How to Check the Condition of Secondhand Kids' Clothes Before You Buy

Buying children's clothes secondhand doesn't mean looking for clothes that appear brand new.

A garment can have been washed and worn many times and still have plenty of useful life left. Equally, something that looks excellent in a photograph can have a stretched waistband, a tiny hole or a broken zipper that makes it a poor purchase.

After handling more than 150,000 items of baby and children's clothing at Daisy Chain Clothing, we've learned that wear tends to appear in some very predictable places.

The trick is knowing where to look.

Whether you're browsing an op shop, buying from Facebook Marketplace or shopping online, here's what we'd check before buying preloved children's clothing.

If you're still deciding which types of clothing make particularly good preloved purchases, start with our guide to what kids' clothes are best to buy secondhand.

1. Start with the areas that receive the most wear

Don't inspect every part of a garment equally. Some areas naturally receive far more punishment than others.

On pants and jeans, look particularly closely at the knees, seat and cuffs. Knees can become thin before an actual hole appears, while hems may be frayed from rubbing against shoes or the ground.

On tops, jumpers and jackets, check the sleeve cuffs, neckline and elbows.

With baby clothes, also inspect the front around the neck, chest and stomach, where food, milk and dribble frequently end up.

A quick glance at the whole garment might suggest it's in excellent condition. These high-wear areas often tell a different story.

2. Look for stains in good light

Stains are one of the more difficult things to judge when buying secondhand clothing online.

Faint marks can disappear surprisingly easily in photographs, particularly on pale fabrics or under bright lighting.

When inspecting clothing in person, natural daylight or good neutral lighting is helpful. Look at the garment from different angles rather than relying on a single glance.

Pay particular attention to:

• necklines and the front of baby tops
• sleeve cuffs
• knees
• the seat and front of pants
• underarms
• light-coloured fabrics.

When buying online, zoom in on all available photographs. If you're buying directly from a private seller and can't clearly see an important area, asking for another photograph is perfectly reasonable.

The ACCC also recommends checking secondhand listings, photographs and descriptions carefully and looking for disclosed wear, damage or defects before buying.

3. Check elastic — not just the fabric around it

This is one of the easiest problems to miss.

A pair of children's pants can look almost perfect while the waistband elastic has lost most of its stretch.

Elastic deteriorates with age, washing and use. Once it has perished, the garment may no longer stay up properly even though the fabric itself has years of life remaining.

Stretch the waistband gently and see whether it returns to its original shape.

Also check elastic around:

• leg openings
• cuffs
• swimwear
• fitted waistbands
• adjustable-waist pants.

Loose elastic isn't simply cosmetic wear. It can affect whether the garment actually functions.

4. Pilling isn't the same as worn-out fabric

Pilling — the little balls of fibre that form on the surface of fabric — is common on children's clothing.

It doesn't necessarily mean a garment is worn out.

Light pilling on an otherwise sound jumper may be primarily cosmetic. In many cases it can even be reduced with a fabric shaver.

What matters more is what is happening underneath.

If fabric has become noticeably thin, transparent, rough, stretched or weak, that's a different problem. Pay particular attention to knees, elbows and the seat of pants.

This distinction matters because secondhand clothing doesn't need to look untouched to represent good value.

A lightly pilled jumper with years of wear remaining may be a much better purchase than a pristine-looking garment made from fabric that's beginning to fail.

5. Test every zipper, button and popper

Fastenings are functional, so don't assess them purely by appearance.

Run a zipper all the way up and down. Check that it doesn't catch and that the teeth engage correctly.

For press studs or poppers, make sure both halves are present and that they actually close securely.

Check buttons for:

• missing buttons
• loose stitching
• enlarged or stretched buttonholes.

This becomes particularly important on jackets, coveralls and baby sleeping bags, where a failed fastening can make an otherwise excellent garment much less useful.

If you're buying online and the listing doesn't make the condition of an important fastening clear, ask.

6. Look closely at stitching and seams

A hole in the middle of a piece of fabric is usually obvious. A seam beginning to come apart can be much easier to overlook.

Turn the garment over and look along:

• side seams
• crotch seams
• underarms
• waistbands
• hems
• sleeve joins.

A few loose threads aren't necessarily a problem. What you're looking for is stitching that has actually started to separate or fabric that is pulling away from the seam.

Minor stitching repairs can be straightforward if you're happy to sew. If you're not, factor that into whether the garment is really a bargain.

7. Check for small holes — particularly in knitwear

Tiny holes can be remarkably difficult to spot.

Wool and other knitwear deserves especially careful inspection. Hold the garment up in good light and examine the front, back and sleeves.

Look around seams as well as across the main fabric.

With wool garments, also look for evidence of shrinkage or felting. Wool that has been washed incorrectly can become unusually dense, stiff or distorted.

A beautiful merino jumper at a fraction of its original price can be an excellent secondhand find — but only if it's still a usable jumper.

8. Check swimwear and rashies for deteriorating fabric

Swimwear deserves particularly careful inspection because the fabric itself performs an important job.

Repeated exposure to chlorine, salt water, sunlight, sunscreen and washing can gradually deteriorate stretch fabrics. A rashie or swimsuit can still look reasonably good at first glance while the material has become thin, stretched or weakened.

Hold the fabric up to good light and look for areas that have become noticeably thinner or more transparent than the surrounding material. Stretch it gently and check that it recovers rather than remaining loose or distorted.

Pay particular attention to:

• shoulders and upper back
• the seat and crotch of swimwear
• areas around seams
• stretched necklines and leg openings
• elastic
• fabric that feels unusually thin, weak or brittle.

This matters particularly with rashies and other sun-protective swimwear. If the fabric has substantially deteriorated, don't assume that it will still provide the same level of coverage or sun protection it was designed to provide when new.

For secondhand swimwear, therefore, fabric integrity is more important than whether the garment merely looks faded.

9. Decide how much fading actually matters

Colour fading is another area where it's useful to distinguish appearance from function.

A faded T-shirt might be unsuitable if you're looking for an outfit for family photographs.

The same T-shirt might be perfect for daycare, gardening or painting.

Look for overall wash fade as well as uneven fading. Dark colours can sometimes show washing and sun exposure more obviously, while knees and other exposed areas may fade differently from the rest of the garment.

The important question isn't simply:

"Is this faded?"

It's:

"Does this level of fading matter for what I'm buying it for?"

10. Look for signs of shrinkage or distorted shape

Shrinkage can be difficult to identify when you don't know what a garment originally looked like.

There are still clues.

Look for:

• unusually short sleeves relative to the body
• twisting side seams
• puckering
• distorted necklines
• uneven hems
• knitwear that appears unusually dense or stiff.

Sizing labels shouldn't be treated as precise measurements either. Children's sizing varies between brands, and previous washing can change the dimensions of an individual garment.

If fit is particularly important, actual garment measurements can be more useful than relying solely on the number on the label.

11. Inspect prints, appliqués and embellishments

The underlying fabric may be excellent while the decorative parts of a garment are deteriorating.

Check printed designs for cracking, peeling and missing sections.

Look at appliqués, sequins, bows, embroidery and other embellishments to make sure they're still securely attached.

Again, context matters.

A slightly cracked dinosaur print on a cheap daycare T-shirt may make absolutely no difference to you. Missing embellishments on an expensive special-occasion dress probably matter much more.

12. Don't ignore the labels

For most ordinary clothing, a missing brand label isn't going to stop the garment functioning.

But labels can still tell you useful things.

A readable size label helps establish what you're buying. A care and material label tells you how the garment should be washed and what it's made from.

Labels become considerably more important for children's nightwear.

Australia has a mandatory safety standard covering specified children's nightwear and some limited daywear, generally in sizes 00–14. Garments covered by the standard are classified according to garment or fabric type and require the appropriate fire-hazard label.

When buying secondhand nightwear, check that the relevant safety label is still present and readable.

13. Give functional garments extra scrutiny

Some children's clothing has a job beyond simply covering the child.

A rain jacket is supposed to protect against rain. A winter jacket needs to provide warmth. A baby sleeping bag needs functioning fastenings and appropriately sized openings.

For these garments, cosmetic condition is only part of the assessment.

With jackets, check:

• zippers and other closures
• lining
• cuffs
• hood, if present
• elastic or drawcords where relevant
• obvious damage to the outer fabric.

For baby sleeping bags, inspect:

• zipper
• press studs or other fastenings
• seams
• arm openings
• neck opening
• fabric condition.

The more important a feature is to the garment's intended function, the less tolerant we'd be of a problem with it.

14. Understand what condition descriptions actually mean

This is particularly important online.

You might see descriptions such as:

• Brand New With Tags / BNWT
• Excellent Used Condition / EUC
• Good Used Condition / GUC
• Fair Used Condition / FUC
• "play condition" or "daycare condition" (informal descriptions)
• "as new"
• "excellent"
• "good"
• "fair."

You may also see informal descriptions such as "play condition" or "daycare condition", particularly when buying through Facebook Marketplace and other peer-to-peer channels. These aren't standardised condition grades. At Daisy Chain Clothing, we use Fair Used Condition (FUC) for clothing that shows more noticeable signs of previous wear while still meeting our standards for resale.

Clothes with cosmetic wear can be particularly useful for daycare, outdoor play, painting and other activities where keeping an outfit pristine isn't especially important. If you're putting together a childcare wardrobe, see our Australian parent's checklist for what children need for daycare or preschool.

The problem is that these terms aren't necessarily being applied according to the same grading system by every seller.

One person's "Excellent Used Condition" might be another person's "Good Used Condition".

The ACCC recommends making sure you understand condition descriptions such as "as new", "excellent", "good", "fair" and "used", and asking the seller to clarify if you're unsure.

So treat the condition label as the beginning of the description, not the end of your inspection.

Photographs and specific disclosure of faults are more informative than three letters alone.

15. Buying online requires a slightly different inspection

When you're standing in an op shop, you can turn a garment inside out, stretch the waistband and test the zipper yourself.

Online, you're relying on the seller.

That's why good photographs matter.

Ideally, we'd want to see:

• the whole front
• the whole back
• important labels
• close-ups of relevant details
• any disclosed faults.

Read the written description as well as looking at the main photograph.

And consider who you're buying from.

When an Australian business sells secondhand products, Australian Consumer Law consumer guarantees apply. These include requirements relating to acceptable quality, matching the description and, in relevant circumstances, fitness for purpose.

Most of those consumer guarantees don't apply to one-off private sales between individuals, including many transactions through online marketplaces.

That doesn't make buying privately a bad idea. It simply makes understanding the garment's condition before buying particularly important.

If you'd like a broader comparison of the different ways to shop preloved, see our guide to the best places to buy secondhand baby and children's clothes in Australia.

16. Not every imperfection should stop you buying

This may be the most important point in the guide.

If the aim were simply to find clothing without any evidence of previous use, buying secondhand wouldn't make much sense.

Instead, ask three questions.

Does the imperfection affect how the garment functions?

Perished elastic, a broken zipper, severely thinning knees or deteriorating swimwear fabric might.

Does it matter for how my child will use it?

Fading on play clothes may not. A stain on a special-occasion dress probably will.

Is the condition reflected in the price?

A garment with some cosmetic wear can still represent excellent value at the right price.

This is why condition can't really be reduced to a single scale from "bad" to "perfect".

A $3 pair of faded shorts for daycare can be a great purchase.

A $30 jacket with a broken zipper probably isn't.

A quick secondhand clothing checklist

If you only have a minute to inspect something, we'd check these first:

Check	Look for
Stains	Neck, front, cuffs, knees and seat
Fabric	Thinning, holes, excessive pilling or wear
Elastic	Stretch and recovery
Fastenings	Working zippers, poppers and buttons
Seams	Loose or separating stitching
High-wear areas	Knees, elbows, cuffs and seat
Swimwear & rashies	Thinning, weakened or overstretched fabric and elastic
Shape	Shrinkage, twisting or stretching
Prints & details	Peeling, cracking or missing embellishments
Labels	Size, materials, care and relevant safety information
Overall condition	Whether the wear suits the price and intended use

So, what counts as "good condition" secondhand?

There's no single answer.

For us, the more useful definition is:

A secondhand garment is in good condition when its remaining condition is appropriate for what you're paying and what you need it to do.

That leaves room for different kinds of good purchases.

You might want an excellent-condition dress for a wedding, a well-preserved wool coat for winter and a stack of inexpensive, slightly faded T-shirts for daycare.

All three can make sense.

The goal isn't to pretend preloved clothes haven't been worn before.

It's to identify which signs of previous wear don't matter, which ones do, and whether enough useful life remains to make the garment worth buying.

For more advice on getting value from preloved clothing, see our Ultimate Guide to Buying Preloved Children's Clothing in Australia.