There are many reasons why buying second hand can be a great choice. It's often cheaper than buying new, it's more eco-friendly by reducing waste and pollution, and you can find unique and vintage items that may not be available in shops. Additionally, buying second hand can support local businesses (like us) and charities too.
First up, are 10 great reasons to buy second hand, before we get down to our Top 5 reasons for shopping for your second hand loot with us here at The Clear Out Store!
Cost savings: Second-hand items are typically cheaper than buying new.
Environmental benefits: Buying used goods reduces waste and the carbon footprint associated with producing new items.
Unique items: You may find unique and vintage items that are not available in stores.
Supporting small businesses: Many second-hand stores are small businesses that rely on customer support.
High-quality items: Some second-hand items may have been made with higher quality materials and craftsmanship than newer items.
Less packaging waste: Buying used items often means less packaging waste compared to buying new.
Opportunity to negotiate: You may have the opportunity to negotiate the price with the seller.
Avoiding fast fashion: Buying second-hand clothing is a great way to avoid supporting the fast fashion industry.
Learning about history: Vintage items can teach us about history and how people lived in the past.
Chance to give back: Donating or selling your own used items can give them a second life and benefit others.
Well that rounded up our 10 reasons in a nut shell, but here's our top 5 reasons for shopping here at The Clear Out Store!
Cost savings: We always do our best to ensure our items are priced lower than their original retail price. In many cases, much, much lower! We have one delivery fee no matter how much you buy, so delivery does not go up in price when bulk buying which it can elsewhere. In fact, the more you purchase, the delivery fee is reduced to FREE.
2. Sustainability: We source our items from local homes and businesses that just need to clear-out their unwanted items. Therefore in most cases these items would have ended up in landfill rather than being sold elsewhere. Families don't always have the time or space to re-sell their items and many charity shops are stocked full meaning the only place left in many peoples eyes is landfill if it wasn't for our collection service.
3. Unique finds: We only have one of most items, this makes them all feel unique due to knowing how few people are likely to have the same items with them rarely still being in the shops at the time of purchase. We actively seek out unique pieces to continue offering that niche as-well as many more commonly worn items to appeal to all.
4. Less Packaging Waste: We're very proud of our dedication to save packaging waste. We do this by actively seeking used packaging, boxes and padding which would otherwise end in landfill and recycling centres. While recycling is good, using an item as many times as possible before recycling is even better and that's what we aim to do by accepting packaging/boxing donations in our local area. When we do purchase our own boxes and bags, (which has to be done to keep up with demand) we ensure these are not only recyclable but bio-degradable too! Even our packing tape!
Supporting small businesses and charities: This is a very personal one for us. Being run by myself, a mother of 4, we are just an average family with the same struggles in life as most of our customers. Working around the children including home educating, there is only so much I can juggle which means I don't earn a fortune from this job. Far from it. In fact there are days when I consider getting a 'real job' but my love for saving and re-using and creating affordable fashion keeps me going even on the darkest days. (There are many of those days haha) So just know when you make a purchase through us, your hard earned money is going straight into supporting a real family with the same desire to put food on the table and afford the after school clubs or a new pair of shoes that may be needed and more. Rather than a corporation with loaded pockets. While this store is not a charity, I do give many items to charity and with every collection of items, a portion goes to charity and my favourite bit of all, a selection go out on my clear out facebook page whereby I open these item out for FREE to local members of the public. I get a lot out of that side of the business. While it is effectively my free time for no financial gain, I love knowing I've helped a family to give their child a new fancy dress costume or toy, or help a local school raise funds with their donations from us for a raffle or helping to provide toys to a local playgroup. All of which is a regular occurance and is my favourite way to give back to our local community.
