📙 Part 2: Describe a website that sells second-hand items

This episode's vocabulary

For some reason or another (phrase) – for an unknown or unspecified reason. → The meeting was cancelled for some reason or another, but nobody told me why.

Picked up on (phrasal verb) – to learn about or become aware of something informally. → I picked up on the new software by watching my colleagues use it.

Word of mouth (noun phrase) – information passed from person to person through conversation. → The restaurant became popular mainly through word-of-mouth recommendations.

Ever since (phrase) – continuously from a particular time in the past until now. → I visited Paris in 2018 and have wanted to return ever since.

Plethora of (noun phrase) – an excessive or abundant amount of something. → There's a plethora of online courses available for language learners.

Go awry (phrasal verb) – to go wrong or not according to plan. → Despite careful planning, things can still go awry at the last minute.

Can't be bothered (phrase) – unwilling to make the effort to do something. → I can't be bothered to cook tonight, so I'll just order takeaway.

Get my hands on (idiom) – to obtain or acquire something. → I've been trying to get my hands on that book for months.

Seek redress (verb phrase) – to try to correct an unfair situation or obtain compensation. → Customers can seek redress through the company's complaints procedure.

Truth be told (phrase) – to be completely honest. → Truth be told, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the results.

Hassle-free (adjective) – without difficulty or inconvenience. → Online shopping is much more hassle-free than visiting crowded stores.

Browse through (phrasal verb) – to look through items casually without commitment. → I like to browse through bookshops on weekends even if I don't buy anything.

Convenient (adjective) – fitting well with one's needs or making life easier. → The new metro station is extremely convenient for commuters.

Impulse purchase (noun phrase) – something bought without planning or consideration. → I made an impulse purchase and regretted it later when the bill arrived.

Value for money (noun phrase) – worth the price paid. → The course was expensive but offered excellent value for money.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say what it is, how you found out about it, what people can buy from it, and explain whether you like it or not.

Rory: Well, I buy a lot of books from Amazon, so I suppose I should talk about that site. I'm sure you'll have heard of it since it's part of a massive global company. They're always in the papers, for some reason or another. But briefly, it's a sort of website where you can buy and sell various items from books to computers to clothes. They even have their own media service, I think, which is very interesting.

Despite all that variety, though, I think the company actually got started with a focus on selling second-hand books, which is, like I say, what I normally use it for. I think I just picked up on it from word of mouth decades ago, and I've been using it to get used books ever since. Those aren't the only things you can get there. Like I said, there's a plethora of stuff that you can pick up. Though I'm not very confident about buying other second-hand goods. It's less of an issue of the site, though, and just more my personal dislike of doing so. Not much can go wrong with a second-hand book, but plenty can go awry with an old computer that someone's used. It could start having all kinds of problems, and there's no way to really fix it. Or if there are, then it would just be very complicated, and I can't be bothered.

To explain more about how I feel about it, it's good to be able to get my hands on books with relative ease, and there's a wide variety of products and prices are good, and the delivery service is pretty reliable, as are the various ways you can give feedback and seek redress for when things do go wrong, which isn very often, truth be told. There are used bookstores close to where I live, but none of them have a stock that is that great, and the prices seem much higher. If that weren't the case, I'd happily use them, but for the moment, it seems like all I have is Amazon. If it weren't for them, then I'd definitely have a much more limited range in terms of my reading choices.

Maria: And what about your friends? Do they use this shop?

I'm pretty sure, just given the number of boxes that they seem to have in their homes from Amazon.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listeners, a website that sells second-hand items. I think the best idea is to talk about Amazon, all right? Have you ever used Amazon? Do you know what it is?

Rory: I feel like most people have, but most people in the West, at least. There are other similar websites as well, which you could talk about.

Maria: Yeah, you can also talk about eBay, all right? eBay is another platform. And Facebook marketplace, do they sell second-hand items on Facebook?

Rory: Oh, yeah, I think that's the main idea.

Maria: Hmm, okay. But I think the main ones are eBay, Amazon, Facebook marketplace, and then there are little ones, maybe local ones. So check out Amazon, yeah? Amazon, feel free to contact us to become partners. Yeah, you're welcome. McDonald's people, we're still waiting for you, so get in touch. Nike, if you're there listening, just come in there, okay? And personally, I use Amazon, I listen to audiobooks, and they have Audible is part of Amazon, so a nice one for audiobooks. Again, Amazon is not our partners yet. It does look like advertising, but it's not. Choose a website. Even if you have never bought anything second-hand, you have to talk about it, or at least talk about a website. So again, Amazon or eBay. You can say that I buy a lot of books from Amazon, or I buy a lot of clothes from eBay, or you can lie about it, all right? Just make up a story. It's a massive global company. Amazon is an American company. What's his face? Bezos, Bezos.

Rory: Jeff Bezos.

Maria: And the company is about 30 years old now.

Rory: Wow, that's almost as old as me.

Maria: Yeah, Rory, think about how much you cost and how much Amazon costs.

Rory: I'm priceless.

Maria: You are, darling. Of course you are.

Rory: That's not true. I'm worthless.

Maria: And it's a sort of website where you can buy and sell various items, from books to computers. And yeah, on Amazon, it's not only about books. So can you kind of buy and sell clothes?

Rory: I think so, yeah. I've bought some clothes on Amazon. I don't know if they're second-hand clothes. God, I hope not.

Maria: Oh, because I used Amazon only for books. Also, I bought some books and they were shipped from the States. Oh, yeah, okay. Everything, actually. Kitchen appliances, clothes. Oh my gosh, it's okay, people. We use it for books, but you can actually buy everything. Travel essentials, electronics, like you name it. Equipment for sports, so everything is on one website. Wow. Yeah, you can sell and buy things there. I use it for buying and selling second-hand books. I picked up on it from word of mouth. So first of all, if you found this company, you found out about it. The question is like, how did you find out about it? Like, I found out about it from my friends. Or I learned about it from my friends. I picked up on it. I picked up on it from my friends or from word of mouth. It means not from advertising, but from people's talk. Word of mouth. Like in speech, not in writing. But you heard that someone mentioned, oh, I sold some books on Amazon. Or I bought some nice second-hand books on Amazon. And Rory heard this conversation. So it was through word-of-mouth recommendations. And actually, this podcast works on…

Rory: …a very ad hoc basis.

Maria: You, dear listener, share our podcast with your friends. You recommend our podcast to everybody, right? In writing, in speaking, on all your social media. So that's how we grow. Thank you very much. If you haven't done it, do it now.

Rory: And if you have done it, do it again.

Maria: Yeah, do it again. Yeah, people tend to forget things, so. I've been using it for quite a while. Present perfect, continuous, dear listener, make sure you've used this structure.

Rory: Really? Oh, nice.

Yeah, I've been using it for 10 years. I've been using it for some years.

Rory: A hundred years.

Maria: I've been using it since August. And I get used books. So second-hand books or used items, used books, used clothes. So we don't have any synonyms for second-hand, right? It's just used, old.

Rory: Yeah, I'm just trying to think. Pre-loved, I think, is the politically correct term.

Maria: No, but you can say, like, I avoid buying brand new books. You see? So you can use a negative. Not to get brand new books, but used books. You can pick up any item you want. So you can pick up or you can choose, you can buy, you can purchase any item you want from any sphere of life. And seriously, the website is massive, dear listener. Have you ever visited this monster?

Rory: It really is. Endless options.

Maria: Seriously. Shop for your home essentials. Home storage. Yes, this is what I want. Add to cart and let the shopping begin. Yeah, actually, Amazon is a lovely website. If you want to find out what this item is called. So if you don't know the name for a particular thing, you can go to Amazon, find this object. And learn the name of it. So this would be a real name. Yeah, and I usually buy second-hand books. Not much can go wrong with a second-hand book. No, seriously. But plenty of things can go wrong with an old computer. So Rory prefers to buy second-hand books, but not second-hand electronics. And a synonym for going wrong can go awry.

Rory: If something goes awry, it goes wrong. Or not to plan.

Maria: Yeah, not to plan, not to the intended way, go wrong. Everything that goes awry goes wrong. How I feel about it. So when you move to a new topic, you can say, to explain more about how I feel about it, well, it's good to be able to get my hands on books. To get my hands on something. So it's great to be able to get my hands on second-hand vintage clothes. And there's a wide variety of products. Careful, there is a wide variety of products. Yeah, products - many. We say there are many products. But there's a wide variety of products. All sorts of books. The prices are reasonable or the prices are quite good. The delivery service is pretty reliable. Yeah, but we all know stories about the delivery services. Yeah, we've all been there. But still, you can say the delivery service is pretty reliable. Usually. And you can give feedback. And you can complain if things go awry, if things go wrong.

Rory: Well, we didn't talk about the reviews, but that's the kind of feedback.

Maria: Yeah, you can write a review on an item you purchased, you bought, you picked up. And you can say, like, the prices on Amazon for second-hand books are much cheaper than in my local bookstores.

Rory: And that is true. I checked that. Sorry, local bookstores.

Maria: Yeah, and we say on Amazon or on eBay. So we buy things on Amazon. We buy things on eBay.

Rory: Because they are online.

Maria: And Rory, what do you reckon, like, usually people buy what kind of second-hand items, like books, clothes? That's it?

Rory: I think it's usually books. Maybe they buy clothes online that are second-hand. But I think that's placing a lot of trust in people. They might buy computers that are pre-owned as well.

Maria: Some electronics, maybe, like some heavy machinery, like, I don’t know, a lawnmower, a tractor. Yeah, second-hand tractor.

Rory: No, no, not a tractor. I'm joking. I can just imagine a tractor sitting outside my house now. I think that's the main ones. I can't think of anything else. But then I don't buy second-hand goods that much.

Maria: Second-hand resale, it's called. Or garden equipment, for example. Or office products. Yeah, and they say, like, used like new. An item in perfect working condition. Used very good. An item in very good condition. Used just good. An item in good condition. Acceptable. An item may have clear signs of usage, but still serves its main function. Could be damaged, yeah? So you can say, like, yeah, you can buy some damaged items. And there are signs of previous use. And these are very interesting words. Signs of usage can include scratches, dents, worn corners. So very specific language. Scratches, when there's a scratch. If you have a long nail and you can scratch yourself. So Amazon resells items. If you want to buy a second-hand product, they're called resale items. So Amazon people don't call them second-hand. Resale items.

Rory: Very fancy. Even though that means second-hand. Maybe it's so people don't feel bad about buying them.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. And we'll get back to you in our new episode about selling, buying second-hand. Bye!

Rory: Bye!

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