Technologies

As Black Friday nears, secondhand gifts poised to ride a holiday shopping wave

It’s not cheaping out to give gifts from online auction, thrift and consignment sites, shoppers say.

Teresa Chin, a friend of mine from grad school, got an early start hunting for Christmas ornaments for her in-laws this year. She’d heard about global supply chain snags and didn’t want to be caught empty-handed for the holiday.

So Chin turned to Poshmark, an online market for secondhand clothes and household goods, where she found figurines of skiing cheetahs — objects full of personal references that would tickle her husband’s parents. Because Poshmark sellers tend to list what they already have on hand, Chin didn’t worry about her cheetahs missing the holiday because of busy ports or blocked canals. The purchases also fit her value of consuming less new stuff.

«It’s on time. It’s cute,» Chin told me. «It feels personal.»

Chin is far from alone in giving gifts euphemistically referred to as «previously owned.» Spurred by concerns about consumer waste and climate change, attitudes about secondhand goods have been shifting for years. The reevaluation has created a booming business for everything from auction sites to online consignment stores.

The popularity of used items has prompted many consumers to consider a practice that was once unthinkable: giving secondhand goods as gifts. Nearly 40% of respondents to a survey conducted on behalf of resale site Mercari said they’re planning to buy at least one secondhand gift this year. Half of those said they’d be comfortable telling the recipient the gift was previously owned. Sales in luxury categories are swift as the holidays approach, according to eBay, which said it’s seeing five pre-owned watches and three pre-owned handbags sell every minute as the holidays approach.

The move toward secondhand gifts is getting a powerful boost this year from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shuttered factories and closed down ports. That’s made new items susceptible to shipping delays and supply shortages. Secondhand goods aren’t subject to those woes. If the collectible sneakers are on the site, they’re in stock.

Buying used items online has been around since Web 1.0. But options for finding the perfect gift have multiplied in recent years. Early internet standby eBay, where designer clothes, electronics and collectibles have been on offer since the 1990s, now competes with peer-to-peer markets like Poshmark and Mercari. Online consignment shops, including the RealReal, ThredUp and Vestiaire Collective, have also sprung up.

Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at Global Data, whose firm helped conduct the Mercari survey, says people buying online for themselves has helped break down the psychological barrier to shopping for used gifts.

«We’ve seen that stigma come down year after year,» Saunders said.

Used goods can mean less environmental damage

Some shoppers are drawn to online thrifting and consignment as a way to reduce their environmental footprint, ThredUp and the RealReal both say. This extends to gift-giving, as 22% of shoppers in the Mercari survey said they’d turn to the secondhand market during the holidays because of sustainability concerns.

Buying used fashion lets gift-givers find something nice that contributes less to climate change than something new would. The fashion industry has a bad reputation for emitting greenhouse gasses, polluting water and contributing to deforestation, which has pushed more socially conscious people to buy fewer new clothes. More than 40% of respondents said sustainability was a «deciding factor» for shopping at the RealReal, according to survey data from the company.

ThredUp has found that sustainability is especially motivating for younger shoppers, says Christina Berger, a company spokesperson. ThredUp and other online resellers could prompt fashion brands to make fewer, higher-quality products, she says.

«There will always be a place for new items, of course,» Berger said. «But overall we need to reuse more and produce less.»

Used goods can be one of a kind

Many gift-givers, like my friend Teresa, are looking for something unique that matches the recipient’s tastes. Recent changes in the way shoppers view fashion trends mean that many people are interested in finding older handbags or accessories from fashion collections that are hard to find. Having the latest isn’t the only — or even highest — priority for fashionistas.

That shift was already underway with items like sneakers, which grow the most in resale value of all apparel categories, and now means the most thoughtful gift you can give a fashionable friend might end up being a Gucci handbag from a few years ago. Consignment sites might have only one or two listed among all their other items, so receiving that exact bag could be a big deal.

«It’s extra special knowing that the gifter curated something for you from millions of items,» said Rati Levesque, president of the RealReal.

Used goods don’t have to seem cheap

Holiday gift-givers aren’t Scrooges because they shop secondhand. Sure, you can find a nice winter coat or brand name athletic wear at around half the listed retail price on many auction, thrifting and consignment sites, but you can also find Versace handbags and Cartier watches that cost more than a thousand dollars.

Many consignment services are aimed at people who see clothes as an investment. Companies like the RealReal and ThredUp say they want to help consumers buy higher-cost items new, and then resell them to recoup some of the cost.

It’s a potential alternative to fast-fashion buys. Instead of constantly buying cheaply made clothes that wear out easily, shoppers who can afford to pay more up front can access togs that cost more but last longer and retain some of their value. Some sellers might get only part of their money back, and others might get even more than they originally paid because some items go up in value as they become harder to find.

Electronics are another item that shoppers can find at a discount on resale sites, including eBay, and they aren’t necessarily less nice as gifts. Most people want to give electronics in a sealed box, says Jordan Sweetnam, senior vice president and general manager of eBay North America. The company’s eBay Refurbished program provides electronics in generic packaging, and sometimes includes new user manuals. Name brands also sell their own refurbished products on eBay, typically with branded packaging and quality guarantees.

That, he says, provides «that fresh out-of-the box feeling that’s so important when gifting refurbished products.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 5, #878

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 5, #878.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a diverse mix of topics, including a neat blue category that music fans will ace. And it isn’t too tough, but if you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mess up.

Green group hint: Lead pipe is another one.

Blue group hint: They command the stage.

Purple group hint: Not snow, but …

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Make a hash of.

Green group: Weapons in the game Clue.

Blue group: Iconic soul singers.

Purple group: Rain ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is make a hash of. The four answers are blow, botch, butcher and spoil.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is weapons in the game Clue.The four answers are candlestick, knife, rope and wrench.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is iconic soul singers. The four answers are (Anita) Baker, (Roberta) Flack, (Aretha) Franklin and (Gladys) Knight.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is rain ____. The four answers are bow, coat, forest and maker.

Technologies

Need Gift Ideas? Google’s Holiday 100 Shopping List Includes Switch 2, Home Movie Projectors

You can shell out hundreds for a new gaming console or spend less on classic games and backpack charms.

The spooky season has just ended, and Google is already turning its attention to holiday shopping. The search giant just released its annual list of 100 top holiday gift ideas based on the hottest trends of 2025.

The Google Holiday 100 list is an annual shopping guide compiled from searches for various products conducted between May and September. Using that data, Google creates a catalog of the year’s top trending gift ideas across various industries, including tech, toys, fashion and wellness. You can view the entire Google Holiday 100 list here.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Nintendo Switch 2

This year’s breakaway technology hit was the Switch 2, Nintendo’s latest family-friendly video games console. Unsurprisingly, it appears on 2025’s Holiday 100 list. The console was released in June and has sold more than 10 million units thus far, with Nintendo hiking up sales expectations even among uncertain economic conditions and tariff pricing.

Google Pixel Watch 4

The Google Pixel Watch 4 is a standout wearable that made the Holiday 100 list. Its inclusion isn’t just Google stuffing its own product into a list. If you’re buying a gift for fitness-focused folks, CNET’s Vanessa Hand Orellana wrote that the latest iteration of Google’s smartwatch «hits a sweet spot between universally appealing design, seamless compatibility with the Android ecosystem, potentially life-saving safety features and robust health and fitness tracking.»

Red-light face masks

Your algorithm may have served you up a boatload of red light therapy content from health and beauty influencers this year. Search volume for red light masks has spiked in the past few months, so the LED masks have been included in the Holiday 100 buying guide this year. Just make sure to purchase one of the best FDA-approved masks.

Movie projectors to backpack charms

If you’re looking for gifts across other categories, Google has some top 2025 searches for big and small. Home theaters are apparently in this year, as searches for movie projectors spiked by a whopping 945%. Searches for backpack charms also hit an all-time high this year, so those are a safe bet for stocking stuffing for any young kids.

Checkers (the actual board game)

Even though many gifts given out at Christmas this year will surely be high-tech gadgets and accessories, the board game of checkers is also on the list. There’s always room for the classics.

As you prepare for the Herculean task of yearly holiday shopping, Google’s Holiday 100 is a good place to start. But if you’re looking to beat the crowd on the best tech deals around, CNET is already collecting pre-Black Friday deals.

Technologies

Look Up Tonight to Spot November’s Supermoon, the Brightest Moon of 2025

Has the moon been looking brighter and bigger to you for the past few days? Here’s why this month’s supermoon is even more super.

It’s already a great month for skygazers, with a trio of meteor showers and the return of the northern hemisphere winter constellations. On Tuesday night, it also features the second of four supermoons in a row. This month’s supermoon will happen on Nov. 4-5, and November’s beaver moon is special because it’ll be the brightest full moon of 2025.

In addition to being a supermoon, November’s full moon is known as the beaver moon. There is some debate as to why it was named this way. Some believe that this was the best time of year in the old days to set beaver traps to get pelts for winter clothing. Others believe that it coincides with the busiest part of the year for beavers, who are now stocking their lodges with supplies for the upcoming winter.

Here’s what time it’ll look its biggest and brightest, and what else you need to know about the November supermoon.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The brightest supermoon: When’s the best time to see it?

The moon will reach peak illumination at 8:19 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, making the evening of Nov. 4 and the morning of Nov. 5 the best times to view the moon.

Since moon phases shift slowly, the moon will appear almost full for nearly a week. If you are unable to view the full moon on its best night due to weather or other reasons, you can still see a mostly full moon at any point from Nov. 3 to Nov. 8.

For all of those days, the moon will be measurably brighter in the night sky compared to any other full moon in 2025. The reason for this is because of the moon’s elliptical orbit. Since it’s not a perfect circle, the moon’s 27.3-day journey around the Earth brings it closer to us on some days, a phenomenon known as perigee. If there is a full moon during this time, it’s branded as a «perigean full moon,» which you may know better as a supermoon.

Not all supermoons are equal, and November’s will be a little more special than others. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, the beaver moon will be a scant 221,817 miles away from Earth, making it the closest full moon of the year. That means it’ll be the biggest and brightest of the year.

In practice, the differences are fairly minor and likely won’t be visible to the naked eye when compared side by side to other supermoons. A supermoon is only about 7% larger than a regular full moon. According to NASA, the biggest difference is when comparing a supermoon to a micromoon, where a supermoon will be about 14% larger and 30% brighter. So, if you notice that your backyard patio is lit up more than usual, it’s because of the supermoon.

Also due to the moon’s orbit, November will also bring a micro new moon, which means the moon will be as far away from the Earth as it can get — a phenomenon known as apogee. November’s new moon occurs on Nov. 20, but you won’t be able to see it.