Interesting Article

Gotta love the NY Times...they have the best articles. Josh and I have often talked about the "USED" marketplace. We have often wondered about whether the "secondhand" market is even considered when they talk about the economy. They often look at retail sales, but are they looking at used goods? Are they looking at goods that have been bought and sold several times? For instance, I occasionally hit garage sales in the neighborhood. The mom having the sale tells me that she bought the BabyGap shirt at a garage sale last year. So let's say the first mom paid $20 for the shirt new. She waits a year and then sells her shirt at a garage sale for $2.00. Then this mom buys it and a year later she sells it to me for a $1.00. I have it a year and I sell at the ECFE Kids Sale for $1.00. That item has gone through 3 transactions and whose to say it won't go through more. Not to mention that I owned the shirt for a year and I lost no money on it....no depreciation....not bad. (Side note...I am finding that at this toddler stage, the clothes are definitely not going to hold up as well...the kids are so dang active....watermelon juice dirt grass paint diarrhea....yep....not a lot of hand me downs anymore. But I will try and remember this and do what Emily Falconbridge recommends.) The truth of the matter is that when I first had Kendall, I walked into Babies'R'Us and I found it overwelming.....bright lights...87 different kinds of bottles....bouncy seats that cause ADHD....it definitely felt like you were some how being brainwashed into thinking you really did need 142 things on your registry. Yikes......I am glad to know that not everyone is buying into that. A boob (or bottle), a diaper and some love...that is really all they need those first few months. Okay maybe the occasional onesie or nuk.....but seriously....I really had no idea that a baby doesn't really need that much. Since the economy has gone wayward I have seen a larger number of garage sales. Based on watching the stockmarket, stores like Dollar Tree and apparently mechanics are also doing quite well(people are buying used cars and they are driving their old cars longer.) So you would have to guess that stores like Savers, Goodwill, Once Upon A Child and the like must also be doing well. The fact of the matter is, that secondhand/consignment shopping is an excellent way to go if you are trying to be eco-conscious....and I also like to think that by not throwing something out...but rather donating it, I am not taking up as much space in a landfill. I also think the stigma of buying "used/secondhand" clothing is not so much a problem anymore. So all you Recessionistas...go out there and buy....or make.