and other such items at secondhand shops, perfect for picking up for my children鈥檚 art projects. I picked up a 128 count box of crayons that looked as if it had been used once for a quarter a while back, for example. I鈥檝e also found easels and oil-based paint sets, plus countless magazines and such that are perfect for collage work.

Cars So many people are out there going from lease to lease or trading in their new car every four years that there鈥檚 always a big pile of late model used cars on the market, often very well maintained and at a strong price. Don鈥檛 overlook them when you鈥檙e car shopping. (And, yes, a used car dealership is a secondhand store if I鈥檝e ever seen one.)

For every item on this list, the same idea holds true: shop used first, and be a little patient. If you really can鈥檛 find anything that meets your needs by buying used, then consider new items. Sticking to that policy will save you a mint.

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