From our other sites
The story
Flea-market apps and reuse shops have made buying secondhand completely normal — yet a wave of social media posts revealed that far more people than expected simply can’t stand the idea of used goods. A news article on the topic sparked a big reaction on 5ch, where users debated exactly where the line falls: opened figures, used PCs, secondhand clothes, even used underwear. Some objections were purely about hygiene (“it’s just gross”), others purely practical (“it’s cheap, so used is plenty”), and opinion split cleanly down the middle.
Even now that flea-market apps and reuse shops are completely mainstream, it seems a surprising number of people still say they’re “just not okay” with secondhand books, clothes, appliances, and the like.
◼ Even if it looks spotless…
On social media, comments about using secondhand goods include things like “Someone’s hands were all over this, right? Using that every day is a bit much” and “Even if it’s been cleaned, there’s just no way with clothes.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
and you can't even check them with a blacklight…
The ones that have hydrolyzed and gone all sticky are brutal
like TV remotes
Universal remotes
I'm genuinely shocked people still say stuff like this in the Reiwa era!?
They sell "used underwear" literally labeled USED
That's the one thing I can't handle
Sure enough, it's become a meme over there too
They sell that in Japan too, you know
and it goes for a premium
but as a basic rule of thumb for person-to-person deals on sites like Yahoo Auctions or Mercari:
don't buy anything in a category that's already been "discovered" (i.e. overhyped/scalped),
and don't sell anything in a category where the enthusiasts are notoriously picky lol — that's the golden rule
and drinking water that evaporated out of poop
well, as long as it doesn't make you sick, it's fine
There was a real champion who left boogers
on almost every single page though
it got thrown out in the end
couldn't afford a new build
Apparently the moment you get the keys, the value drops 20-30%
Well, that's basically the dealer's profit margin right there
They say houses and cars lose half their value the instant you buy them
it's an extreme example, but still
would you ever deliberately choose to buy secondhand?
High-end road bikes that used to cost a fortune go super cheap secondhand if they're rim-brake
you don't even need discs on paved roads anyway
What reason is there besides "it's cheap"?
I get almost all my clothes on Mercari
or can't even ride in taxis
people like that must genuinely exist… lol
Some celebrity, forget who,
said they're so germophobic they open outdoor doorknobs with their foot
turning the knob with their shoe, apparently
though indoors they do use their hands
You do occasionally get people who can't bring themselves to grab handrails
At hotels and ryokan, some people bring their own pillow, though that's for a different reason
never heard of anyone bringing their own bedsheets though
Just soak them in Kitchen Hyter (a bleach-based cleaner) and disinfect, you're fine
It's probably already killed off by whatever disinfectant they use anyway
Though apparently AI told someone that with zero treatment, it can stay infectious for months
Appliances and PCs are fine but I don't want a used smartphone
People sell used shoes and underwear too…
I just don't get it
With cosmetics I just can't shake the feeling
that someone's skin oils are on it
For me, PCs are actually the category I trust least when it comes to secondhand
Anything that runs on electricity I'd rather buy new
age-related wear is unavoidable
It's the spoon (renge), not the bowl, that's worse
that's basically an indirect deep kiss with some grimy old guy
Some guy has eaten out of that hundreds, thousands of times, so no way
keyboards and mice are crawling with bacteria
if the previous owner was a gamer with poor hygiene
there could be dandruff stuck in there, it's gross
These days, deep-travel keyboards have hair and stuff fallen down into the gaps.
Makes me want to take it apart and clean it every so often.
I don't like used PC towers either
not for hygiene reasons but because you can't tell how worn out it is
For me it's wear and tear that matters more than hygiene
cars, smartphones, appliances — it's hard to gauge how degraded any of them are
with something new you get a warranty, and since you're the one using it, you actually know how hard it's been run
Background and key points of this discussion
The secondhand market has expanded rapidly thanks to flea-market apps, but what stood out in this discussion wasn’t price — it was psychological resistance. The thread split between people prioritizing a gut-level aversion to “used” itself, and people prioritizing price and practicality. Some pointed to hidden deterioration that’s invisible on the surface, like hydrolyzed figures or deteriorating old books, while others noted that even brand-new items — houses, cars — lose value the instant they’re purchased, meaning “secondhand or not” and “degradation/asset value” aren’t always the same axis. Several posts also made the point that while cleaning or disinfecting can lower the actual hygiene risk, it doesn’t necessarily erase the psychological discomfort itself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsplus) thread “Turns out there are a lot of them… people who “can’t buy secondhand”: SNS reactions include “I can’t deal with something someone else already touched” and “seems like you’d lose out if it breaks”.”
Leave a Reply