Buying for Baby: How middle-class mothers negotiate risk with second-hand goods (original) (raw)
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Second-hand consumption among middle-class mothers in the UK: thrift, distinction and risk
With the arrival of a new baby comes the need for a lot of extra 'stuff ', namely clothes, toys and equipment. Traditionally, baby goods have been prime for the second-hand market as children grow out of things quickly while the objects themselves still hold a use value. According to market research agency Mintel (2012), one in five British parents have utilised second-hand channels to procure baby items since the onset of the 2009 financial crisis, no doubt due to the fact that second-hand goods are cheaper than their new counterparts. Juxtaposed with this advantage, however, is the oft-perceived disadvantage of a second-hand item being inferior quality, unclean or tainted by a previous owner . It seems reasonable to assume therefore that a parent must weigh up a number of factors before choosing to engage in second-hand consumption practices, not least because they are consuming on behalf of a small and vulnerable being who relies on a parent or carer to nurture and protect them .
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Mother consumer trader: Gendering the commodification of second-hand economies since the recession
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In Western contexts, 'hand-me-down' and sharing economies of children's clothes, toys and equipment remain one of the most normalised cultures of secondhand consumption. This paper explores the strategies used by mothers to realise the most economic value from these economies in current austere times with the increased possibilities offered by the democratisation of informal buying and selling spaces. Drawing on an ethnographic study of mothers participating in nearly new sales in the UK, the paper outlines the myriad moralities influencing mothers' everyday consumption, use and disposal of children's goods. It argues that providing material goods for children is a thrifty skill with mothers thinking past point-of-purchase to the resale potential of secondhand items. This strategy of trading used children's goods is a practice to circulate resources in the family and keep up with the commodification of childhood.
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