Hawaii Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
When shopping on CL/eBay...
How much do you expect to save?
I'm sure this depends on the quality -- new, like new, gently used, etc. -- and the item, but I'm wondering what you generally consider a "good deal".
I'm amazed at how much people ask (and pay!) for some items. For example, I had my eye on a gently used miracle blanket on eBay. Well, I was way outbid and it sold for $25! To me, that's not a good deal; I'd rather buy a brand new one for $30 from Amazon.
Maybe I'm delirious, but if I'm going to go through the efforts to bargain shop online (bidding/picking up items), I'm expecting to save a good 30%+ for like new and 50%+ for hand-me-down type items. What do you think?
Re: When shopping on CL/eBay...
I'd never really thought about it before, but now that I do, I think I'd say that I always want to save about 20% if the item is new. If it's like new, I'd go with at least 30%, and I'd never pay more than 50% for used. I'm always shocked when I see used items go for like $10 less than new! There's no way I'd have paid $25 for that miracle blanket - I'd probably have set a top bid of about, oh, $15-$18 or so (depending on the condition).
The only exception is if it's a high priced item - like the stroller we wanted, which was $850 in Aussie stores and $750 (new) on Australian eBay. It's only about a 12% discount, but $100 is still a big savings, so if we'd bought it here that's probably the route we'd have ended up taking. Well, as long as it came with free shipping, anyway.
i agree w/Lisa...i think it's a higher ticket item, i might be willing to pay a higher % of the retail price but for cheaper items there is no way i am paying anywhere near full price for something used, even "like new"! i was able to get a set of 4 ultimate crib sheets on ebay (2 in excellent condition, 2 in good condition - you could tell the "good" ones weren't quite as white but that's it) for the price of $15.50 and they retail for $20 each....that's the kind of bargain I look for when buying used
on ebay it's nice b/c you can look at completed listings and figure out what the going price is for an item. if it's already pretty high then i don't even bother bidding on the item. (i also don't bid on items until the last 5 seconds of the auction.)
if something is new in package or new with tags then i am willing to pay closer to full price for it, esp when you factor in that buying it new means paying taxes too. so, for something like that i am willing to pay up to 90% full price which is actually 83% off retail if you factor in not paying taxes (8.25% here)!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
For brand new items (still in original shrink wrap, etc), I don't mind the % that much and I'm willing to get it if the total after shipping is at least $3-5 cheaper.
For used items (I only would consider gently used items if I'm paying for it; if it's free, then I'm not picky at all), I would like to see it for about 50% less. But I rarely buy used items (I usually only do so for expensive/large purchases).
So yeah, for the gently used miracle blanket that sold for $25, I'd much rather buy it new from Amazon for $30 too. I think I wouldn't go for a gently used one off eBay unless it was less than $15.
Wow... I guess I am pickier then. I generally won't pay more than 50% for something used. I don't care if it's "new" or "like new" and still in packaging, if I buy it on ebay or CL I expect 50% off at least.
For baby stuff, I can use 20% off coupons at Buy Buy Baby to get something NEW, so I figure that if that is all I am saving to get it used, why bother? I can get it new for the same price or just a few dollars more!
Miracle Blanket - I would never pay $25 to get one on eBay. At $29.99 full retail, I can use my 20% off coupon and get a new one for $24 + 4% tax. I got a used one at a consignment store for less than $5.
Same goes for Halo sleep sacks. I found some at HomeGoods for $9.99 and $12.99 so if I buy one off CL, it has to be $5 for me to consider it a good deal.
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks (some) people ask ridiculous prices for used baby items! I would want 50% off something that is used, even if it says almost new, etc. Baby stuff doesn't get used very long, so everything should be almost new, haha.
I do think I might pay a little more for a big ticket item, but even for those I never did find a good deal and would rather just pay the 25% or so more for brand new with the hopes that I will use it all for a second baby. At least then I know how it was all cared for. I think I might be a little felixible if I knew the person (and knew they took good care of everything), but anyone that I knew that offered up used baby gear was just giving it away.
I visited a few consignment shops around here and liked their prices on clothes (but don't need any yet), but again the bigger ticket items were kind of expensive for used IMO.
Also, I didn't buy many used diapers - only a couple of fitteds and that was mostly because I wanted certain prints. I was nervous about buying a "personal" item - especially since a lot of girls on the EFF board were getting problem diapers (yeast infected) after buying used a little while ago. Plus you really have to stalk the boards to find good deals so my mom and I just waited for good deals through diapering websites - we still probably didn't pay full price for most.
OK, well I'm glad I'm not the only one...
Everyone kept saying what GREAT deals they were getting and I wanted to jump on the bandwagon, too! But whenever I look on the local board, I'm just appalled. Not sure why everyone here seems to sell junk or be really greedy with their pricing.
I think I'll hit up some thrift stores/garage sales and hope they have some decent bargains. Otherwise, it's just checking Amazon and BrU for big time sales and coupon deals.