Todd M. Siebert: Prepping on the cheap: How to purchase good used survival items

There has been a fundamental shift of mindset in America over the last several decades when it comes to consumer behaviors. What was once considered smart, or at least a good idea, may now be frowned upon (like preparing for a natural disaster or downturn in the economy). Purchasing an item used instead of brand new has become one such area.

Modern America often looks down on the behavior of obtaining used goods and might now be considered something that only “poor people” do. One of the greatest problems that I see with this thought process is that it is not the, uh, “financially challenged” who are making used purchases.

I was a car salesman for GM at an earlier point in my life and it was not uncommon to see someone purchase a brand new vehicle that had a payment that was larger than their rent. Just to be clear, it was not because they were only financing the vehicle for 12 months. It seems as though 84 month financing was common in these situations. For a little further perspective, this was when a new car cost about 75-80% of the cost of a new car today.

When making a purchase decision, there are a couple of exceptions to the requirement to always buy brand new that come to mind: buying a house or a car are the two big ones. Overall, even that is still considered inferior to a person that is able to purchase everything brand new. It has become a status symbol to have a shiny new car and brand new house.

Looking at purchasing behaviors in America today, one statement keeps coming to mind, “retail is for suckers.” This is truer than it has ever been before. The products manufactured today are usually from outside of the country, made with the cheapest materials (even if they have to be created first), and to top it off, they are usually engineered to fail at a certain point so that you have to continue to purchase that product over and over again. And it will continue to work that way as long as the mindset of buyers stays the same.

When it comes to preparing for an unfortunate event like a natural disaster, loss of a job, economic collapse, or even a terrorist attack, there are many things that make a whole lot of sense to purchase used. This is especially true when considering that some of these items may only sit on a shelf to only be used in the event that the SHTF.

While there are many advantages to purchasing an item used over new; when making a determination of which route would be best for you, consider:

What Are Your Needs? – I bring this up because cost cannot be everything. It may behoove you to get a new product that better fits your needs than an older product that will probably get the job done. This is a good opportunity to also do some research and see what others in a similar situation have done to solve their problem and also see what you might need to ensure that you avoid.

Quality – Is the new product of a higher quality than the used alternative? As time goes by, this answer has increasingly become no. It is understood that the cost is higher for a quality product. You get what you pay for, right? Not always! Make sure to evaluate the quality of used versus new when looking to make a purchase. In many cases, the older product will prevail but there have also been significant improvements in materials and processes that may make a new product better for you.

Cost – Always keep your budget in mind and stick to it. By doing your research and determining what the market is like, you can set a price range for your purchase. This is one of the areas where the difference between new and used can be rather large.

Depreciation – New items will lose their value must faster than a used item will. The ability to save money on not only the purchase price, but the minimized losses from depreciation make used product purchases extremely appealing.

Maintenance – Before making your purchase it is important to consider the maintenance aspects of the product and how they may differ between an older product and a new one. This can go either way and will can vary greatly based on what the item is.

Additional Required Items – There is always a possibility when buying a used product that it may not be complete and require additional items to be purchased. On the other side of the coin however, companies today are trying to make as much money as they can so it may be possible to acquire a complete item used that, if purchased new, might require additional items to be purchased to make it complete.

What Are Your Needs? – This one is simple. If it is not a priority, take care of something else first. If one feature is more important than another, spend the money in the right place. Lastly, go with the best option available, even if it means saving your money and waiting for a while.

I am sure that I missed a point or two. Hopefully I can be forgiven for that.

What should a used item cost?

FREE!!! That is the perfect answer and while that isn’t usually possible, I did bring it up for a reason. In my local area I am able to regularly find some very usable items in the “free” section of the online classifieds. Yep, the same website you are thinking of. Items that I see all the time include appliances, building materials, firewood, furniture, hay, rocks (awesome for setting up a defensive perimeter), tires (use these to build a shelter or as part of your defensive perimeter), fill dirt, and even rabbits and chickens.

This can also turn out to be a source of income for those who are interested in doing the work. If you were willing to recycle scrap metal, sell firewood, or make pallet furniture, you might not get rich, but you can live more comfortably than you would without the extra disposable income. This additional income could also provide a means to make additional preparations.

There is not a universal price list for used products. Because of this, one of the most important pieces of research that can be conducted about a new versus used item is what the local market is like and what the right price is for something.

With the many items that can be purchased used, it does not mean that a used product should be the automatic choice. Every choice will have to be evaluated as an individual item.

Here are some of the many preparedness related items that I think are worth looking for on the used market:

Shelter

There a variety of shelters that can be obtained used with plenty of life left. A traditional house aside, tents, trailers, shipping containers, and RV’s are all examples of shelters that can be great for prepping and are easily found used.

The “free” section of those local online classifieds I spoke of earlier can be a great place to locate building materials if you are building a shelter of your own.

Vehicles

Whether a plane, train, or automobile, almost any vehicle can be obtained at significant savings when purchased used when compared to new. The difficult thing that I often struggle with is determining how good the condition of a used vehicle is. The most important part of the car is the engine (assuming you want to go somewhere) and there is no telling what is going on inside of that big chunk of metal. Find a reputable mechanic who can assist you with making a determination as to the reliability of a vehicle.

Reference Materials

Books, magazines, and DVD’s can all be sources of valuable survival and preparedness information. These materials can be found used for pennies on the dollar. Think about all the different areas of knowledge that might be beneficial for you to have. Aside from the standard survival subjects like camping, cooking, and gardening, look for materials that cover other subjects that could be beneficial like construction, gunsmithing, communications, and alternative energy sources to name a few.

Homestead/Farm Equipment

This is a broad area of course but many items that may fall into the area of homestead or farm equipment can be very expensive, making a used alternative to be very viable. Some of the big items that come to mind here include:

Tools – For woodworking, maintenance, welding, and gardening.

Tractors/Farm Implements, ATV’s or UTV’s, or Saw Mills.

Firearms/Defensive Equipment

Depending on where you live and what you are comfortable, the type of firearms and defensive equipment that you can have will vary greatly. The big opportunities here I think are firearms, reloading equipment, and miscellaneous items like barbed wire or barrels for barriers.

Camping/Survival Equipment

Knives, tents, cots, stoves, and backpacks military surplus fishing hunting radios/antennas generators are easy finds at local garage sales and thrift stores.

Seasonal Clothing

Clothing items that are not used continuously can be some of the most expensive clothing articles because of their specialty uses. Look for items that are specific to the winter and summer, are used seasonally for recreation like life jackets and hunting clothes, boots and specialty footwear, and rainwear.

Kitchen

Items for the kitchen can fall into the category of things that are not made like they used to. Appliances, food preservation materials like canning and dehydration goods, hand-operated tools, and cast iron cookware are all good options to skip out on buying new.

Miscellaneous

This is the catchall section right here but I couldn’t think of a ton of specific examples here. When I think of miscellaneous items to buy used for survival purposes, I do think of household items that could be needed to set up a secondary location like a cabin that you plan to bug out to if things go bad. Miscellaneous items could also include storage solutions like plastic totes, footlockers, and wall lockers.

Where To Look

All that said, I suppose you are interested in where one might look for used items, especially if you are a reformed thinker who is new to the world of best instead of new.

Auctions – This is a great option if the items you need are being offered. From my auction experiences, you have to know what things are worth and make sure that you don’t get caught up in the excitement and overspend. My thought is that storage auctions are not great options for this purpose because often you are buying a unit based on only a few things that you can see. This is not a very viable option.

Barter – Don’t overlook the opportunity to take something that you no longer need or use to trade for an item that you could use more.

Other good locations to search for the holy grail of used survival items might be the online classifieds/auction sites, thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales.

A few final considerations when purchasing used equipment and supplies:

Always inspect any item that you may purchase.
Don’t get carried away in the moment and buy items that you don’t need or spend too much on the things you do need.
What types of payment are accepted where you are shopping? You don’t want to end up not paying for the things you want.

While used goods are awesome solutions, I always try to remember that the used goods factory does not make items for custom orders; sometimes it is take what you can get or get nothing at all. It is good to have the opportunity to make smart decisions that will likely save you a good chunk of change and perhaps even net you a higher quality product in the end.

Good luck!

-Tom Miller

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