Those who have children in elementary grades they know this firsthand, at the beginning of each new school year there are many needs: from a bag and new clothes, to a computer or tablets what is possibly included in the life of a child, a new bicycle, as well as furniture for the children’s room. And while opportunities buy everything above – which, it should be noted, will be added this year to an already heavily burdened family due to inflation basket – there are a lot of them now, depending on everyone’s wallet, and the same number of options for those who want to buy branded products at prices much lower than the original ones.

This is a new trend that has been developing in our country in recent years, which combines the need for savings with the need for a sustainable and socially cohesive everyday life.

The “protagonists” of this parallel market are branded goods, almost useless, which are available at great prices. At the same time, this part of the market is meeting the increasingly urgent demand for a circular economy, recycling and producing less waste.

Because the concept of used isn’t possible in school supplies, we’ve put together a list of addresses and ideas on how to safely navigate the circular economy market at the start of a challenging school year.

Second hand children’s clothing

In two online stores, parents can buy (and also sell) second hand clothing in excellent condition or unwearable, with labels them with a discount of even 70% off the original price. It should be noted that for many years, second-hand children’s clothing meant clothes that were worn out as a result of intensive use. in 2fores.gr, products they are “sorted” by category, gender and age, and you can see the starting and ending price. Also very useful is the differentiation into “new”, “new with tags” and “slightly worn”. In addition to children’s clothing, here you can also find: toys, books, CD-DVD and shoes. If you wish, you can also sell your respective products (after consultation by phone: 210 9839151, 698 6230385, 698 8360005).

It’s the same logic swaplanet.gr where you can send things that are no longer needed (in a special package that the store delivers by courier to your home for free). Assessing your items leads to earning points, which you can use to buy what you want. The prices here are also very attractive for products in almost perfect condition: branded sweaters from 4 euros, overalls for school from 2 euros and jackets from 7 euros. It should be noted that clothes that the platform deems unsaleable are donated to charities and NGOs who support those in need.

Bike in excellent condition

bicycles4 sale has a physical store with new bikes but also has a page on facebook from used. In essence, he acts as an intermediary between a potential buyer and negotiates with the seller about where and when to see the motorcycle in person. As the store owner explains to us, Giannis Papanicolaou: “Used bikes for sale are checked for condition and quality by us, and we also know the buyers. All of them are value for money, but the choice of course depends on how much money you want to put aside and what benefit they want to reap.

Discount in compared to the initial price in most cases reaches 50%. In other words, a simple but decent children’s bike for simple use can be bought for 50 euros.. Some bikes are used for only a few months, and the maximum lifespan reaches 2 years. Most importantly, and what a potential buyer of a used bike should always check, from whatever source he is going to purchase it, is the receipt for the purchase of the bike and the guarantee, if it is still valid. Evidence is very important because there have been documented cases of someone buying a used bike and finding out along the way that it was stolen.”

The variety of used children’s bikes that can be seen up close, concentrated in the physical store, also has rebike-art.gr (85 Agiou Hieroteu, Peristeri, 215 5302105). All bikes here are checked and repaired, if necessary, by the owner of the shop.

This is a trend that has been steadily gaining momentum in the last couple of years. Products in this category -mostly integrated computer systems, laptops, as well as tablets and smartphones – they are up to 60% cheaper than the original price.

The literal translation of the term is “refurbished”, and in fact it is an improved category of used products. In particular, after use, they have been properly tested for function, and all problematic parts have been replaced. It should be noted that refurbished products result either from the return of defective products, or from a return because the buyer wanted a newer generation product, or simply because the owner changed his mind without any problems with the product.

In Greece you can buy (in stores such as Cosmodata, PCarena, thefixers, e-byte) remanufactured products from branded companies such as: Hewlett PackardDell, Apple, Lenovo, Fujitsu etc. Offer examples: complete set of Dell PCs for 160 euros, pcs. Hewlett Packard for 80 euros, but also a laptop from the same company for 90 euros.

Display pieces, again, are those that have been used for a period of time to be displayed in stores or at events with little to no use, while stock is those that have been left on the shelf. The advantage of all three of the above categories is that the buyer saves a lot of money and at the same time contributes to the reduction of e-waste. If you want to buy such a product online, some major stores allow you to see and drive the car live, through the camera and viber or from video.

As one explained to us employee-technician in a large network with technology products that the buyer must check in this case is not small. The most important thing is that whichever of the three categories the consumer chooses, he must receive a guarantee of at least one year, as is the case with new products. It is preferable to have a physical store behind an electronic store, because the warranty is reflected in this way. These markets require creditworthy sellers.

For remanufactured products, the time of use before passing laboratory tests varies from 6 to 12 months. This category is quite advantageous if someone is going to buy a desktop PC or laptop. That is, if we are talking about a family, stable PC or a PC that will be used by children, and not professionals with very high requirements, then refurbished is the ideal case. Sta smartphones and on tablets, it is better for the consumer to prefer stock or showrooms.

Refurbished is also worth it if the price difference between new and refurbished is at least 30%. Some of the refurbished ones were released a few months earlier than many years, and this information should be carefully checked by the buyer (one way is through scouts). And also to ask if and when there is a need to replace parts and spare parts, it will not be difficult.

Homeless Antique Bookstore

AT “Homeless Antique Bookstore» on the street Piraeus 132almost all books sold for 2 euros each. Except shopping here carefully books literature for your child you can if you want to donate something that you no longer need. We remind you a brief history of this antique shop: Leonidas Kursumis he worked for a publishing house for many years, but during the crisis he was out of work. A little later, he also found himself without a home. At this stage, he began to sell books that he found on the street in Monastiraki. Then, together with his friends, who also faced a housing problem, they opened a solidarity second-hand bookstore in Validity which, when it grew up, was found in the region of Piraeus. Walking with children through this huge hall with thousands of items on the tables is really very interesting and will captivate them.

In the most inaccessible part of school supplies, a good solution is metabook.gr, which is one of the largest Greek marketplaces for used electronics. books –you will of course also find many titles of children’s literature. You can also use the platform to post ads for books you no longer need (posting is free and ads don’t expire).

Finally a bookstore kronosbooks.gr There are always a number of used books in good condition, and there are also good discounts on new, unused book cases: for example 3 new children’s books from well-known publications for 8 euros instead of 22 euros. physical store -where it opened a while ago months- is located at 120 Xenofontos Street in Kallithea and is a small family business of a couple of fanatical bibliophiles with many years of experience in the field of books and a great love for their subject.

Some major furniture chains (for example Tiniac, Istikbal etc) have (less or more) outbuildings with unused furniture/stock of old series, where you can buy a baby bed/table or wardrobe with up to 50% discount.

Finally, it should be noted that most of the buying and selling of used items is done through the classical method of advertising. This is an area that knows very large mobility- from Golden Opportunity and venda.gr to your market facebook, lists include “all”. The difference in these cases is that the search can be quite chaotic, and not having someone to check/take care of the used product and ensure it functions properly can make the search quite labor intensive until something good is found. .