What Zoe Thinks About Second Hand Christmas Gifts
Do you think it's horrible to give second hand gifts to children?
Zoe doesn't.
Especially when the used present is a big box of Duplos from Ebay.
Especially when getting used Duplos means that she gets about 3 times as many as she would otherwise.
I don't think she's bothered at all!
And hopefully, even 10 years down the road when she's a teenager, she'll still be as unaffected by the lack of original packaging as she is now.
I'm a new reader and am really enjoying your blog! I even made the Golden Honey Pan rolls to take to the family Christmas dinner and they were a hit! Thanks for sharing.
This is the first year I have purchased used gifts for my kids. I just did a few as I'm new at this and didn't have all year to look but did get each child a used board game and my daughter also received a used Fisher Price dollhouse. Some of the accessories for the dollhouse I found new and some were used. Once Santa had it all set up, you couldn't tell the difference! I was a little apprehensive at first, but it worked out so well and the gifts I bought looked like new so it worked out great and I'm sold on doing this more! As a matter of fact I hit Goodwill on the day after Christmas and purchased a new with tags Spiderman hat/glove set for a cousin and a never used Hartstone shortbread pan for my Mom all for next Christmas!
I made the same rolls for my family's Christmas dinner. lol
And how awesome that your first used gift experience went so well. And that's super that you are already finding Goodwill bargains for next year (Sonia bought a birthday present for Zoe at Goodwill just yesterday).
I'm glad to have you here, and glad that my blog is bringing you joy!
You know, I remember reading somewhere about when it's appropriate to buy used and they said used items should never be purchased as Christmas gifts unless they are rare collectibles or something. Whenever I buy someone a book, it's used. Half the time when I ask for books or DVDs or whatever as gifts I point to used options.
For some reason I tend to insist on new when it comes to video games. Used are rarely more than $5 cheaper.
My husband is self employed and this year the downturn in the economy hit us a bit harder than it has before. My youngest son's birthday is December 14th and my oldest son's birthday is December 28th so things can get pretty tight around here! For my 14 year old son, we bought a refurbished cell phone for $10. Since it came from our service provider, it arrived in original packaging with all the usual accessories, a user's manual and a warranty. It was impossible to tell that it wasn't brand new. My youngest son, who just turned 9, got an MP3 player that I purchased on Craigslist for $20. It was a gift from Santa so the packaging didn't matter. I uploaded several songs on it and bought a new pair of earphones from Ross for $3.99. He is absolutely thrilled with it and would never imagine that it is used. I'm also a big fan of clearance items and it seems that SuperTarget has the best in this area (Dallas). Santa also got the boys Guitar Hero World Tour Band on clearance at SuperTarget. It's for the refurbished Playstation 2 that my husband bought them for Christmas last year. It's not the latest/greatest gaming system but they don't care. They're only permitted to play it on the weekends anyway, so that way they don't get bored with it...and it doesn't interfere with homework on school nights!
Hee. That person should come have a chat with Zoe. And Joshua too. He read today's post and said, "Yeah! I think used stuff is usually BETTER." lol
This year I bought one used present, which was a first. I bought it from eBay and the seller did not adequately disclose how banged up it was. (I should say that I have purchased many things from eBay and this is the first purchase I wasn't happy with). I almost didn't give it to my daughter. But my husband pointed out that she is only 1 year old. She won't care. She didn't. She loves the gift.
This year I took all of the gifts for my children out of the packaging. I realized that
1) This lets me reduce the marketing coming into my home
2) My small children find the packaging frustrating
3) It gave me a chance to make sure everything worked, put batteries in, etc.
4) It reduced the Christmas day mess substantially
5) It helps me set the stage for my children to be less into packaging and "new" and more into the actual gift. I want our whole family to move away from the obsession with new and perfect.
I was so pleased with Christmas this year, and next year I will do more used presents. I feel so much better about them. It helps me save money AND I feel like I am treading more lightly on the earth.
Thanks so much for your wonderful blog. It has really inspired and energized me!
With my oldest going to college and tuition to pay for, I bought a ton of clothes for my hubbie,and two teen boys from good will and value village. Both have 99c days, My boys are into any 80's rockband t-shirts and anything Holister. They loved the presents they got and I had fun finding them. I found an unused wine picnic set complete with an insulated bag, two plastic wine glassses, a wine opener and stopper, and two cloth napkins. I think I paid $2 for it. And for my romatic husband he loved it. Can't wait to try it out!
I never shop retail anymore unless its Target clearance!
Thanks for your blog Kristen!! Love you!
My daughter Chloe is probably like Zoe will be in 10 years. At 14 she is very frugal and begs to go, not to the mall, but the thrift store. She loves second hand stuff. In fact, very little in our home is new. We love thrift stores, consignment sales and hand me downs! The very best part of all of this is that Chloe is not caught up with what everyone else is wearing.
The pearls and PJ combo is fabulous 🙂
I can't wait to have kids. I already have started stocking up on my favorite toys whenever I have seen them on clearance (like lincoln logs, tinker toys, legos, playmobile, and erector sets... things that will last and are timeless and creative fun). I never received a lot of presents growing up, but I loved what I received and had so much fun using them. I think fewer presents makes for more grateful children most often. 🙂
When I have children, I will definitely purchase used gifts. It makes a lot more sense. Especially since their interests seem to change very quickly.
Do you and your husband exchange gifts? If so, do you purchase his gifts used as well?
Clio, What a fabulous idea!! i think I will try that next year! It was an absolute nightmare to clean up after Christmas this year.
My 16 year old daughter is a huge Goodwill fan. She gets a monthly amount that has to cover lunches, entertainment, and clothes (except "staples"). She buys almost everything there except jeans (they are her one splurge). She gets more excited if I come home with something that's used than if it's new. "You got those awesome boots for $5? Score!"
My son loves Hanna Andersson jammies, but at $36 each (each!) there's just no way I would buy them new. But between eBay and the outlet store, we're able to keep him well stocked without breaking the bank. (Best find ever- Hanna long johns, new with tag, at the consigment store for $7.)
For clothing, toys, and games, there's no reason not to go used - it's frugal and ecologically sound!
Did you see this post I wrote? http://ultimatemoneyblog.com/are-thrifted-gifts-acceptable
There are a lot of interesting comments on the post. I totally plan on buying my kids thrifted gifts. How did the tv interview go, Kristen?
Mrs. Money, I didn't! But I just went and check it out. The TV interview went pretty well, I think. It won't be on TV or online for a few weeks, but I will link you all up with it's available!
HipToBeMe-she wears those pearls ALL the time. lol Cracks me up.
Frugal Dreamer-yes, we do exchange gifts. We will sometimes buy used stuff for each other if it's available in good shape, but we also buy new for each other (much like we do for the kids...it's a combo of new and used).
Clio, that's awesome! Go you! And thanks for the encouragement.
Penny, I hope my kids are teenagers like yours!
At 21 years, I'm not that much older than a teenager and I can say that my life was not ruined by receiving used or handmade gifts. Used and handmade gifts gave my parents the ability to afford much "cooler" gifts. My favorite Christmas was when my mom sewed an entire sheet cake box full of Barbie doll clothes from my old clothes. It was amazing! Most of my friend's Barbies had to wear whatever they came in. My dad was able to hand-make many more Lincoln Logs than what my parents could ever afford new.
Buying practical gifts for children is great too. Everyone jokes about how toddlers are most excited about empty boxes- why not give them a car seat for Christmas? They come in big boxes!
I really like your blog. I have been reading for quite a while. Most of my home is used furniture and knick-knacks. I buy new at art shows to support the local artists. My nephew is now 22. When he was about 4 years old he loved Matchbook cars. I found a case that was filled with cars. Probably 25 of them. My dad and I clean and polished each car and scrubbed the case. I shipped it to him for Christmas. My sister was taping the opening of gifts and the look on his face when he saw those cars was great. He picked it up and ran from the room to play. They had to get him back to open the other gifts!
I see nothing wrong with used gifts for kids. I like them as well and since people know that they don't hesitate to give me something.
Have a Happy New Year!
Patti
We regularly give used gifts to the kids. This year we did really well in the sales department, so we only bought 1 used gift for Christmas for our littlest, a wooden Doug and Melissa puzzle that we picked up at Talize. We often get the boys used video games and they don't mind a bit at all.
My son (age 8) is a huge Lego Bionicle fan and so we've gone on Ebay and craigslist to buy him pieces/sets that he missed or that came out before his time. (Lego first introduced Bionicle the year he was born.) He absolutely doesn't care how he came to get them or if anyone else played with them---he is just thrilled to have them. As for the new ones the Lego company thoughtfully 🙂 brings out every 6 months or so: I get a kick out of watching him save and plan and strategically request them from his grandparents for his birthday and holidays so that he sooner or later gets the ones he wants. It's much more meaningful than just doing to Toys R Us and getting them off the shelf as the whim hits. He really thinks hard about which ones would be good value for the money and I know he plans on keeping them for his own kid some day. He rearranges all the pieces and makes his own creations and almost never puts them back the way Lego says they should go.
Loved the photos, keep 'em coming!
that's supposed to be age 8, how funny that it turns 8 into a smiley. I think that's happened to me here before! It's appropriate, though, because he is a smiley guy! Especially when playing with Lego.
kids don't discriminate 🙂 if they are impressed by the toys then it simply means they are impressed..They don't care where it came from or whether it came with packaging or not. I have no kids of my own yet but I have a 4 year old sister 🙂
if the toys are in good shape why not buy second hand.. it's kind of like hand-me-downs...everybody's had a hand-me-down before I'm sure 😉 if that allows for them to have more toys.. then it's best for the kids.. since playing is a big part of their development! ! 🙂
My niece is totally getting used Duplos for Christmas when she's old enough. This year it was a few of those hefty paperboard books for small children. They were new, but came from a store that sells only used books or books other retailers couldn't sell. Personally, I think Duplos and Legos are one of the better toys on the market...instead of many of the new toys that seem to "play with themselves."
My toddlers' big Santa gifts were actually acquired through Freecycle, and I filled in the missing pieces via ebay (Little People sets). And, I totally agree that items out of the packaging are MUCH better for little kids to open.
that, is awsome! found your blog only yesterday, and must say, I am very inspired:)
Legos and duplos are incredibly expensive. My kids would much rather get a $10 box of Legos from a yard sale or flea market than $10 worth of new Legos! 🙂 (can't get much there). I've gotten a full bucket of used Legos for $10. It was a steal, I felt. My mom would try to get it down further, but that's probably because she's not bought any new Legos at the store. 🙂
If it is any help, my daughters who are 17 (almost 18) and 15 LOVE it when I tell them I'm going to the thrift store and do they want to come along. They prefer that to the mall. Of course, haven't been to the regular mall in months....
I think this is amazing and you have inspired me so much! My niece is turning 1 next week, and I made her some gifts (dolls) but bought her a chatter telephone (the Fischer Price one) for 45 cents at a thrift store, and another FP toy for the same amount. Her favorite Christmas present? The telephone. You're blog has been one of my favorite reads this last year or so, and has made me rethink how we were living, and found I love our more frugal life! Thank you for your posts!
Just found your site from the Almost Frugal website - I really like it! And my husband, for the first time ever, did most of his Christmas shopping on ebay and I got a used Dept. 56 barn (1987) and our son got a Star Wars book (used) that he loves! I am in total agreement with you - I don't think the kids notice at all and they get more, or they get something that is not available today. I loved my Dept. 56 barn, I hadn't even asked for it and I thought it was very thoughtful of him to find an older one!
I think in the world we are living in today, where it is all about which child has the most or just the best of everything, it is a great thing to use the resources available. We were feeling the crunch last year (2009) and decided enough was enough. No more credit card maxing, no more leaving bills go we should have paid, no more making new bills.We decided we would do what we had to do to start out 2010 with our best foot forward. Little stress and no new bills. Happy children and happy parents. We proceeded to shop on craigslist, freecycle, and every second hand store we could find as well as store sales and clearances. We managed to make everyone happy buying sale and second hand (nearly new items. We are proud to announce we made no new bills and are very less stressed as parents. $200.00 bought our son a beautiful home gym, snowboard, Ipod, cellphone and other accessories to go with the listed items! All on his list. All are excellent to perfect condition making everyone a happy camper! I think obviously a deal is a deal and a child is happy when the choice is nothing or something even if the something is used. It's time we get the best deal for our money and stop throwing it away! I children need to learn to get the best deal they can and to be thrifty it's a very important lesson. Our children will be much happier than the children with parents that can't say no even if they have to risk going into debt for it! Thanks for your blog and thanks for your great ideas, keep them coming!
OH man that is such a smart idea! I never have thought of getting Christmas presents from ebay and we are certainly on a budget, but what a smart idea!
You inspired me to buy mostly second-hand for my daughters Christmas gifts this year (at 18 months it's a great time to start!) She LOVES Little People and they are sooooooo expensive. So we pick up sets for her at Once Upon A Child, and we did the same for Christmas, packed them in boxes and she'll get a lot more than if we had bought them new. We got the Little People A To Z Learning Zoo Playset ($109 new on Amazon for $8.50!!! All it was missing was the Dolphin for D, but it had extra animals from the normal zoo that someone had added in) I hope you have a very Merry Christmas Kristen!