Charity Shop Bargains...

A lot of us frequently use charity shops to buy bits & pieces... How about letting us all know of some of the bargain buys that you have made, items that you have given new homes to saving them from an eternity decomposing as landfill, & helping charities along the way...

It may help to encourage other people when they see what bargains are around, & it may give us all an idea of the prices being paid...

I'll start it off, today I went into one of the local ones & spotted a brand new sitty/kneely ortho computer desk chair, after passing the time of day with the lady I did say to her that it was priced pretty cheeply but didn't know how much but she said that was what it was priced at so that was what she was going to charge, especially as I was a regular

£4

I've just looked them up on fleabay...

Wow - fantastic sparhawk!

I do frequent quite a few charity shops down here, but sadly all of them are soooooo expensive, sometimes more than buying things new! When I return to Yorkshire though it's a whole different story...

Mrs C

i love charity shops, and frequent them a lot. my best find this year was a prefect condition magpie figurine made by Beswick. Anyone who is familiar with china will know how pricey that can be. I paid IIRC £4 and when i looked it up when i got home, it is a figurine discontinued in the 80's and now sellling for around £140!!

when i told my kids the value,. they all said in unison...ebay it!! I wont though, I love it!

I might add that dear Sparhawk also managed to get me a hand blender & a prestige pressure cooker in the summer. We will however argue about a jam pan if one turns up

Oooh - just missed out on a jam plan earlier this year that a friend was getting rid of. Must be faster next time!

Mrs C

Charity shops are one of the best reasons to live in the UK AFAIAC - something I miss dreadfully, that and Indian take-aways....so I am very envious of you people in the UK who have so many wonderful charity shops.

I have lived out of charity shops, skips, and hand-downs, for decades.

Here in France, not many - but that is still how I manage to get all my clothes (and OH's) - also, lovely coffee set/teaset, crockery, kitchen equipment, toaster, iron, bedding (including duvets), teddies, shoes, towels, etc. As for books, there is a monthly English books fair nearby, with all kinds of books all at 1 euro each (90p). Last month, I bought 23 books.... as I had a stall there too, co-incidentally, I also sold 23 books.

But for larger items, it is trickier. I need an office chair to sit at the computer: the one I currently use was a cast-off from a friend, about 7 years ago.

Overall, secondhand items are VERY expensive in France - including cars. Although, slightly outside the charity shops topic!



Keep the posts coming, I would love to see what I am missing!

Levi 501 jeans new £3...

Fuji Finepix A400, as new...£20 with an SD card and 2 rechargable batteries in...normal price £70

What a find....!

I've stopped going in the charity shops in Carmarthen. If they have old china, they seem to think they're an antique shop and ask really ridiculous prices (I can buy a tray of half decent china for a fiver in auction, I do not want to pay £25 for a cracked jug with a value of a couple of quid.) Clothes are frequently dearer than I can buy them for new and I am talking about very ordinary stuff. I gave some curtains, bedding etc to a charity shop. I couldn't even get a pound for the single duvet set at the car boot sale - they had £5 on it, and it's still there!

W - well done with the camera. Nothing like that turns up round here.

Good find there CW!

Abs - I think you're right when it come to some charity shops. On the whole the ones in the centre of the city here are ridiculously expensive for some things. I saw one selling some Penguin Classics that were only a couple of years old and cost £1 originally being sold for £2 and £2.50. The original price was still on them! Some clothes (i.e. Primark or supermarket ones) are also being sold for more than new). It just doesn't make sense to me at all. I generally find that the further north I go the better the charity shops get!

Mrs C

Oh some good finds here.
I remember some of the ridiculous prices at some charity shops, it's true that sometimes it all gets a little pretentious, depending who does the pricing there. The key is (if you have that sort of time, of course!) is to go to ALL of them ALL the time - I find that is the best way to get bargains.

Other than charity shops, I am lucky to have some friends and acquaintances around here, British expats or people with a holiday home, who are very comfortably off - and they just don't know where to take their surplus stuff - so I am always happy to take it off their hands - just got a bag of clothes and shoes this week, and what I don't want I can take myself to the local charity (Red Cross, or Secours Populaire or Secours Catholique).

It's great to know people who are much better off than oneself!
Also for clothes, I am fortunate insofar as I am smaller than many, so I often end up getting those items which are still new, and that someone imagined they would grow into "once they have lost weight".

Was in Redcar a couple of days ago and was cold, so decided to look for a coat. Got 2 for £12. One was sheepskin jacket, really nice with zip. Next!!!

How about "The Preserving Book":

Published by Pan books isbn: 0 330 25563 0

The only one on fleabay is £16.50... we got for £2 (sorry)

Fantastic work there sparhawk!

Living in more of a commuter type area I generally find that charity shops have very little when it comes to books that are anything to do with self-sufficiency. Lots of travel guides though. And general old fashioned M&S books on entertaining guests!

Mrs C

You just would not believe how lucky he is in the Charity Shops.

Black & decker pillar drill stand, old but not used £6 today... :bounce:

Oh, & a yoghurt maker for Lady S. for £1...

Please can you come and find amazing things like that in my local charity shops please sparhawk!!!

Mrs C

MrsC wrote:Please can you come and find amazing things like that in my local charity shops please sparhawk!!!

Mrs C

I must admit, sometimes I am quite pleased...

I use the same charity shops, but I never find what I want. He usually finds it for me though. Jammy Booger

PS I love him really

So what's your magic then sparhawk??? Are there some tricks to getting the most out of charity shops that we all need to learn?

Mrs C

We found a yogurt maker in a charity shop the otehr day - not as much of a bargain as Sparshop's, at £7, but not bad either. Just tried first litre of yog in it yesterday and it is delicious.
Also got a big Rumtopf for £4.

Right - I feel inspired. This afternoon I may walk into town and go and have a rummage round our local charity shops and see if I can come up with anything good!

Please cross your fingers for me!

Mrs C

I've still got two fab wrapover dresses that I bought a couple of years ago and wear them with pride, particular when I'm off out to meetings. They were a fiver each. My biggest bargain was a kitchen table I found for £8 at our local recycling centre. I only went to drop off some plastic wrap and came away with a fantastic addition to our kitchen.

MrsC wrote:So what's your magic then sparhawk??? Are there some tricks to getting the most out of charity shops that we all need to learn? Mrs C

Just right place right time I suppose, that & deciding I want something at some stage not nescesarily NOW, Lady S. sometimes struggles with that bit...

Doesn't happen often but drew a blank today...