So you got a vague interest in what might be a new hobby or something that you need some equipment to do, whaddaya do, you check out the various forums for it right?
Save you some time: find the posts from people new to the thing asking what kinda gear to buy, and check the replies. See how long it takes before someone gives the only correct answer
🐿 Hey I'm new to this, what kinda badger comb should I get?
->🐁 BrushBoi 2000. Anything less is trash. You'll waste your money.
-> 🦊 BrushBoi 6000 costs a couple grand but it's well worth it
-> 🐺 Ignore these guys, DapperLad makes WAY better badger brushes
-> 🦌 TBH this is an expensive hobby and most people bail real quick, just get a cheap one off Amazon, it'll suck but you're probably not gonna stick around anyway
-> 🐧 Hi, welcome to the hobby! I'd start by checking the secondhand markets, badger brushes haven't really changed much in the last 30-odd years and you can spend the same money on a really good Tangle-B-Gon from the 90's or on a brand new cheap one that won't be nearly as good but will still basically get the job done. Good luck and happy brushing, show us what you got when you find a deal!
This forum has a Shite Index of 4, that is four awful responses before the only correct answer
yes the answer is *always* ebay or craigslist or forum marketplace or flea markets
The only time that isn't the answer is when the equipment goes in your body
@ifixcoinops There's (at least) one other case where that isn't the answer, though - when that's too spoons-intensive to deal with. Depending on the thing and where you are, getting stuff second-hand can take a lot of energy! And sometimes the predictable process of an online shop is just a lot more practical.
@ifixcoinops I imagine that that's going to be something that's different for different folks; I don't tend to have a lot of choice paralysis issues because I tend to follow a heuristic that I've picked up from elsewhere: buy the cheapest option that looks acceptable, it'll probably be fine, and if it turns out not to be fine, that means that I'm far enough into the hobby to get something better! Works a lot better when you don't quite know yet what's going to stick (in the absence of better options like hobby exchange schemes).
It's very rare for something to not suffice on the first try.
@ifixcoinops (And in the rare case that it doesn't, I can usually find a new purpose or home for the old thing anyway)
@ifixcoinops @joepie91 also:
* Our Siemens oven / microwave combination, made in 80s in FRG, it was just 15€ and it gets the job done much better than any modern budget microwave (which won't even have the oven feature, and we recently moved into an apartment without oven and now we don't have to buy one) and it's huge on the inside and it doesn't have this rotating table meaning that you can fit even more food in it. I just went to the classifieds website, looked at all microwaves in our city for under 20€, and picked the one that seemed the best, instead of having to research the present state of things on the market.
* Our too fancy Siemens dishwasher, 15 years old, it was 10€, and it never engages the lower sprinkler so we have to get creative with dishes layout... but 10€ is 10€, and it can also automatically detect the amount of food waste in water and adjust dishwashing time accordingly. Again, I just went to classifieds website, looked at all dishwashers within 30km for under 50€, this was the decent one. Otherwise I would have to figure out which of dozen of models of budget dishwashers in 200-300€ range is less shit.
* Our two-plate induction stove, just a random local brand for 30€ when they're usually going for like 70€ in stores, and it works. I just went to classifieds website and found the cheapest induction stove within 20km.
* Our standing blender. It's ~15 years old powerful (2kW) and large (2 liters) Phillips for 10€. I just went to classifieds and scrolled through all blenders within 30km for under 20€ until I found one that seemed alright. New ones start at like 30€ and these cheapest ones are shit and weak and small, and some of the fancier models closer to 100€ are decent but some are shit, and I really didn't want to research which are which and risk 100€.
* My electrostatic headphones from 1970s, they were 65€ IIRC and they're just great, while cheapest new electrostatic headphones are like 500€ and apparently these cheapest ones have lots of problems and people are preferring to buy ones in four-digit range. Well mine are not worse, just older. This is a specific model, so I just found the cheapest matching offer in Germany and asked the seller to ship it.
* And also our tefal optigrill, my USB mic, etc.
(1 metric € is approximately 1.093613 imperial dollars)
@joepie91 @ifixcoinops I'd say second-hand depends _an awful lot_ on where you live, and then some on the nature of the thing.
Smaller towns, of course, might not have lots of people selling niche stuff. And might not be convenient to get stuff delivered to. But also, in developed countries people just buy (and discard) so much more stuff, it can be orders of magnitude easier to find used stuff.
(Then you get into does this thing last enough to be sold, is the community big enough there is always someone selling it, and similar hobby-specific questions).
But then there is a good equivalent alternative: the bootleg, off-brand, knock-off version (occasionally pirate copy). It has more exceptions, but for hobby stuff it needs to be looked into.
@joepie91 As a counterpoint, the last time I had to buy a toaster I spent literally hours reading online reviews and comparing features and didn't buy a toaster, and then I saw one at a secondhand shop for $5 and I was so overjoyed because it was The Only Toaster and also Right There
As a countercounterpoint, it's not a very good toaster
As a countercountercounterpoint, I actually have a toaster now, rather than a choice-paralysis-shaped hole where a toaster should be