Would you buy second hand baby equipment or toys??

maloney_liz

Hi all, I'm not here to promote anything but rather I'm looking for advice from some parents.

I have 2 children myself and have been kindly given some used clothes and equipment for both, youngest is 5 months old. I have decided that these pre-used items are just as good as new items. It's been playing on my mind recently that there isn't a specific second hand baby stuff shop in my area, and am considering doing a little project, and maybe try getting my hands on some really good quality items and sell them in my area. Not so much as a way of making money, I just think it's kind of practical. In these times can young families afford brand new stuff for their babies?

My question really though is, do you guys think people in general would be interested in buying second hand cots, prams, toys etc?? A friend of mine says no way, only new items for her babies. So not sure if I'd be helping anybody, just loading myself down with items people will never want!

Any help, suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thank you :-)

Sleepy

They certainly sell on adverts.ie...

How Strange

Absolutely. Why not! I got a double phil and teds for €300, I've bought lots of toys, I gratefully accept all offers of clothes. Adverts.ie is great and there's a company called aris who hold 2nd hand markets every 6 weeks for people to buy and sell. My mam went to the last one in greystones and said it was fantastic and the good stuff disappeared in minutes.

The only things I'd insist on buying new is a car seat and mattress.

Cottontail

I'd second the new matress & car seats.

As for the rest, I'd have no problem with second hand stuff, although personally I'd prefer to know where they came from e.g. from a niece/nephew that had previously used them. Don't know why, maybe I'm just wierd :rolleyes:

But in this day and age with recessions etc I'd imagine there would be a good market for second hand equipment, not everyone can afford new stuff.

Rosy Posy

Everything we have is 'pre-loved', except for the mattress.

In my experience if something is going to fall apart it will do so fairly quickly. Anything that can withstand one child's play/wear is bound to survive a few more.

Baby clothes for the first year are a good bet as they grow out of them before they wear them out. After that, once they start running around, the everyday clothes get a fair beating but the 'good' clothes generally will go through a few kids.

I'd say the 'nothing but new' attitude would be fairly thin on the ground in these trying times.

Cat Melodeon

I've used loads of second-hand stuff, mostly got from friends for free or bought on sites like adverts.ie. Charity shops sell baby stuff too and I often check them out. Most recently I bought a second hand double buggy, a brand I never could have afforded new. A shop would be a nice idea as it's good to be able to check the item out thoroughly before making a decision to buy.

One thing that strikes me though is that there's such an extensive 'free trade' between friends and family members that I'm not sure it would be a viable business if you had to rent a premises etc. Maybe you could set up an online shop but also have a shed or room in your house where people could come and inspect larger items if needed? You'd also want to check out if you could be held liable for goods being faulty (eg if a cot or buggy had a weak latch and caught someone's fingers etc). I'm not being negative, I think it's a great idea, just make sure you don't end up out of pocket.

Neyite

I plan on sourcing second hand where possible. I already have a bag of maternity wear from my sister ready for when my bump starts, I have a cot, a travel cot, a highchair. on the other side of the family I have been promised an "attic full of baby stuff", which I cant wait to see. I will in turn, pass it on to whoever in the family needs it after me. So, I'm in the lucky position of probably not needing to actually get a lot of stuff, but if I do it will be secondhand.

Khannie

We've a reasonable amount of second hand stuff either from buying ourselves or gifts from friends. Recently bought a second hand "out and about" buggy through adverts.ie or similar.

I'd be the same about car seat and matress and probably a breast pump or stuff like that (though we have shared a breast pump with a friend, it's a bit different with a stranger) but other than that I'd be game on.

illumi

I guess it depends on what the items are, their price and what condition they are in.
Clothes, toys and bedsheets for example can be washed or disinfected without a problem. I wouldnt have a problem buying those second-hand.

But yes.. a mattress or car seat would have to be new for me.

silja

I would only buy second hand clothes for the first 6 months or so, makes you less guilty about just trashing the onsie or whatever if there is a poop explosion. Toys it would depend- I;d love some good quality wooden toys, and just could not afford them, considering how short a time the kids can play with them so definitely for that. Not so much for teething rings, or fluffy toys. Second hand is also great for strollers, because they are so expensive- plus you feel more able to sell it on and get another one if the first doesn't suit- seems to be very much a need-to-try-it-out item.

As others have said, would not buy a second hand mattress or carseat, though I have accepted a second hand carseat from a friend as I knew she'd never been in an accident etc.

Moonbeam

We bought a few things 2nd hand.
The pram,car seat and mattress I wouldn't.
I did buy the baby changing unit 2nd hand and the stroller (though it looked brand new).

stovelid

We were given a load of boys clothing by a close friend - jackets, coats, , trousers and tops. Of course we used them. Most of them had hardly been worn.

We also sold a load of our own stuff online that we didn't need as none of our friends needed them.

hairyslug

With our 1st everything was new, when no.2 came along we started buying a load of 2nd hand stuff from prams (the wife is addicted to buying them) clothes, toys, everything except mattresses ans seats, it got to a stage that i was getting post delivered into work every 2nd day , the last thing we got was a phil and ted for €260 most of my friends who have kids do the same thing so yeah i think there would be a lot of interest

fi1979

This is something I keep going back to as well. I've looked around and there seems to be a few websites doing this, but they don't look like they have an awful lot of stuff.
I got a certain amount of stuff from friends, which was fantastic, really eased the cashflow... And I am hugely in favour of passing on this stuff, as I think its madness if everything is bought new, particularly when so little used.
I have tried selling a big batch of stuff on a both free ad papers, and online and got little or no response, which I was dissappointed with.
Agree with the above posters, and it is generally recommended that second hand car seats and matresses are not used.
However I do believe that there is a huse stigma about using second hand stuff for new borns, which personally I don't agree with. I did clean anything given to me thoroughly before use, and they were perfect!

ash23

Agree with the above. I buy lots second hand both for myself and my child. I got a lot of hand-me-downs when my baby was born and in turn I've sold a fair amount of it on.
The only other thing I would say is that location is important. Because I amn't in or near a city, I find it hard sometimes to get a buyer for stuff that can't be posted.

part time punk

Generally no problems as the above posters have mentioned ... In fact my daughter's favourite thing in the whole world is a monkey teddy bought second hand on a whim for €3. Best money I ever spent! As he got pretty battered over the course of a year or so with a toddler, a duplicate was bought second hand on ebay.