Second hand – What are you willing to buy used?

Personal finances
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Flea markets, marketplaces, and second-hand products in general are currently a trendy choice, at least to some extent. There’s an abundance of various online stores for used products, and on the other hand, responsibility and climate issues also encourage shopping for used items.

Inspired by this, I dare to open a new thread on the forum, focusing on buying used products. This seemingly ordinary topic actually hides a lot of things to ponder.

The most important question of the thread is: what are you willing to buy second-hand?

Cars and homes are probably the most common things we all buy used sometimes. No one probably even questions whether a car or a home can be acquired used – it’s completely normal for everyone, regardless of wealth.

But for many other everyday items, the matter seems to be considerably more difficult. Can clothes be bought used? Does it make a difference if you buy a used padded jacket, a t-shirt, or swimming trunks? What about furniture? A dining table is easy to buy “old,” but would you buy, say, a bed used? How about electronics?

I myself buy (and sell) a surprising amount of used goods. Two things interest me about second-hand: saving money and, on the other hand, environmental issues. Choosing a used product is how I avoid burdening the environment and do my part in sustainability matters.

My favorites when it comes to second-hand relate to military surplus. Military clothing and equipment are usually high-quality, for example, warm, but at the same time also extremely durable. I also like that a military wool sweater, for example, is something that the same garment can end up on a recruit or a general – only the insignia vary. In the civilian world, it’s quite rare for gentlemen and commoners to be able to wear essentially the same clothes.

I also buy many other products used. In the last couple of years, at least an armchair, a snow shovel, a snow pusher, a dining table, a massager, and a metal detector have come into the house used. My current laptop is also second-hand, as I use a laptop that was previously used by a company and was sold to us consumers after being wiped. No matter what the product, perfectly intact and usable goods can be bought used for a fraction of what they would cost new.

Second-hand also works in the other direction. A wedding dress, a hoop skirt, several sofas, and one bed have gone out from us. Goods move surprisingly well when selling too, as long as the pictures are good and the advertisement contains all the necessary information. When you also buy used and the selling trigger is sensitive when an item goes unused, there is hardly any depreciation. Sometimes I have even sold goods for a profit, but those situations are rarer.

Another good thing about regularly selling goods is that they don’t gather dust in corners, and capital doesn’t sit in unnecessary clutter.

Do you utilize used goods in your everyday life?

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Uhkaako kassavirtasi kuihtua inflaation myötä - Arjen säästövinkit joilla on merkitystä
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I visit UFF and Relove from time to time. I am very selective about what used clothes I buy and at what price. For example, today I found a Johnstons of Elgin lambswool scarf in very good condition for €17; similar ones new start at €200+.

You can make some truly great finds at UFF, but you need to know what you’re looking for. Over 95% of the clothes I look at don’t come home with me.

Happy hunting.

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Nothing, not even a house or a car. I buy the cheapest option or rent/lease if the use/need is minimal, and for a greater need, I buy a high-enough quality option that can be used worry-free until the end of its life cycle. For example, a screwdriver set that is used only occasionally cost just ten euros at Biltema, whereas the life cycle of an iPad Pro in continuous use is currently just under 10 years.

In principle, it would be possible to optimize wealth and the price-quality ratio of products by trading on tori.fi, but it takes time and effort.

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An apartment is pretty much the only thing right now that I’m willing to buy used, and naturally also a car in the five-thousand-euro price range if it were needed, but a car-free life interests me more.

I used to buy a lot of CDs and DVDs second-hand back in the day. I especially collected 90s Finnish records; nowadays I don’t buy those anymore either.

I could also buy retro electronics, games, or items used if I come across them at a suitable price. I would also be willing to consider flagship smartphones second-hand; for now, I still buy them new, but at a discount—they are quite expensive even on sale.

Clothes are too personal for me, so I don’t compromise there; I always buy them new, but at a discount of course. I never pay full price for clothes; once there is at least 20% off, then I’m interested. I don’t own any used furniture either; I get by easily with cheap and functional Ikea products. My bed and sofa were bought new from elsewhere, but unsurprisingly, at a good discount.

In the long run, very little money has been spent on home furnishing and consumer goods, even though I’ve mostly bought everything new at discount prices.

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I use UFF often. It’s my personal favorite, even though prices for “bulk items” are sometimes a bit steep. Props to UFF for the fact that browsing there is easy due to how the products are sorted. I very often stop by to check the selection in the militaria corner to see if there are any finds.

I also dig the SPR (Red Cross) flea markets, which also have good sorting and thus make it easy to make finds. SPR rarely sells militaria; perhaps they want to avoid them. The prices are cheaper than UFF, but the quality can be lower.

Tori is also good, but there you almost have to know what you’re looking for. Tori works very well for trading various types of equipment. I rarely buy clothes from there because it’s quite hard to “dig through” the items, and it’s not worth traveling far for tiny things. Additionally, a fairly large portion of buyers/sellers on Tori are “nutcases” who can cause strange complications during a transaction.

Flea markets are then the “lowest caste.” You rarely find anything there nowadays. My own flea market visits are often just to kill time, and I rarely come away with anything. Items are hard to find because every seller has their own table and their own products. Even if you find something, the pricing can be anything. To put it bluntly, flea markets nowadays sell unopened Temu crap (Temu-shaiba) at a profit or just pure landfill waste.

SA-kauppa stores (Finnish Defence Forces surplus stores) selling army surplus were great, but unfortunately, I think they only exist in Hämeenlinna now, which is never really on my route. I used to make all kinds of finds there back in the day.

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Ikea actually has its own kind of second-hand project.

https://www.ikea.com/fi/fi/customer-service/services/buy-back/

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I buy little and use things until they are worn out.

I have bought many used products.

Most recently this week, a hip pack for skiing, outdoor, and cycling activities; the RRP is about €120, but I got it for €30 including postage, which already includes a bit of a feel-good bonus.

In our apartment right now, almost all the child’s toys, clothes, and furniture are used, mainly from sites and friends. “Savings” have accumulated by the thousands compared to buying new.

Additionally, a couple of armchairs, a dining set, a sideboard, a Lundia shelf, a couple of floor lamps, and a desk are used, as well as the entire apartment & car. Five bikes for the yard were also acquired used, and one was repurposed as a yard decoration, which has received a lot of positive feedback from passers-by.

On the back terrace, there’s a garden swing discarded by a housing association, which was fixed with less than an hour’s work.

Also sports equipment, clothes, a hiking backpack, books, board games, art, decorative items, rugs, broken electronic parts (e.g., a charger), and who knows what else.

Buying used usually always pays off; people want to get rid of stuff and are ready to sell it at a huge discount. When you don’t buy just for the sake of it, the items actually get used.

And when people know you take cast-offs, you can find some real gems, like a dining set for example. It passed the eye test for both me and my partner, and afterwards I Googled it and saw that it would have been an approximately €1,800 set if bought from a store. It just didn’t fit a friend’s new house, and they wanted to get rid of it easily. They even carried it inside and thanked us for taking it.

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I like doing woodwork, but my space is so limited that 99% of my projects have to be made from pre-made edge-glued panels. The problem is that larger panels in particular are expensive and often aren’t very dry or straight. I’ve often picked up old wooden furniture from “free-to-collect” groups and used the wood for my own projects.

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Downhill skis, some DVDs, and a lamp were probably my most recent purchases, although I rarely buy things second-hand. The main reasons are the difficulty of finding the right product, and for clothes and certain other items, perceived hygiene issues or the lack of a warranty.

I’ve sold, or more accurately donated, much more than that, as I don’t want to throw away items that are still in good condition. Often, people just aren’t willing to pay much of anything, so it’s easier to give things away for free as long as they are picked up, rather than haggling and messaging back and forth over 5 euros. Most recently, I donated an old bed and mattress, a balcony table, and a “clothes rack” (a manual treadmill) because I was moving. I also sent several trash bags full of clothes for recycling; it’s nice if someone can still make use of them.

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Whatever I’m looking for, I usually check Tori.fi or various Facebook selling groups first. Generally, however, I know exactly what I’m looking for. Recent purchases include baskets for a Pax shelf at half the price of new ones. In the summer, I bought a SuitSupply (Suittari) suit for €80, and for my hobbies, I’ve bought golf equipment—a putter and a new bag—through Tori.

I’m often willing to wait on a purchase; basically, whenever I have something on my shopping list, I create a search alert on Tori and make the deal quickly when I notice the product being listed at a clearly lower-than-normal price.

I always try to buy at a price that allows me to at least break even. In many cases, I know I could even make a profit of a few dozen euros if I were to sell the golf equipment I bought in the summer, for instance. Mostly it’s about tens, maybe a hundred euros at most, but that kind of saving is still rewarding when I get a good deal and can use the money saved on something else.

I’ve also bought used Asket dress shirts, for example, since I know my size. However, items like shoes, underwear, towels, and sheets are things I won’t buy used.

Whenever I’m getting rid of something, I also first try to sell it on Tori. If that doesn’t work, I just pass the stuff along to a recycling center or UFF.

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No one has yet mentioned books, for instance, where you save significantly on the price when buying second-hand. The second-hand book trade has mostly moved online, as brick-and-mortar antiquarian bookstores struggle with profitability. Of course, for the majority of them, online sales already account for almost their entire revenue.

Then a small word of warning: there is currently a massive bedbug problem in many apartment buildings in Finland, and you probably shouldn’t buy beds or sofas from those being given away or sold second-hand. Many flea markets have stopped accepting bedding, beds, or sofas for sale.

The bedbug problem is handled by exterminating all apartments in the entire housing company, which is no small operation. Bedbugs also spread easily through backpacks and the like.

Otherwise, I’m definitely in favor of the recycling idea. The buyer base on Tori includes all sorts of people, but in my opinion, the majority handle things well. My sample size is nearly 60 sales on Tori, and I’ve only had some hassle or issues with about five of them.

Have a great weekend, everyone! :+1:

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I personally buy art at auctions. You hardly find anything at flea markets these days, or if you do, it’s ridiculously expensive.

On Tori.fi, I made many good Ultima Thule finds a year or two ago, which I’ve used to get a premium grandma-core (mummola core) table setting for our home. Nowadays, even those are rare – I guess even the broke folk’s heirloom dishes have already been sold.

Regarding furniture, I’ve bought vintage teak since you can’t really find it new. I’ve also bought some Fanetts at some point, but sofas/armchairs/beds/clothes are strictly brand new because of the bedbug risk.

Personal experience with bedbugs from my time in the Balkans – it really isn’t great.

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That bedbug issue is definitely a valid point to raise. I do get anxious about it sometimes, but I still go ahead with the deals anyway. So far, nothing bad has happened to me or anyone I know.

I’ve sometimes wondered, if you wanted to avoid bedbugs completely, how would you even do it? As mentioned in this thread, at worst, bedbugs can come from something like a friend’s backpack. So even if you only bought brand new things, you could still get your share of them. Or if you live in an apartment building, a neighbor’s carelessness can bring bedbugs into your home. And equally, bedbugs can strike in an Airbnb, for example.

I dare say that few of us vet guests in our own homes or plan holiday stays based solely on the risk of bedbugs, even though they can spread through those just as easily.

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I feel pretty much the same way; I think it’s a bit of a fool’s game to buy everything new when so much can be found at half price this way.

And similarly, you can get rid of stuff without having to dispose of it yourself :ok_hand:

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The original poster’s comment is interesting. On the other hand, if you buy things for their durability, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s used or not. The idea is that the product lasts and can be repaired. If I outlive Pohjolan Eka, I’ll buy that screwdriver set from the estate, since it’s high quality after all. I don’t care how many lamps have been installed in the ceiling with it.

Few products are just made to last. It’s pretty pointless to buy clothes second-hand unless you find a real gem where they haven’t skimped on the fabric. Even if it’s only been used once and is technically new, there’s a high probability you’re not making an eco-friendly choice. It’ll wear out very soon and you’ll be looking for a new one again.

Technology evolves, and that iPad Pro can be left to the heirs, even if it were still functional in principle.

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For many, the idea of buying used clothes, sheets, or beds seems to be a terrifying thought. For some reason, these same people often don’t hesitate for a moment to stay in a hotel bed and sheets where perhaps thousands of strangers have slept.

Personally, I can’t think of many things that I wouldn’t, in principle, buy used, as long as the used option is available with reasonable effort and at a significantly lower price than new.

As the story goes, royals consider it downright boorish to wear new clothes before some court subordinate has broken them in…

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Haha, this is a famously great topic of conversation where opinions are fiery and the logic is often quite shaky. But I find myself pondering the same thing and sometimes even laughing when someone pulls the hygiene card regarding used goods. Because that logic doesn’t always really hold up to scrutiny.

It’s a bit contradictory that clothes, a bed, or a towel cannot be bought used because of hygiene. But at the same time, these people happily wipe their faces with a towel used by hundreds or even thousands of hotel guests, and lay their heads on a pillow in a bed where hundreds or thousands of hotel guests have also slept, using those same linens. Similarly, it seems okay for many to buy clothes from a store’s sale rack, where potentially dozens of sweaty customers have tried them on. The point being that a garment bought used may have been worn by fewer people than a corresponding product sold as new, but because the product has “new status,” it’s supposedly safer to buy.

One funny personal story involves a sweater bought from a flea market. a friend of mine was visiting a decent, clean flea market with their friends, where this friend bought a sweater. The sweater was neatly folded into a plastic bag and the journey continued to the friend’s house, where they then spent an entire evening and the night on top of that. The next day it was time to go out to eat, but the homeowner got scared about whether that sweater in the plastic bag could be left alone in the apartment, “because it was bought at a flea market and you don’t know what’s in it.” In itself, a fair enough point, but if the sweater has already been in the apartment for half a day, hasn’t that ship already sailed? Or did the homeowner think that “something” from the sweater would only attack the apartment if no one was home? Then again, later on, it’s perfectly fine to visit the apartment wearing that same sweater, as few of us realize/dare/remember to start inspecting a guest’s clothes.

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I buy items second-hand that retain their utility value regardless of age but are significantly cheaper than when new. My latest find from tori.fi: I bought a bicycle in almost mint condition for 50 euros. In a store, a comparable one would have cost around 400–500 euros.

In some product categories, older items might even be of higher quality than new ones.

I generally buy clothes and items for business use new, as I can deduct the VAT from them.

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Buying used is always a matter of need; for me, typical items to buy secondhand include homes, cars, art, and books, as well as tools that are used less frequently. On the other hand, I have never even considered buying items like toilet paper or condoms used.

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So far, I’ve bought stocks second-hand, and someone has usually paid a higher price for them. I aim to buy cheap, but sometimes I’ve also made mistakes by buying “used” papers at too high a price.

I don’t participate in share issues all that easily.

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