So I use Craigslist.

Yes, I said it. I sometimes buy my kids' presents off Craigslist. Yes, that's right. Sometimes they get used stuff for Christmas and birthdays. It's not sad. It's not wrong. It's not nasty. It's actually really good, and I'll tell you why.

First of all, they don't know the difference. Take Orren's Plasmacar for example. Sure, I could have spent $60 and gotten a new one, but would it have worked any better than the one I got for $25 on Craigslist? No, it wouldn't have. Would he be able to drive it any better? No. Would it look better? No. Plainly, they do not know the difference if the stuff works just as well. It really is all the same to them, so why buy new for twice as much money (or more!) when you can accomplish exactly the same thing for less?

Secondly, it's green. A lot of times, people who are selling the best stuff on Craigslist are military families who are moving. Military families who are moving are notorious for throwing mountains of stuff in the landfill just because they couldn't sell it before they left. Often times, when you buy something off Craigslist, you're keeping it out of the landfill. You also aren't buying new, and thus you are conserving resources to manufacture new goods, by buying existing goods.

Finally, times are tough, and money's tight. My kids can get better stuff if we buy used than if we took the same resources we have, and tried to buy new. We have to make our money stretch as far as we possibly can, and buying used is a really great way to make every dollar stretch as far as possible.

So yes, I buy my kids' presents off Craigslist sometimes. There's really nothing wrong with it, and they're just as happy as they would be if we bought new. That's what really matters, isn't it?