These Are ALWAYS Better Second-Hand

Thrifting is one of the best ways to build a wardrobe with character. But there are some items that are better suited than others. And oftentimes, they're even better than buying them new. So in today's video, I want to go over five of the best items that you can buy secondhand. Ties are one of the best items to buy secondhand. Hardly anyone is still wearing ties, meaning that the quantity of available ties on the secondhand market is enormous. And that of course also means that prices are really, really low. Many times you can find a really nice tie that was made in Italy and is 100% silk or wool for as little as $5. Sometimes even less if you buy a bundle. And especially if you consider that nobody only owns one tie. Once you go down the path of buying ties and wearing them, I don't know anyone who only owns two or three ties. Typically, you're going to own at least 10, maybe even 20 or more. And then if you take into account that a decent tie new costs roughly around $100 a piece, that would be quite a significant sum of money. Also, what's really convenient is that ties are relatively uniform and easy when it comes to sizing because you basically only have the length of the tie and the width of the tie to worry about. Compare this to a suit where you have so many measurements that need to all fit perfectly and with ties, it's not really that much to worry about. Sure, there are ties that are much wider than average and ties that are much slimmer, but that's not the norm. And you can just ask the seller about the length and the width beforehand. And ties also don't come into direct contact with the skin. I have many friends who like to thrift, but then I also have some friends who are kind of against it because they think it's unhygienic. So for those people, ties might be a great starting point because you still have to bring them to the dry cleaner anyway before wearing them and they don't come into direct contact with the skin. So I think for all of these reasons, ties are one of the best items to buy secondhand and it's also the reason why I'm wearing a thrifted tie for today's video. Another item that's fantastic on the secondhand market and can actually be even better than modern ones are watches. There are lots of really interesting and beautiful designs, but most importantly, for me at least, is the size of vintage watches. Because if you look at a lot of modern watches, they can be very, very large and chunky and it's not really something that I like that much. Especially on dress watches, I would much rather have a smaller watch. The maximum would be 38 millimeters, but ideally below that. Now, I'm not a watch expert, but from my understanding, if you're looking at vintage, automatic and manual watches, there can be a couple of things that can go wrong. First of all, the servicing can be very expensive and then on the other hand, it can be difficult to spot either fake watches or also watches where certain parts have maybe been swapped out. For example, I really like the vintage Omega Seamaster, but I don't think I would be able to spot the difference. So, the watches that I'm talking about here are primarily vintage quartz watches because there are so many on the market. They are very cheap. Typically, they are not fake because they were already cheap to begin with and also because they are quartz, it's less likely that you're going to encounter a really expensive product. There are lots of great options by Seiko or Citizen, just to name a few. I bought this beautiful vintage Citizen quartz watch here. It has a stunning dial, perfect size in my opinion, and it only cost me about 20 to 25 dollars. Now, this is one of those items where it may be better to buy it locally rather than online. So, at local thrift stores, antique stores or flea markets, you might be able to find a much better deal that way than when you look on eBay or Chrono24, because even though there are many beautiful quartz watches online, they are often also around which is not really that expensive, but for a vintage quartz watch, well, it's a fair amount of money, especially when you can find some locally just for 20 or 30 dollars. Another item that's amazing to buy secondhand are overcoats. Now, that could be wool coats for winter or it could be trench and raincoats for fall and spring. Both of these are amazing, but I would say that a really nice wool coat can be more difficult to find. You need a little bit of luck and patience, whereas a trench coat and raincoats, there are so many of them on the market that it's going to be really easy to find a great deal. And it's also one of those items where they can actually look better than the new ones, because when you look at modern trench coats, they're typically quite short. They end somewhere around the middle of your quartz, but if you look at vintage trench coats, they typically fall below your knee. They also tend to have a more substantial color and oftentimes the build quality is also fantastic. If you just want a great looking coat and you don't really care about the brand, then you can often find ones for as little as 20 dollars up to 50 or 80 dollars. But if you want the iconic Burberry or Aquascutum trench coats, those are typically somewhere between 100 and 250 dollars. It's a little bit more on the pricey end, but if you consider that a good new trench coat costs at least 500 dollars, oftentimes around a thousand dollars, I think it's still a pretty good deal. For example, I found this trench coat here by London Fog for around 25 euros. It was made in the US. It's really well made and also the length, of course, is much longer. And then I also found this raincoat here that was made in France. Absolutely perfect length and a beautiful color. And this also cost me less than 25 euros. And this is one of those items that's going to last you many, many years. I mean, if you think about it, that some of these coats are from the 70s or 80s and they still look like they're almost new. So they're going to serve you well for many years to come. Another group of items that's great on the secondhand market are military jackets and overshirts. Because they're such a classic design, there's so many different variations. You either have the original ones, you have reproductions, or you just have fashion brands that also created their own military jackets. So there's a high quantity of military jackets on the market, which means, of course, that you can find some for as little as $20. And this can also be one of those items that can actually be better when you buy it secondhand. It's one of these items that actually gets better with age. So when there's a little bit of a worn look, when there's a little bit of patina, that's actually when it starts to look the most interesting. And that's something that you naturally get with secondhand items. Now, I must point out that this might be one of those items, again, that could be better to buy locally. So either at a local thrift store or at a local secondhand website. Because if you look on eBay, for example, sometimes the prices charged for old vintage military jackets are pretty outrageous. You can find them sometimes for $200 or $300 for a used jacket. Now, I get that some jackets are a little bit rarer than others. I still think it's quite overpriced, in my opinion. But if you look on more local websites or thrift stores, then you'll probably find a jacket that's just as good for $20 or $30. The last item on the list are sport jackets and blazers. You have a very high quantity of these on the market. Again, that means that you can find some pretty good deals in those. Now, especially if you consider that a good sport jacket or blazer new is going to cost you at least $500. But if you find one on the secondhand market, you'll probably be able to find them for around $20 to $100. However, I need to point out that there are two issues with these items. The first one is sizing. You really need to know your measurements. Otherwise, you're going to end up with an item that doesn't fit you. And then it really depends on whether your size is common on the market or not. I have a friend of mine who has an entire wardrobe full of suit supplier jackets and suits. And that's because his size is actually quite common on the secondhand market. But personally, every time I look for my size and suit supplier, there are not a lot of options. And they're also not really that nice. So for me, I haven't had much luck with sport jackets. But there's one item that I can find very well on the secondhand market. And those are blazers. There are not a lot of companies that still produce blazers. So it's actually a great item to buy secondhand, especially if you look for a longer jacket. Because if you look at many vintage blazers, they have a more traditional cut, meaning they are also much longer, and they fully cover your seat. Gentlemen, these were five of the best items to buy secondhand. But I would love to hear about your personal experience. Which ones have you found to be the best? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for watching and see you next week.