to save money at Christmas, some turn to resource centers

While the French budget is tight this year, second hand is becoming a good way to be able to leave a few gifts under the tree.

The magic of Christmas comes up against the limited budget of the French: this year, they spend on average 491 euros for this celebration, the lowest level since 2017. So, to save money, some people slip gifts purchased second-hand under the tree. Ressourceries, thrift stores and even toy markets are becoming more and more popular.

This is the case of the Emmaüs Coup de main boutique, open for 13 years in Pantin, in Seine-Saint-Denis. It welcomes more than 200 people every day looking for good deals. In front of the shelves filled with stuffed animals, toys and books, Manon examines the prices. “I don’t really have a budget for gifts, that’s why I’m only going to give them for the kids”confides this professional actress.

With her pay of 1,500 euros, Manon already limits her purchases all year round. That’s why “Everything that is not absolutely necessary, even eating outside, everything that is comfortable, we remove it”. “I hardly buy anything new anymoreshe assures. There are online sales sites and like many people I buy second-hand for budgetary reasons, especially since prices have increased everywhere. But there’s no question of not putting anything under the tree for your 8-year-old daughter. “It’s more symbolic”believes the mother.

Cheap purchases possible in this Emmaüs Coup de main, where on average, “prices range from 50 cents to around ten euros”indicates Aurélia Dalbarade, general director of the association. And parents spend here “an average ticket of 10 euros for non-electronic toys and more like 18 euros with electronic toys”.

In another department, Nadjette, 29, examines a boat for 4.50 euros. “In stores, you won’t find it for less than 20 eurosshe points out, even though it is the overall budget that she has set for herself. When you have three children, it makes a difference.”

“We end up with small toys that aren’t necessarily very expensive, but just enough to please them.”

Nadjette, mother of three children

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“My daughter is in a period where she loves pirates and I was looking at small wooden toys for my son who loves small cars. Now I have 10.50 euros for the two toys, so I fit within my budget”while “if I had gone to the store” new toys, “I would have had to make some concessions and buy a common toy for my three children”. The resource therefore allows it “to save more” but also to give gifts to your children every month “to please (one’s) children” and this “not just at the end of the year”.

Nadjette buys knowingly: there is no point, according to her, spending a fortune on toys that will quickly end up in the back of the cupboard. “We love our children, but we also know that they get bored quickly. So honestly, investing more in toys is a bit of a waste”she slips. Her daughter’s passion for pirate ships, “it’s only this week, next week she’s going to ask for something else”.

In this resource center, most of the products appear new, carefully prepared by the store’s employees. “These are toys packaged very neatlyexplains Xavier, the deputy director of the Emmaüs Coup de main association. There is real work on the packaging, we collect boxes of shoes, because we don’t want there to be any sub-gifts at the foot of the tree.” The credo is simple, he concludes: We want even children whose parents can only buy second-hand games to be able to have gifts that are well presented.“