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.
Barbara
Wednesday 30th of November 2011
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!
Sarah P.
Thursday 24th of June 2010
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!
Katie Riley
Friday 8th of January 2010
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!
carolyn
Thursday 7th of January 2010
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!
Kalee
Saturday 2nd of January 2010
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!