Secondhand: The New Fancy?

This article does not contain affiliate links. I have no idea how to set those up, and I am sharing this because it was helpful to me, and maybe it can be helpful to you too!

One of the perks during this FUFIRE stage is having some money in your pocket and funds investing away in the background. One of the responsibilities that comes with this perk however, is being intentional with spending. Yes, you can afford it. Yes, you can afford pretty much whatever you decide is worth it.

So where do you start? And just as importantly… where does it stop?

I’m all for a well implemented Treat Yo’ Self habit, and I think it makes sense to spend when it brings quality to my life. So how does this look day to day? 

In the past, I used to go shopping frequently. I wasn’t picky, simply looking for something that would fix whatever stress or boredom I was dealing with.  I would return home with items that I don’t remember, may never have worn, or didn’t really need. Or all three.

I would peruse Amazon and justify buying things I “forgot” I needed, sending them to my house in an overnight rush with a box and packaging that was often more material than the shipped item itself.

Now that I’ve gotten older (and fear I have aged enough to resemble Grandmother Willow from the movie Pocahontas on certain days), I appreciate how pursuing financial independence has given me a new lens to view every purchase- big or small. I have slowly shifted to a person with less clutter, more money, and more time because of these new habits. There’s also a few less pieces of junk in a landfill because of this change. 

So when the time comes where I actually need to buy something, clothing in particular, I am going to be very picky and make sure I get what I think is value out of the funds I spend.

If I’m living life on my own terms, that especially includes where my money goes and what I get for it. 

For example, winter is coming (in 3 months!) and I’m in the market for a hearty fleece jacket. I like the way they look, they are super comfortable, and I spend 4 to 6 months in winter clothes, so it’s worth it to spend*. I’ve noticed over the last few years that many fleece zippered long sleeved items have popped up. I am finally going to jump on the fleece bandwagon and get one for myself.

If you are familiar with this getup, you probably know a fleece jacket can be purchased for a cheap price at plenty of stores. But for a quality one? One made well, that will last a long time, and that is made of materials that aren’t other names for plastic? Those can be expensive. Hundreds of dollars. 

I’m sure there’s a reason why they are so expensive, but I am not going down that rabbit hole. 

In the past, in an effort to spend less and make a half assed attempt at helping the planet, I considered second stores for clothing. The problem? 

If you’re going to be picky looking for an item when shopping at secondhand stores, it can take a while.

It can take hours.

It can take days.

So pack your snacks and say goodbye to your loved ones, and tell them you’ll write!

Trying to find a specific item in a thrift store, or even an item just resembling it, is a frustrating journey that can burn time and patience. I attempted this multiple times in the past, only to walk out of the store with no prize.

I’ve tried “cool” secondhand/trade-in apparel stores as well. Turns out, I am not looking for items that are cool enough to belong in those stores. Nothing makes me feel older than perusing a store that is supposed to have popular and contemporary styles, and I don’t understand what the items are that I’m looking at. Are these earmuffs? Eyepatches? Oh, …bathing suit top?

So here I was, after giving up on the idea of recycled or lightly used clothing, finding myself stumbling around the Patagonia website. Expensive, but at least I can get a quality item with a decent sustainability goal.

The website was great: Fleece everywhere!

Quarter Zip.

Half Zip.

Full Zip.

One color.

Two colors.

85 colors.

100 dollars.

200 dollars.

Yikes… 300 dollars?!

I am confident that spending money on quality is worth it, but there’s a point where the rate of return on quality for something like a fleece jacket is just not enough to justify the cost.

This is more of a mental constraint than anything- but it needs to make sense for me to enjoy it.

As I was deciding it was time to hang up my hat on the fleece jacket search, something caught my eye at the top of the Patagonia website.

It read: Worn Wear.

I clicked it, curious and hopeful that it could be what I dared it could be…

And it was just the page I hoped it would be!

Used, returned, or lightly worn Patagonia clothing.

Fleece! Jackets! Pullovers! Fleece Jacket Pullovers!

Just what a busy and spending conscious person could hope for! Quality items, organized online just as new clothing is with sizes, styles, and level of “worn”. 

I can find just what I want, for a great price. It is just as easy to find an “excellent condition” item as it is to find something brand new online.  The time and energy constraints of trying to find a used item that actually fit was removed. No more shopping at thrift stores for hours without any results.

There’s a time when investing in second hand makes sense- and time when it doesn’t.

Personally, I’ve had success with buying “previously loved” items, and I wouldn’t change a thing. There are so many wonderful, useful opportunities out there already, why not give it a try?

The amount of money spent on an item is only part of the equation. What brings value to me is that I was able to spend on an item that I genuinely need, and I was able to stop a factory somewhere, from making one more item than necessary. Maybe it makes a tiny difference, and that’s good enough for me!

I am shamelessly hoping that this article will plant a tiny seed in someone else' s brain, to encourage even one other person to do the same. Save some money, reduce the waste. I am confident if everyone reduced just 5 or 10% of their purchases, and made 5 or 10% of their purchases “slightly used”, we would be in a better place in the future, all of us. Our kids would have more beauty to see, our pets more room to frolic, and we could be surrounded by less cluttered homes.

We would also have that much more money in our own pockets, instead of sending it somewhere else. This is another opportunity to set ourselves up to be able to make more decisions on our own terms.

*Yes, I live in Southern California. If it’s not 75 degrees outside, I’m cold. What else should I be expected to wear with my jeans and sandals in February?

**Is secondhand the right word for an animal from a shelter? Not sure which animals I offended. Please send them my apologies.