Here at Nearly New Guide I’m pretty keen on secondhand shopping. It’s become a huge part of my life and at one stage I only bought secondhand (excluding underwear) as a challenge. Over the years I’ve discovered these fantastic benefits of buying secondhand:
- It’s often WAY cheaper than buying new. I’ve saved money to go towards a family holiday or a fancy night out.
- It drastically reduces your environmental footprint. Just buying a secondhand pair of jeans saves almost 7,000 litres of water, reduces the use of pesticides (used to grow cotton) and reduces the energy used in manufacturing.
- Your money at op shops/thrift stores goes towards supporting fantastic charities doing great work in your local community.
- You might be able to make some extra cash flipping upcycled items or sought after brands.
- Its fun and relaxing! I find browsing the racks at my local oppie with a good podcast therapeutic and its one of my go to methods of self care.
- The range of styles, cuts and sizes of garments is huge so it is often easy to find something that suits you.
- You can also often find the latest trendy vintage items super cheap!
- Going up or down a size in clothes is much less intimidating and cheaper buying secondhand. I have less hang-ups about hanging onto ill fitting clothes when I know a ‘new’ dress is only $7 or a new pair of jeans $5.
- You can decorate your house on a budget. Want that magazine ready stylish home? Slowly accumulate decor items – cushions are a good start and are often only a few dollars, versus up to $90 at new retail stores.
- Secondhand is great for finding budget gifts or items for gift hampers for the holiday season. You are almost guaranteed to find something great for under $10. Shhhh – they’ll never know if you don’t tell them. 😉
- Have an extra grubby or growing-like-a-weed kiddo? Secondhand clothes are great as you tend to care less when they get outgrown/soiled/ripped/eaten.
These are just a few of my reasons why you should choose secondhand first. Let me know if you can think of any more!
