What can you buy second hand? Ans: Lots of stuff. Nice cars. Used Detroit up scale cars (Caddy, Buick, Lincoln, Ford) can be had for very good prices, far less than the cheapest new econobox. They are well built, parts are widely available, and gas mileage is very good. I'm getting 27 mpg highway out of a Caddy Deville. Used Japanese and German cars are not as good a deal as Detroit iron. The cars are fine but the price is higher.
Tools, hand and power. Old stationary power tools, the cast iron kind, are better than brand new Chiwanese sheet metal jobs. I've picked up hand saws, socket sets, chain saws, weed wackers, files, a Yankee screwdriver, a Fluke digital multimeter, and turning chisels. Exception, used battery powered tools most often have dead batteries and battery replacement is nearly as costly as buying a whole new tool.
Housewares, drinking glasses, decorative copper bowls, brass candle sticks, table lamps, electric pencil sharpeners, bowls and plates and mugs. All look as good as new after washing and polishing.
Clothes. A little looking on the racks at thrift stores turn up plenty of LL Bean, Arrow, Woolrich, and other top name shirts. Plus outerwear, children's clothing, chinos, and blue jeans.
Electronics, stereo receivers, speakers, VCR's, tape decks, computers.
Second hand stuff is a quarter of new pricing. If you are on a budget, and who isn't, you can stretch the dollars a long way. Plus, the stuff looks good and no one will know.
2 comments:
I'm a firm believer in second hand stuff.
Our 'new' pickup is a 2004 Ford F150 4x4 with 61,000 miles on it, less than half the price of a new one.
I've bought and sold amateur radio gear, sometimes getting older gear that works as good as the the new stuff (and more easily repaired than modern gear).
About the only new stuff we plan to buy in the future is an HDTV...and that won't happen any time soon.
Funny you should mention HDTV. I had intended to run a nice but bulky Samsung CRT model for ever. But the TV gods decreed otherwise, the Samsung began flickering and steadily got worse and worse. Some telephone calls failed to turn up anyone in the north country who fixes TV anymore. So, with the help of a college age son, I loaded the Samsung into the car trunk for a trip to the dump and brought back a 32 inch HD Sony flat screen from the Littleton WalMart.
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