10 things you shouldn't buy new - Part 1.
Here are 10 items where the cost vs. use equation strongly tilts
toward buying used. Lots of stuff depreciates quickly while still
having plenty of useable life left.
1. Books, books, books. The reality is that most books don't get read
more than once, if that, and they're astonishingly easy to find used
at steep discounts -- if not absolutely free.
Your local library, for example, may allow you to reserve titles
online and then deliver them to your nearest branch for pick-up. Used
book stores abound, both in your town and online. If you're looking
for a potboiler to get you through your next cross-country flight,
just stop by almost any yard sale and pick up four for $1.
Exception: Reference books you'll use again and again. For example, I
bought a deeply-discounted copy of Cheryl Mendelson's excellent "Home
Comforts." That was after checking the book out at the library and
running up a small fortune in fines because I couldn't bear to part
with it.
2. DVDs and CDs. Some online retailers, like MSN Shopping and
Amazon.com, now surface used versions of many of the DVD movies they
sell new. You can find similar deals for online CDs (yes, Virginia,
some of us dinosaurs still buy CDs). Other good hunting grounds for
purchase of used items: movie rental chains like Blockbuster; used
record stores; yard sales.
Exception: When you simply must have the latest release by your
favorite singer/director/ actor, right now. It can take a few days or
weeks for the used versions to show up, and perhaps a few months for
the price to get discounted enough to compensate for the greater
hassle you might face trying to return a defective or unsatisfactory
purchase.
3. Little kids' toys. Parents know: it's all but impossible to
predict which toy will be a hit and which will lie forlorn at the
bottom of the toy box. So rather than gamble at full price, cruise
consignment shops and yard sales for bargains. My husband's latest
score: a plastic Push, Pedal 'N Ride Trike (retails for $28, he paid
$10) that looks like new after a brief scrub.
Better than cheap, though, is free. Some parents set up regular toy-
swapping meets, or you might be lucky enough to score hand-me-downs
from friends and relatives.
Exception: Some parents get away with giving used toys for birthdays
and holidays, but most of us (and our kids) have been fairly well
brainwashed into believing that gifts should be purchased new. Try to
opt, though, for classics, like sturdy wooden toys.
4. Jewelry. Fat markups on most gems (100% or more is fairly common)
means that you'd be lucky to get one-third of what you paid at a
retail store, should you ever need to sell.
So let somebody else get socked with that depreciation. Find a pawn
shop that's been in business for awhile, get to know the owner and
ask him or her for recommendations. Some readers have had good
results buying via newspaper ads, but I'd want to take the piece to a
jeweler for an appraisal first.
Exception: You want something custom-made. Even then, consider buying
used stones and getting them reset.
5. Sports equipment. We may buy everything from badminton rackets to
weight sets fully intending to wear them out, but too often they wind
up collecting dust. Buy someone else's good intention and you'll save
some bucks.
Happy hunting grounds: yard sales, newspaper and online ads, resale
stores like Play It Again Sports.
Exception: Shoes, baseball mitts and anything else that will mold to
the wearer's body. In addition, some people shun buying anything used
if it has a motor, like a treadmill. They worry they won't get enough
use out of the piece before it dies. Given how little use most such
devices get before they're sold, though, you might want to take the
chance.
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