Second-hand 18+ items: why you shouldn't buy or resell them
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Second-hand seems cheaper, but for 18+ items, the math rarely adds up. Regarding porous materials, broken seals, warranty, and what to do with something you no longer use.
Indeed, they do exist on second-hand platforms: used 18+ items, often with the notice "used once" or "thoroughly cleaned." It's an understandable thought—the new price of an item quickly approaches a few tens of euros, and anyone who has bought something they don't like would rather see their money back than throw it away.
Yet, this is the one product category where second-hand is rarely a good idea. Not out of prudishness, but for four very practical reasons: the material, the seal, the warranty, and the simple fact that you cannot verify what the previous owner has done. Below, we list them, plus what you can do with something you no longer use.
1. Most materials cannot be fully cleaned
The range broadly consists of two groups of materials: non-porous materials such as silicone, glass, and metal, and softer, porous materials such as TPE and TPR. This distinction is crucial here.
Porous material has microscopic cavities in its surface. You can clean the outside, but you can't remove what's inside those cavities with a wipe. For an item you use and maintain yourself, this is manageable. For an item whose usage history you don't know, it's an unknown that you can't wipe away—and you can't see from a photo what an item is made of.
For non-porous materials, it's slightly different, but even there, a seller claiming something has been cleaned is not proof that it has been cleaned. You are buying a statement, not a result.
2. A broken seal is gone
New 18+ items are delivered sealed, and that seal has a function: it shows that no one has tampered with the product between the factory and you.
This is also why this category has its own place in the rules regarding your cooling-off period. According to the ACM, the cooling-off period for online purchases does not apply to sealed items that, for reasons of health protection or hygiene, are not suitable for return once you have broken the seal. You can read the exact wording and the complete list of exceptions at ACM ConsuWijzer.
This works both ways. For you as a buyer, it means that a webshop does not have to take back an opened item—logically, because that same webshop cannot then sell it to anyone else. And it means that a second-hand offer is by definition an item whose seal is gone. What you buy, you can no longer return yourself.
3. Warranty and liability also disappear
If you buy new from a seller, you have a point of contact if something breaks, if a battery no longer charges, or if the product doesn't do what was promised. If you buy from a private individual, you buy the product as is, and you are your own warranty department.
This is even more critical for items with electronics. A battery that has been lying in a drawer for two years charges differently than a new one. A motor that has been heavily used is quieter or louder than intended—but you have no reference, as you never experienced the item new. And a seller who says "the battery is still fine" has no measurement data to back that up.
4. The price calculation is often incorrect
The financial argument is usually the starting point: second-hand is cheaper. If you do the math, that often proves disappointing.
Item
Second-hand
New
Purchase
Often 40 to 60% of the new price
100%
Shipping
Usually paid separately
Often included above a threshold amount
Cleaner and care
Still needs to be purchased
Still needs to be purchased
Seal
Gone
Intact
Warranty
None
Yes
Resale value
Nil, you can't resell it yourself either
Nil, for the same reason
The remaining difference is usually ten to twenty euros. For that amount, you can buy an entry-level model that is new and sealed. In the lower segment, second-hand is almost never rational; in the higher segment, you are paying for technology whose condition you cannot verify.
What you *can* do with something you no longer use
Reselling is not an option, but throwing it in the residual waste bin is not always an option either. A practical sequence:
Clean it before you decide anything. An item that has been lying unclean in a drawer for months is no longer usable anyway. A Toy Cleaner Spray 150 ml (€ 8.95) or the odorless Toy Cleaner 120 ml (€ 7.95) is intended for this purpose.
Assess if it is still intact. Cracks, stickiness, discoloration, or a seam coming open mean the end of the line, no matter how little you've used it.
Separate it when disposing. If it contains electronics or a battery, that part belongs with electrical waste and not with residual waste. Remove batteries where possible; for a built-in battery, hand over the entire item at a collection point for electrical appliances.
If you want to get rid of it to make space, but it's still in good condition: the question isn't "who do I sell this to," but "will I use it again if I store it better." That's the real problem with a surprising number of items.
Buying new without it being expensive
A large part of the costs in this category are not in the item itself, but in what comes with it. This is where you can make choices.
Lubricant is the best example of this. Large differences in price per milliliter, without having to compromise on quality. The Lotus Flower Aqua Lubricant 150 ml costs € 4.15—which works out to less than 3 cents per milliliter. In comparison: the Intimate Lubricant Classic 100 ml is € 10.00, or 10 cents per milliliter, and the Peep Pleasure Water-based Lubricant 100 ml is € 7.95. If you choose your product by content rather than bottle size, it saves more annually than the price difference between second-hand and new.
For daily care, there is, among other things, the Intimate Wash Gel 400 ml, pH-neutral (€ 7.95). And if you sell in this category yourself: Security Seal Stickers VOID (60 pieces, € 9.95) show your customer on the outside of the package that no one has tampered with it in transit.
If you have doubts about a material, a size, or how an order will arrive, please send your question to info@verpakkingdeals.nl. We will answer it professionally and discreetly, and all orders are shipped in neutral packaging.
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