Things You Should Never Buy New and Things You Should Never Buy Used
I read two great articles last week called 10 Things You Should Never Buy New and 10 Things You Should Never Buy Used. Ironically, I had been thinking that week of all of my favorite hand-me-downs or favorite things that we have bought “new-to-us.” Some people just are not and will never be hand-me-down lovers. I am the complete opposite. I check Craigslist and Ebay very regularly. There are a lot of items in my house that were either handed down to us or we bought used. One of my most favorite places to shop is a resale shop called Kid-to-Kid. While I love hand-me-downs and buying used, there are some things that just are a no-go. For example, I don’t buy my own clothes used and sometimes, simply for convenience sake, I will spend a little more to buy brand new. I also ALWAYS buy new when buying gifts for others.
The items that you should never buy new according to MSN include books, DVDs and CDs, children’s toys, jewelry, sporting equipment, timeshares, cars, computer software and video games, office furniture, and hand tools. Items you should never buy used according to MSN include laptops, carseats, plasma televisions, DVD players, vacuum cleaners, camcorders, shoes, mattresses, wet suits, and helmets.
I generally agree with these articles. Carseats, helmets, and other safety gear should always be new! However, electronics are risky when you buy used, but depending on how good of a deal you can find the risk may outweigh the cost.
So, what about you? Are you a hand-me-down gal or do you prefer to have everything brand new? What do you think of these lists? What are your favorite used finds? What things will you never, under any circumstances, buy used?
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Interesting lists! I disagree with a couple: I like new cars.
And I have lots of used shoes for the kids that work great. I think used shoes for adults is another story – but for kids, they hardly get much use out of shoes before they’re outgrown, so hand-me-down shoes are awesome. Eli’s in a pair of used Stride Rites right now that’ll last all winter.
I only disagree with the CD’s and DVD’s. Even if they were treated well by the previous owner, I’m sure you’d be dealing with scratches in one way or another.
Otherwise, I love used things. I’m an ebay-addict. Not only do I buy for our household, but I also buy for the studio.
Well, regarding what not to buy new…many of those are small ticket items that are popular GIFT items. I hope they said to not buy used stuff for presents for people. In my family these are commonly gifts especially for kids. That includes: toys, books, CDs, video games, and educational computer software. And jewelry is a common gift bought new for women. Perhaps listing ‘mens watches’ would have been smarter, especially for those men who love to buy very expensive watches and/or collect them. Hand tools are common gift items for older men.
I have tried buying some used sports equipment and often come up empty handed. Used video games are not always a bargain. I was in a shop tonight and they were selling the popular video games used for less than 5% off full retail for a new game. Ridiculous.
I love hand-me downs. I enjoy checking out Craigslist, garage sales, and especially the local kids resale shops (I love Kid-to-Kid as well)!
No one will deny that owning a brand new car is really nice, but to spend a lot of money on depreciating assets do not make any practical or financial sense. The value that the new car loses once driven off the car lot is ridiculous.
Our Camry was bought used and has been one of the best purchases we have ever made. We bought it through a Toyota dealership so it was certified and the warranty was better (10-year/100,000 miles) than they were offering for brand new vehicles. It had only 1 previous owner who traded it back to the dealership after 2 months for a larger vehicle. We lucked out saving almost $10,000 buying a used, fully-optioned Camry with only 1,200 miles versus on a brand new one. The savings allowed us to pay off the car in 18 months. I know some people don’t have great experiences buying used cars, but if you do your research and are not pressed for time to buy, you will end up on the better end of the stick.
We are looking to buy a larger car (minivan) in ’09 since my hubby’s car is nearing the end of it’s life expectancy. Unfortunately, the minivan we’re interested in purchasing is in high demand and there happen to be no used ones available in the San Antonio area through the dealerships. It will be interesting to see if we cave into buying a new one for the sake of our desires for a specific make/model.