Is it ok to buy gifts second hand?

if the gifts are unopened / unused then its ok

heck no

The tacky part is telling anyone its second hand.

I do it. If that makes me tacky then so be it. It's usually something the person mentioned they'd like to have. I don't just pick up second hand things randomly.

No

depends who you are shopping for
my family very cool with this, we were not raised to value price or newness over thought and usefulness

others (many others) would not be ok with this

in my family almost a game to find free things and reuse
my older sis has two girls (they are well off) but- she raised them with values she learned and they both (18 and 15 yr old girls) wanted T shirts
and sis said go to goodwill and find some vintage T shirts, i did, and both girls loved them
no secrets in my family

younger sis shops at loal thrift store that has buck a bag twice a year to clear out store, she always asks what size my daughter will be next season, and she brings bags of clothes down when she visits

all good in my family

If someone gave me or my children a used gift, I wouldn't say anything about it and would not feel weird accepting it, but it is something I would never do unless the item was an antique or something of value that I knew the person was looking for.

Toughluck and Ohwrite, you ladies are so right! Even when I opened the box full of stained clothes for DD, I was still grateful. We use them as PJs, no big deal, she needs PJs anyways. I was grateful up until her reaction of the brand new toy I bought my nephew for his birthday, because it wasn't the more expensive one. That pisses me off, in my opinion, it is tacky to expect expensive gifts. I would rather not get someone anything than to have them act like that about a gift.

toughluck08...I absolutely agree with that!! We all need to be gracious receivers. Personally I don't give used gifts for special occasions, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate a thoughtfully picked used gift...in fact sometimes more thought has been put into a used gift than a new gift.

Theres no reason to announce its second hand, and even if it comes out, oh well. I was raised to be greatful for anything and everything. "Its the thought that counts". I'm trying to instill that in my children as well. They're made to thank everyone for every gift they recieve. Even if they dont like it, or its cheap, or they already have one...they're still taught to appreciate it.