Second hand logic
The two most significant purchases most of us make, are a home, and a car. Both of these we buy second hand without much concern, we all know that a brand new home or car loses a lot of its value the moment you take ownership and so it’s cheaper to buy a pre-owned one.Yet the same logic applies to pretty much everything else, technology, books, clothing, even Food. All of these can be bought at a significant saving when bought from someone else. So why buy something new when you can get practically the same item for half the price.
Auctions and listings
I
n this blog I want to look at some of the on-line tools that you can use to save by Buying second hand. There are some obvious places to start,Ebay, Amazon marketplace and Facebook marketplace all jump out. As well as dedicated second hand sites such asGumtree,Preloved, and the relative new kidShpock. All have listings and ways to search for pretty much anything.
There is one thing to be wary of, which is don’t over pay. But that’s no different to buying new, all you have to do is know how much an item is worth, new, and then you can figure out how much a second hand one is worth to you.
Books
Being a bit of a book worm, I like the feel of paper when I’m reading so haven’t migrated to e-books yet. There are a few second hand book shops on-line but the one I use mostly isBetterWorldBooks.co.ukwhich give e-books a run for their money price wise. In my experience books cost about £3 delivered and I’ve normally found what I want from a few months after the release date. Included in the purchase price is a donation to a literacy charity and for every book you buy they send one to a charity.
Occasionally there is a special book that I either want to read as soon as it’s released or it has some special meaning to me so I want a pristine version, but for everything else second hand books do the trick.
Technology
I refuse to overpay for technology, stores put such a premium on the latest and greatest, yet a few months later there is an even newer version which is ever so slightly better. So if you’re going to be out of date so quickly why not just accept it and be a little more out of date for significant savings. The sitewebuy.comis the on-line version of high street second hand storeCEX, they sell Games consoles, phones and basically any gadget. Currently the latest Playstation 4 is on sale for £250 inCurrysbut second hand for £180, it’s exactly the same console and you still get 1 year warranty. Better yet is you can still get older consoles such as the original Wii for £25 and games for £1, which are still great fun.
What about food?
I know I said you can even get a discount buying food second hand, but that was a little white lie. I don’t know of a food resale site, yet. But you can buy food on-line which is second hand from the supermarkets, it’s perfectly good food but either no longer fits into a supermarkets offering, or it has passed its “best before date”, but is still perfectly good to eat. Perhaps I’ll do a more detailed blog on this in time but for now take a look atApprovedFood.co.uk, I’ve used it for all sorts of things and some of the savings are astonishing.
