Second Hand Is Not Always Second Best

Everyday, people purchase second hand motor vehicles. Providing the vehicle is in good working order, it will do what a brand new car will. Even houses - the biggest investment most will make in their lifetime - are bought second hand.

Yet there are people who cannot bring themselves to buy second hand furniture, household goods, or clothing. Long before "retro" and "shabby chic" entered our everyday vocabulary, people were making the most of pre-loved goods.

My parents' first lounge suite previously belonged to one of my uncles. Three moves, five cats, eight kids, two husbands and thirty years later, it was finally retired to the tip. The new, modern suite that replaced it lasted little more than five years.

When I needed to start a new life as a single woman again, I certainly could not afford to fill a house with brand new furniture and all the trimmings. So, I turned to Op Shops and garage sales. Mum and my friends helped out by offering me items that they were updating, or just did not use or need any longer. In most cases, they would not accept any money for them.

Of all the furniture in my two bedroom cottage (excluding the two free standing wardrobes that belong with the house) only six pieces where brand new when I acquired them: my bed, a chest of drawers, a flat pack night stand and three flat pack bookcases from a local discount retail chain.

Below is a list of the second hand furniture, where it came from, what I paid for it, and the approximate retail price to purchase the item brand new. All prices $AUD.

Reclining Arm Chair (1 of 2): Free: Friend: $80.00
Sofa Bed: Mum: Free: $120.00
Throw for Sofa Bed: Op Shop: $1.50: $15.00
Foot Stool: Mum: Free: Came with an armchair
Buffet: Op Shop: Op Shop: $10.00: $90.00+
Lamp: Friend: Free: $50.00+
Coffee Table: Hard Rubbish: Free: $20.00+
Small Cabinet: Op Shop: $5.00: Originally part of a set.
CD Rack (large): Op Shop: $1.50: $15.00
TV Unit: Op Shop: $5.00: $30.00+
TV (analogue): Mum: Free: $40+ second hand
Xmas Tree: Op Shop: $3.00: $20.00+

The buffet in the lounge holds the vast majority of my owl collection, nearly all of which are second hand.While many of my friend have given me owls both new and second hand (one girlfriend gave me sixty that she found in a bucket while cleaning out her shed), I have paid from fifty cents to $5.00 for second hand owl figures.

I would not be able to calculate how my collection would have cost to buy brand new.

Computer Desk - Op Shop: $15.00: $150.00 - $180.00
Desk Lamp - Op Shop: $2.50: $10.00 - $20.00
Standing Lamp - Hard rubbish: Free: $80.00 - $100.00
Office Chair - Hard rubbish: Free: $60.00 - $70.00
Bookcase (5ft x 3ft) - Hard rubbish: Free: $80.00+
Coffee Table: Hard rubbish: Free: $20.00+
Table Lamp: Garage Sale: $0.50: $40.00
Three Drawer Nightstand: Hard rubbish: Free: $50.00+
Computer/Writing desk: Mum: $180.00+
Reclining Arm Chair (1 of 2): Friend: Free: $80.00ea
Wooden Chair (1 of set): Op Shop: $1.00: Not available individually
Native American Ten Commandments Poster (framed): Mum: Free: $26.00
Various Prints (framed): Op Shops: $20.00 (approx): $100.00+ (approx)

My study also houses my several hundred books, ninety five percent of which are also second hand. I have paid anywhere from five cents in an Op Shop for a 1960 Penguin edition of A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, to $10.00 for a two volume edition of Far and Wide - Nine Novels by W Somerset Maugham (Odham's Press, 1955.)

By far the best find is copy of Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo. The inscription in the cover reads "Lou Collins, March, 1912". It cost me $2.00 at a local book fair.

A recent Op Shop crawl netted brand new copies of the Penguin Classic edition of Leonard Cohen's Book of Longing (2006), and the Fiftieth Anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Random House 2010). The pair cost me $1.00.

1940 Five Piece Dining Suite: Grandparents: Inherited: Irreplaceable
400 Litre Refrigerator: Friend: Free: $700.00+
Framed Print: Antiques & Collectible Fair: $15.00: $26.00
Toaster: Friend: Free: $80.00

So, as you can see, there is a not so small saving to be made simply by browsing your local Op Shops, garage sales, and neighbourhood hard rubbish collections.

What about my wardrobe, you ask? That would take at least another Hub to catalogue.

Happy bargain hunting!

© 2011 The Writer's Dog All Rights Reserved

• Prices of purchasing goods listed in this article are approximate only.

• Always seek permission from the owner(s) prior to removing items from hard rubbish collections.