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Purchasing second-hand children's products
Whether you are buying goods from an ad in the newspaper online, or at your favorite thrift shop remember: Buyer beware! Buying second-hand children’s products is an affordable way to equip a nursery. But it can also be dangerous as some items can be out of date and no longer safe. Do your research and choose carefully as safety is the most important issue to consider. There are children’s products, especially cribs and bassinets that have caused deaths and have been the subject of numerous recalls. When in doubt reference our website under recalls for a direct link to the www.cpsc.gov website to check the items you are considering before you purchase any children’s product second hand. Before purchasing used children’s products consider the following: Cribs Used cribs can host a variety of hidden hazards that most consumers may not detect. Thus, unless the crib can be fully assembled and operates correctly, contains all the original hardware and the instructions are included, do not buy it. If you decide to buy a used crib, follow the checklist below.
Car Seats
Highchairs
Bath Products
The Consumer Protection Act 1999 and the Sale of Goods Act 1978 (as amended 2002); have limited application to buying goods privately. If you do buy from a seller who was dishonest about the reason for selling the product, you may be entitled to a refund; however compensation will have to be decided by Magistrates’ Court.
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Buy Local – How Spending Money Locally
Benefits You & Your Community Sure, the convenience of those big-box stores is nice because you can get almost everything you need (and a bunch of stuff you don’t, if you are anything like the average person – myself included) in one place, but do you know where your money goes after you give it to the clerk? It heads right back to the big-box headquarters, paying out giant bonuses and perks to the bigwigs while leaving the workers to fight for minimum wage and meager benefits. I fight the urge to buy everything at the big-box stores as much as the next person, because of convenience and price, but when I think about where my money is going it does make it a little easier to try to search out smaller shops. When I lived in New Mexico, I lived in a very small town where most of the stores and restaurants were locally-owned, and I tried to make it a point of buying from them instead of driving the 63 miles to the nearest Target Superstore. (There was a Walmart in my town, but I never shop there for reasons I won’t get into here and that you guys have heard before) Sometimes it took going to 2 different stores to find what I needed, or spending an extra $.50 over the price it would have been “down the hill”, but it was worth it because there was a local human behind the storefront. These people worked very hard to keep their small businesses alive in town, and as a resident of the town, I wanted to support them as much as I can. And even though I now live in a major city again, I still prefer to patronize an independent coffee shop or diner when I can, so that I know my money is staying in my community and benefiting my friends and neighbors. There are several reasons why supporting local small businesses is so important for our communities: 1. When stores are kept in business, it keeps jobs in town. That might not seem too important to you if you live in Los Angeles or NYC, but in small-town America, every job counts. Believe me, I have seen it first-hand. 2. Money spent in your town in a local small business usually stays in town. It goes into the local bank, where it is loaned out to local residents, and it circulates within the local economy. Money spent at the big-box stores leaves town immediately and goes to the headquarters of said company, never to return to the local economy again. One 2004 study found that for every $100 spent at a local businesses, $68 remained in the community versus $43 for chain stores. That’s a big difference. 3. You get better customer service from small businesses. Have a problem with something you bought? Walk in and talk to the guy that sold you the product. Try getting someone to truly care at Target or Walmart! 4. It keeps your community alive. Instead of having a busy big-box store down the street and empty store-fronts lining your downtown, keeping local business owners “in business” keeps your town alive and kicking. If Taos, NM didn’t have a local economy, the town would not exist. Period. We had 1 Walmart and 1 Applebees there (other than fast crappy food); the rest were privately owned stores, restaurants, dry cleaners, coffee shops, etc. Starbucks? Yea right – thankfully we had 4 independent coffee shops selling great coffee to locals and tourists alike. Keeping the economy alive also helps with local events, which small businesses are more apt to sponsor and support. Big-boxes usually just take the money and run. Supporting local businesses is a way of living mindfully and giving conscious thought to where you are spending your money and where it goes after it leaves your wallet. Sure, there are times when I need to pick up a few things at Target because I cannot get them at a small shop nearby, and that’s fine with me. It’s getting harder and harder to find Mom and Pop shops in big cities, but I do my best to try to support them. Besides, I like saying “hi” and knowing the face behind the counter. Do you have a favorite small town store you frequent instead of just heading to the closest big-box store? This story is published by David from My Two Dollars This story touched my heart and I dont believe it applies only to business but also to life in general!
Jessica Morin, Owner Jammies 2 Jeanz I hope you agree! by Trent Kirby / Paparazzi Founder Success is a great feeling. The degree of success doesnít matter, big or small, it feels great. Business is full of both failure and success. Not allowing failures to keep you from achieving your dreams is the key to reaching the goals you have set. We often need to get through the tough points of life all on our own. Too often, we turn to our closest friends, family members, a spouse or partner looking to vent frustrations and gain support. Unfortunately, the venting session turns into an ìI told you soî reprimand that only distracts us from achieving what is possible. Reading the histories of Americaís most successful, you will find the common thread of tuning out the discouragement of family and friends. Michael Dellís parents said no one would ever have a computer in their home. One of Starbucksí founders, Howard Schultz, was told no one would ever pay more than one dollar for a cup of coffee. The success of both companies came to pass due to the determination of the dreamer. They never allowed someone else to determine what they were capable of becoming. Running a business is difficult, especially when doing something that others believe to be impossible. In the beginning, you will have people telling you that youíre crazy. Then, you put in the countless hours of hard work and dedication, sacrificing your free time in order to achieve your dreams. When your success arrives, your critics will never credit all your hard work and the sacrifices you made. Instead, they will say ìyou are lucky.î Success is very rarely a product of luck. This is the excuse that society uses to explain why they didnít receive the same amount of success, rather than accept the reality of your hard work and sacrifice. Success comes from going to the party when you are tired and wish you could just go to bed. It comes by taking that phone call late at night to answer the questions of a person from your party who wants to learn more. Donít commit to your goals in words only. Do everything necessary to build your business, and then give a little more to make it special. Understand that when times get tough, you may have to walk alone. Satisfaction will come when you have achieved the impossible and share your success with the doubters. You are awesome! Keep up the great work, and your success will soon follow. Consignment Shopping - Used is the New "New"Far from the experience it
was just a few years ago, consignment shopping has become a way to both save money and save the earth. Consignment shopping, once thought of as embarrassing and shameful, has now become the chic and fashionable way to shop. No longer do we have to hide and sneak our used purchases from our friends and family. We can now hold our heads up high and proudly exclaim to all the great bargains we have just acquired. Back in the day, consignment shops were dingy little stores with low lighting and dusty merchandise. The tightening of the purse strings has led to an evolution of the consignment business. Many of the new resale stores are more like boutiques. These places usually accept only new or very gently used items that are up-to-date and trendy. Items are usually priced at one-third of the original cost. You can get a lot more bang for your buck. Getting a bargain is only part of the appeal of the consignment store. Not only do we save money and get great things, we can also make money by taking in our clothing and furniture and other items that we no longer use. Most resale shops give you 30-60% of the selling price once your items sell. That's a lot of cash just for getting rid of things that you no longer want! To stretch that bargain even further, you can then turn around and buy things that you DO want from the same consignment store for a discounted price. In addition to the bargains and the money, another huge appeal is its impact on the environment. The state of the environment is on everyone's minds these days. Everywhere you turn you hear about reducing your carbon footprint and how to make things more "green". When you buy and sell on consignment, you are doing your part to try to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills. Why throw away a perfectly good sofa or pair of jeans that you just purchased last year and are either sick of, or they just don't fit anymore? Hundreds of thousands of tons of our unwanted goods and gadgets gets thrown away each year. Recycling your unwanted items and buying others' diminishes these numbers vastly. Most importantly, consignment shopping is fun and exciting! It's like going on a treasure hunt. You aren't looking through rows and rows of the same boring stuff that you would find in the malls. Most are organized by size, color or style. Each item that you look at is different from the last. These stores often receive items that were originally purchased from all parts of the world and somehow landed in your neighborhood. You could be the only person on your block to own one of these jewels. There is no other place you can shop, earn money, be green and have fun at the same time! You can find your local consignment shops by going online or looking in your area yellow pages. They are so popular these days, most cities and towns have them, and new ones are cropping up everyday. By Buzzle Staff Published: 8/27/2010 |
AuthorMom of 3 boys and a frugal queen!!. Archives
April 2013
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