Shoppers buy pre-owned items as long as the price is right

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
We're becoming a throw-away -- make that sell-off -- society. Thanks to eBay, Amazon, Craigslist and other selling and shopping online services, we don't expect to keep things for very long.
We don't mind pre-used as long as we can get it for a good price. A Prada jacket on eBay? Oh wow. A slightly used iPod? Go for it. And with so many purchasing opportunities, we can spend what we want to get most of what we want.
This observation comes from Marita Wesely-Clough, Hallmark's trend expert, in her recent report on "2006 and Beyond."
But for every shift in the culture, she sees a counter shift. For every trend, watch for the counter trend. So while the pre-owned bargains impart a cachet, "new and novel" has an equally powerful attraction.
A new ring, a shiny car or a designer watch -- and the key word is new -- can provide a rush, especially if your life is not all you want.
Meanwhile, the powerful baby boomers are on their own journey, Wesely-Clough says.
On one hand, they want more, more and more. They press for bigger homes, luxury cars and exotic vacations. They are feverishly fighting the aging process through fitness, cosmetic injectables and alternative medicines.
On the other hand, they are also returning to the idealism of the '60s, trying to get life in perspective. They are moving from "it's-all-about-me" to an "us" mentality. They will pursue volunteerism and philanthropy as replacement for the quest for "physical beauty, material possessions and hedonism."