Buying second-hand for your family

With many family budgets tighter than ever, buying second hand clothes, equipment and toys for children makes more and more sense. For those with an eco-friendly conscience, it is a good way of recycling commercially produced goods.

Used or second-hand items usually cost about 1/3 of the full price and often much less. Clothes, toys can easily be cleaned or sterilised at home but care needs to be taken over the safety standards of some items. Cots, car-seats and electrical items are the main ones to be aware of, although with cots simply buying a new mattress is sufficient. Cambridge Trading Standards has some useful tips on their web page: www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/tsd.conleaf/cots.htm

There are numerous places to seek out your bargains.
- Charity shops - most local high-streets have several. Perseverance and regular browsing is needed to find what you need.
- The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) runs regular Good as New Sales throughout the year, which are a great source of quality used maternity, baby and children's clothes, nursery equipment and toys in the local area. For more information visit www.nct-online.org or ring your local branch.
- Classified advertisements in local/regional press are a good way of finding a specific item.
- Boot fairs are the real bargain basement of second-hand shopping. Usually much cheaper but you do need to be there at the crack-of-dawn to get the best bargains.
- Dedicated second-hand shops are a great source of items in near-perfect condition. Try Jolly Tots in Dunton Green (for clothes and nursery equipment) or Toytime in Hildenborough (for toys and play equipment).
- On-line auctions and "for sale" forums on the Internet are good for particularly hard to find items. You do however, need to put your trust in the seller and send a cheque before seeing the goods. Try the buy and sell forum on www.ukparents.co.uk on-line auctions on www.ebay.co.uk or for children's clothes www.milliemoos.com

Of course, once you have found, used and finished with your bargains you can make more money and preserve the world's resources by cleaning them up and selling them on again!