📙 Part 2: Describe a website or an app you've used to buy or sell second-hand or recycled items

This episode's vocabulary

The sky is the limit (idiom) – there is no limit to what can be achieved. → With her talent, the sky is the limit for what she can accomplish.

Exclusively (adverb) – only; not including any others. → This offer is available exclusively to our members.

Refurbished (adjective) – restored to a good condition, like new. → I bought a refurbished laptop to save some money.

Get my hands on (idiom) – to find or get something. → I can't wait to get my hands on the new book by my favorite author.

In mint condition (idiom) – in perfect condition, as if new. → He sold the vintage car, which was still in mint condition.

Intact (adjective) – complete and not damaged. → Despite the fall, the vase remained intact.

Legible (adjective) – clear enough to be read. → Your handwriting needs to be legible for the examiners to read it.

Dog-eared (adjective) – (of a book) having the corners of the pages turned down through use. → My favorite novel is dog-eared from being read so many times.

Shell out for (phrasal verb) – to pay a lot of money for something, often unwillingly. → I had to shell out a lot for the concert tickets, but it was worth it.

Pristine (adjective) – in its original condition; unspoiled. → She keeps her room in pristine condition.

Savvy (adjective) – having practical knowledge and ability in a particular area. → He's a very savvy investor who has made a lot of money on the stock market.

Be reduced to (doing something) (phrasal verb) – to be forced into a bad or difficult state. → Without the online shop, I'd be reduced to shopping at the overpriced local store.

Resort to (phrasal verb) – to do something that you do not want to do because you cannot find any other way of achieving something. → I don't want to have to resort to that because their selection is poor.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a website or an app application you've used to buy or sell second-hand or recycled items. You should say what the website or app is, what kind of items it offers, how you used it, and explain why you found it useful. Rory, give us your story.

Rory: Well, I've only ever used Amazon and eBay to do these things, so I suppose the one I'll focus on is Amazon. I think it's part of a wider company owned by Jeff Bezos who, at least at the moment, is one of the world's richest men. Speaking about what kind of things you can get there, well, it's an online marketplace. So the sky is really the limit, to be honest. Not only have you got used books, but I'm pretty sure you can order clothes and even food on there, which is very handy. Or it must be. I've never ordered food. So it's not exclusively for used goods. There are some brand new things on there too. I think you can even get things like refurbished laptops and the like as well. If we consider how I use it, then it's almost always to get my hands on various second-hand books, which is what I think it was originally used for, actually. Even though they aren't exactly in mint condition, they always have their pages intact and are perfectly legible. So it doesn't bother me if they're slightly dog-eared. So that's not really a thing that I worry about. Plus it saves a fair amount of time as well. Why would I shell out for a pristine copy of a book I'm only going to read once anyway? When I think about why I find it useful, other than the things I already said, I suppose it's pretty convenient. You can get everything you want in just a couple of clicks, and if I've been particularly savvy, I can use a voucher from filling in market research surveys to pay for it all. So that's pretty handy. If the site didn't exist, I suppose I'd be reduced to using the second-hand bookshop up the road, and I don't want to have to resort to that because their selection is completely rubbish and they almost never have anything I'm interested in. So I'm quite happy I've got the choice of Amazon.