I don’t know how she would react to a carrier that had other cat smells on it. The “new” smell can be disguised by HER smell, but I think a used carrier will always have some part of it that smells of the previous animal. That may not be a good thing for her. I figure if I can get one for under $20, it will be a good investment.
I don’t know what a new carrier costs. We got one with Wednesday and bought our second at a garage sale. If you can get one for $2, just scrub it out with Lysol and rinse well.