# Rebuying things you used to own - do you do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977 "2012-10-17T07:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/21 "2012-10-17T15:54:26Z")
I’ve bought some things I used to own on Ebay, and also many things I never owned but wanted to own. I usually identify something on Ebay that I want to buy right before it’s price skyrockets from bargain to collectible levels, and I wind up not getting it because my snipes were too low to win an auction. It seems everyone else takes an interest in something at right about the same time I do. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/22 "2012-10-17T16:11:53Z")
I’ve been re-buying children’s books for my daughter. All the Berenstain Bears, all the Dr. Seuss, plus some one-offs I was fond of like Panda Cake. And Bass penny loafers in cordovan. Eventually the soles crack side-to-side and they need replacing. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/23 "2012-10-17T17:07:15Z")
At a Con, I bought a copy of a D&D module, _The Village of Homlet_. I’d gotten it as a kid but sold it years later in college. It was the very first thing I ever saw for D&D and got me into the game. It just sits on a shelf being memorable now. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/24 "2012-10-17T17:19:19Z")
Without intending to, both DH and I forget what we own (say, in books or seasonal clothing) and repurchase the same things! ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/25 "2012-10-17T17:21:20Z")
I’ve been looking for the boots that suited me SO well for SO long. 20 bucks at Walmart 3 years ago; worn daily and with great abuse for most of that time. Still the most comfortable things I’ve ever owned, still in great shape. I keep hoping Walmart will bring them back; still looking, lol. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/26 "2012-10-17T17:51:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Not generally, but… > > I’ve owned several copies of the LOTR books. I seem to keep losing them. I don’t currently have a copy of Fellowship. > > I had [this weird toy](http://www.ncghost.com/img/kabala.jpg) when I was a kid, and spent mucho bucks on another one from Ebay a few years back. Ah, the high price of nostalgia! > > Last December I bought the best shoes I have ever owned. I destroyed them pretty fast. I ordered another pair just like them recently. I had Kabala when it was brand new! It was so cool playing it in the dark. I forget what was on the little cards - please refresh my memory. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/27 "2012-10-17T17:53:54Z")
When I moved out of my parents house I regretfully sold my entire Hardy Boys collection to a used book store. As I sold it I told myself that one day I would regret it. Twenty years later I found myself buying them for my son. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/28 "2012-10-17T18:32:55Z")
Last year I went online and found a few of the Reader’s Digest Condensed books that I read when I was little. Still love 'em. Also found and bought another Nintendo Shadowrun game cartridge, despite the fact I haven’t owned a Nintendo system in…well, over a decade, maybe 15 years? One of these days I’ll get an old one, just so I can play again the only game I ever have liked on a console system. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/29 "2012-10-17T19:01:55Z")
I sold off things after my divorce I regretted and have since replaced them, mostly tools, also things that have been stolen seem to linger in me unless I replace them . ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/30 "2012-10-18T01:33:57Z")
I have rebought things I \*still \*own but can’t find! In particular, after I retired I decided to take up tatting and crocheting again but couldn’t find the shuttle, crochet hooks, etc., so I repurchased those items. To my great dismay I also couldn’t find my vintage crochet book, inherited from my mother, copyright the year I was born. I finally found it again – on ebay – and bought it a few months ago. Just yesterday we found the original, so now I have two. It has been my experience that if you can’t find something, replace it, and the original will be found shortly thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/31 "2012-10-18T02:28:33Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I’ve rebought books that I loved as a kid. 🙂 Yep. In fact, one of the first things I did when I learned to use a search engine was to try to find some books that I loved as a kid. Sometimes they were books that I had actually owned, but were lost in the Great Basement Flood. More often, they were books that I’d borrowed from the library or a friend. I’ve also rebought some books that I love as an adult. I’ve gone through several paperback copies of quite a few books, but now I buy them for my nook. I’ve also rebought toys, such as the Magic 8 Ball, which has found a home on our coffee table and actually gets some use on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/32 "2012-10-18T18:30:23Z")
I’ve tracked down books I read when I was younger (not all of them belonged to me), as an aside, my mother often refused point blank to buy me toys, a few years ago I found Buck-a-roo in a shop and bought it cos I’d always wanted it when I was a kid, and it was one of those things my mother threatened to beat me to within an inch of my life for asking for it. So I bought it. Bluddy thing is defective, the horse doesn’t buck at all! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/33 "2012-10-18T18:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > as an aside, my mother often refused point blank to buy me toys My sister and I always wanted Sea Monkeys (a kind of tiny brine shrimp) when we were kids, but my parents refused to get them. Both my sister and I have bought and enjoyed the Sea Monkeys as adults. Sure, the things were overhyped, but they were interesting. I have no desire to try to buy some Xray Specs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/34 "2012-10-19T06:20:26Z")
This thread is timely. I have an old pair of Puma walking shoes which had been reassigned to gardening. I’d bought new Reebok, Adidas etc but could never find this brand and sort again. Until this morning. Had to buy a new pair of shoes and walked into the local sports shop and they were there - on sale (footwear is always on sale at those shops) - and I picked up two pairs @ $50 a pair. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/35 "2012-10-19T10:28:37Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > Lately I’ve been haunting ebay, trying to track down new versions of a pair of boots I used to own. The old pair fell to bits, but I still regretted binning them, and since women’s fashion moves on constantly, the original manufacturer doesn’t sell them anymore and I need to wait for new pairs to show up, either from retail discount warehouses, or people having a wardrobe clearout. > > [These](http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LADIES-CLARKS-LEATHER-VICTORIAN-STYLE-LACES-BLACK-ANKLE-BOOTS-SIZE-8-LOVELY-CON-/370666880398?pt=UK_Women_s_Shoes&hash=item564d77bd8e)are the boots - not my size sadly, but I’ve already got new pairs in brown and black, thankfully. > > I also stumbled across a new-to-me version of a top I used to own, in a charity shop. Again, I’d worn the original top to death, so was delighted to get a ‘new’ version, but sadly, it’s already slightly ripped [1] so I’m haunting ebay for a third copy of it too. > > And now it’s occured to me that those two dresses I binned in the massive clear-out I had to have when my husband threw me out, yeah, I want them back too, so once again, I’m scouring ebay searching by size, colour and manufacturer, with no joy so far. ☹ > > Am I the only one? Is this an early sign of hoarding behaviour? Or am I just too set in my ways, and should really update my look 😃 > > [1] Stupid charity shop price tag damaged the neckline, probably between me buying it and getting it home. ☹ Have you checked here for your [boots](http://www.victoriantradingco.com/store/catalogimages/1a/i16891.html)? ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/36 "2012-10-20T05:55:45Z")
I, too have bought things I had wanted but could not afford at the time. My latest endeavor has been to start a laserdisc collection. Imagine my disappointment at the quality after decades of hearing about the superiority of the format. ☹ A DVD can beat out a laserdisc. The whole thing has still fascinated me and I’ve enjoyed the experience. I also do agree that laserdisc more captures the “theater” feel than even bluray. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/37 "2012-10-20T15:52:41Z")
I just ordered an exact replacement of the pair of shoes I am wearing today. Shoe selection here is bad and by replacing with an exact copy I can be assured they will fit. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/38 "2012-10-20T16:40:58Z")
I collect model horse statues, and I do find myself re-buying some I have owned in the past and either sold or customized. (repainted/reposed, etc) Sort of a sentimental thing. I will also buy shoes that I really liked again and again. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/39 "2012-10-20T18:08:23Z")
I stock up on or repurchase when they are lost or worn out, or may become unavailable: Clothes Shoes Books Bath and Body Products Jewelry Clothing or shoes that I like, I often purchase in multiple colors. Since my weight fluctuates, I also will sometimes repurchase an item I like in a different size. If it’s one of my favorites, I may purchase a second one as a spare just in case. I own 10 pairs of my favorite boots, two in each of the five available colors. **kittenblue** reminded me that I have a small stock of hairbrushes, since at one point I couldn’t find my favorite style, so the next time I saw it I bought several. I have also repurchased a bunch of books that I loved as a child, including _The Chronicles of Prydain_, which are just as good now as they were then. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977/40 "2012-10-20T19:16:14Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I’ve rebought books that I loved as a kid. 🙂 Me too, I think I’m on my third copy of _The Martian Chronicles_. I had a really nice tea kettle that I forgot to pack when I moved out of my ex’s place. I searched high and low for several years (this was pre-online shopping days) before I finally came across something similar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebuying-things-you-used-to-own-do-you-do-this/637977.md?page=3)