Where to buy pre-loved kids' gear
Op shops, classifieds and parent-to-parent apps each do a different job well. Here's how to match the place to the buy.
Op shops and charity stores
Vinnies, Salvos, Red Cross and Lifeline are the classics. Best for a browse and a bargain, and your money does good. The catch is the lottery: you take what's on the rack that day, in whatever sizes happen to be there, with no way to search for the specific thing you need.
Best for: patient browsing, low prices, and not minding what you find.
General marketplaces and classifieds
Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay give you reach and search. You can find a specific brand or size, often locally. But they're built for everything, not for kids, so you wade through unrelated listings, deal with meetups or unprotected posting, and there's little in the way of buyer protection on informal sales.
Best for: hunting a specific item, especially bigger gear like cots and prams.
Fashion resale apps
Depop, Vinted and similar are built for fashion resale with protected payments and postage. Good for clothes, though kids' items sit in with general fashion, and gear like prams and carriers is usually off-limits.
Best for: clothing, if you enjoy the resale hunt.
Parent-to-parent marketplaces
This is the newer category, and the one we're in. A marketplace built specifically for parents passing on kids' and baby things: everything is the right category, payments are protected, shipping is sorted, and you're dealing with other parents rather than the whole internet.
Where Lhoop fits
Lhoop is built for exactly this: buying and selling pre-loved kids' and baby goods with other Australian parents, with protected payments, real shipping, and no seller fees. It's the peer-to-peer option, minus the meetups and the lottery.
The quick verdict
Want a cheap browse and don't mind pot luck? Op shop. Hunting a specific big item locally? A general marketplace. After clothes and happy to hunt? A resale app. Want kids' things, safely, from other parents, without the hassle? A parent-to-parent marketplace like Lhoop.
Related reading
Skip the lottery
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