Buying from charity shops. Any bargains?

Never been one for charity shops, always took our unwanted stuff down and thought will people buy that? However mrs ws has bought some ridiculous bargains recently. The main ones being a pair of merrel walking boots which genuinely look like they’ve never been worn for a whole five pounds and a handbag today to match her new shoes for £2.99!! The handbags she ordered “online” are hastily being packed back up and sent back!!!

Most of the books I buy these days are from our local PDSA but that’s not in the same league as Mrs WS

My father in law calls them ‘dead shops’ becuase some/most of the stuff comes from people who are dead!
I bought a set of golf clubs from a charity shop once and my game improved dramitically with them. I sometimes wondered if they were haunted and if I was playing with dead mans clubs! (lol)

When I was a student more years ago than I care to admit, I scored a big stack of 1950s New Yorker magazines from the local Oxfam for 5p a copy. The covers were in a hell of a state so they had little value as they were, but a mate who dabbled in antiques trading sliced all the fantastic car adverts (1950s American car adverts, really lovely) out, stuck them in cheap frames and sold them for a tenner each. Paid for more than a few beers, that.

More recently, my other half found a Hunter Thompson first edition which I didn’t have (I collect them) in a charity shop for under a tenner – one that would cost ten times that on eBay.

I’ve had a few pairs of 3/4 cargo shorts from charity shops this year, at a few pounds a go they’re great for short (haha!) rides and cheap enough to not really be that fussed if they get wrecked.

We also recently bought a really nice coffee set (pot, milk jug, sugar bowl and 6 cups & saucers) for £6! It’s just a nice thing to have and use when you fancy a little pomp and ceremony 😀

Arcteryx gamma soft shell
Patagonia pro shell
North face down vest
Mountain hardwear waterproof down hooded jacket
Fair bit of cycling gear
really nice big antique Persian rug
All mint! I also get lots of books.

Bought a nylon string Yamaha guitar for £5 gave to my son 10yrs ago he now puts Slash to shame.

Ordnance surveys maps, there usually 50p to £2 and worth buying just to add to the collection.

Musto sailing jacket (more than a half decent bikes worth), for £15. left it on holiday 🙁

Spotted a KORG Electribe II in a really out of the way charity shop at the end of a dead end canal run by a canal association for £5, felt too guilty to buy it and told the old fella running it that he should probably put it on ebay or take it to a music shop as even 2nd hand they’re £200+.

Out of interested are these finds coming from better off areas? It seems mad that people offload that gear!

A 17th century Davenport Hydra jug

My father in law calls them ‘dead shops’ becuase some/most of the stuff comes from people who are dead!

totally. But occasionally people with fantastic taste die. Most of our crockery comes from charity shops.

Out of interested are these finds coming from better off areas?

not always – I’m sure theres plenty of good stuff offloaded to charity in posh areas, but its either snapped up by posh shoppers and dealers or the shop staff stick stupid prices on stuff.

I was in Prestwick the other day and charity shops there are putting tags in the hundreds on some stuff – its counter productive, it upsets people who are donating. If they’re giving stuff away for free they expect it to be sold for a bit more than free so that people with modest means can buy them, in that way they’re being doubly charitable. They feel exploited when they see their stuff being sold (or often not selling) at top dollar.

Yes, the good old days are gone in most. They have targets to meet and the Internet to find the value of things. I know of a couple near me(one I walk past daily, so have a nosey) that still are like propper junk shops with reasonable prices.
In the small cotswold town I live in there are 4 shops and one takes £80k a year.

dvds and cds

I took some books, kids board games and such like to Scope last weekend, and was given a £2.00 gift voucher for my donation!

Seems a bit counterproductive, but I suppose I may go back for a browse round at some time. Not sure I could consciously use the money off though.

Most things in charity shops are a bargain if they’re useful to the buyer, and better still of course they fund a good cause and keep stuff out of the landfill. Mrs MR bagged a perfect vintage 1920s high-collared oriental styled dress (hand embroidered) for about $5 in a backstreet charity shop (or ‘thrift store’ as she calls it). She won’t ever give it up but am convinced it’s worth a mint! I bought a 1st edition novel for £1.50 – the going price for collectors is between 2-£300ish. If I sell it I will donate back to the store. Also, monopoly for quid is always a bargain for anyone 🙂

A brand new pressure keg and all the fittings and adaptors for £10 🙂

Looks to have been used once or twice, but retail on it is still close to £100.
Just need to decide on the next brew, now.

Karrimor (the old, good stuff) 65l rucksack (Jaguar?) for £10. Had been dropping off a load of outgrown kids clothes and toys and spotted it on my way out.

i didnt know you could get. a matching handbag for merrell boots whatever next

I’m pretty sure the good stuff goes to good areas , If you take a walk through the charity shops in Morningsode in Edinburgh Its pretty likely to be all Ralph Lauren , Boss etc etc. When I lived in Muswell Hill It was the same when a lot of ‘seconds’ from big labels used to appear on the shelves. This obviously reflects on the price though as I bought a Cord Ralph lauren Jacket for £30 which is a bargain but unlikely to sell In my local area.
Vintage shops like Armstrongs in Edinburgh are also great as they always have rakes of good quality Fred Perry’s that are never more than about £12.

Mountain Hardware 3 season sleeping bag for a fiver that seemed unused.

Some diesel jeans

Specialised SPD commuter shoes for £7 unused, still had the rubber cover on the spd screw holes.

Get loads of kids toys and books from there.

I picked up a Yamaha SG guitar for I think £50… Fixed it up and stuck it on ebay, sold it for IIRC £800. Then felt very guilty and donated almost all of it back 😆

I don’t like kindles so buy all my books from charity shops. Also bought some good first editions (Catch22, 3 hemingways etc)

But like someone pointed out the prices are getting stupid. Crappy motorbike textiles for £50, an old snowboard with rubbish bindings for £100 etc. Still miss the really good things though – 2 immaculate but old billingham camera bags went for £5 the pair!!!!! Easy worth £50-75 each

[edit] Just about to go and watch Yes Minister – bought the entire 4 series for £5 today on the way back from dropping the girls at school – all unopened and unwatched as well!

No but they’re great places to go and hunt for random CDs that you wouldn’t otherwise buy – a bit like when you used to rifle through CDs and vinyl in record shops and spot something you’d heard about but weren’t thinking of buying. Got some really interesting music that way over the last few years so it’s a good way to discover stuff

Mrs Moses has founds some excellent clothes from the charity shops down the road. 3 of my suits are from that source, M&S in my size, and according to the Guardian, their cut suits my stocky shape. They fit and looked new, none cost more than £15.

Wandered into a St Barnabas shop earlier this year, they had a load of big Playmobil sets worth £70-£80 each, brand new with damaged boxes for £15 a go. Apparently Playmobil quite often donate sets with damaged boxes to them so worth keeping an eye out. Picked up a Police station and a jail set, my boy had a good 4th birthday!

Lovely tweed jacket from our local charity shop – couldn’t have been a better fit if MrsJulianA had bought it new for me.

She’s had a few clothes bargains too.

Lovely tweed jacket from our local charity shop

Wasn’t one of mine, I hope! 😉 (Actually, just dropped some no longer needed children’s clothing round earlier today).

We’ve had a lot from that same place, including clip photo frames aplenty, some nice lamps and more.

My Auntie used to work part time at a charity shop in Surrey. The amount of brand new/as new stuff that people wanted rid of was staggering, particularly kids toys & gear.

Last year I had been pining for a decent coffee machine for a while and couldn’t believe my eyes when I found a Gaggia Classic in our local village charity shop priced at £15. I gave them £20 and scampered off very pleased with myself.

It’s an old model but i don’t think it had much use until I got my hands on it. Still can’t believe how jammy I was that day.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Lovely tweed jacket from our local charity shop
Wasn’t one of mine, I hope!

I doubt it, CFH!

Forgot the excellent lamp we had from there too. Some good DVDs too…

Must pop back again soon – although not in need of any children’s clothing, obviously!

I did my clothes shopping almost exclusively in charity shops in the 90s and 00s and managed to maintain a fairly respectable wardrobe of retro sportswear and designer gear..

It’s a bit of a joke round here at the moment though with shops asking £7 and more for a mediocre T-shirt, it’s more cost effective to buy new..

There were some great vinyl bargains to be had around the turn of the millenium too and I built up a good collection of funk, soul, rare groove and classic house music for pennies..
All the good stuff seems to have been snapped up now though, and any decent clobber goes straight on the ‘bay..

That said, there is still a very occasional bargain to be had..
I popped in to grab a sensible lightweight sweater earlier in the year and came out with a lovely plush heavyweight hoodie with an eyewatering zebra stripe pattern – £6 and I can feel like Eminem any time I fancy 🙂

Used to run some stalls in a local flea market, about half our stock came from charity shops and jumble sales.
An early etching by a Scottish colorist – £10, made £360 at auction
Tweed overcoats £3-£5 from the Sally Ann – £30-£35 on the stalls
’50’s deco-style plastic – pennies from charities, up to £20 on the stall
Harris tweed jacket, perfect fit for me £10
Paramo Mountain Vent £7.50 (having bought exactly the same one in a different colour from the sale rail at Go Outdoors for £50 and thought I’d got a bargain)
First edition Harry Potter £3.50, on line value about £5 (turns out the later ones aren’t worth that much after all). Still I know where JK Rowling lives, maybe I should stalk her for an autograph

Lots of great records including this one for 50p

Sheffield has some good ones with gear at sensible prices and occasionally too cheap. I have got at least half of my non cycling gear from the places in the last few years. On one visit a couple years ago I bought some Adidas Sambas that appeared unworn for £4 and a mint Scrabble set for £3. I don’t find much time for shopping at all anymore but would far rather wander round somewhere with unknown stock than a boring shopping centre!

It’s true to some extent what people have said about the more affluent areas, the prices in Buxton were far far higher than here in Sheffield but if people are willing to pay it then that’s fantastic.

Decent waterproof coats A bergahaus one was a tenner and still in use.
Decent kids shows for a couple of quid that would be £30 new
Nothing life changing

The comments about folk buying stuff and then offloading it unopened/unused sort of reminds me of a conversation with an American chap who came over here for a couple of years (USAF).

He said his brother was an investment banker but gave it all up because he realised there was more money to be made by sourcing iMacs, iPads, iPods etc that people bought just to say that they had one. They were rarely opened and practically always unused.

He ran ads in local papers all over the US and paid scrap prices (because a new version had come out and ergo, the old stuff was crap now) then promptly resold them on ebay. He loves Apple launching new stuff because it always ended up in his getting a new source of goods.

At uni I only ever shopped in charity shops for clothes etc. Buy lots of s/h books now.

I forgot most of my clothes on a week long trip to the lakes. Cue loads of charity shop visits I even found a Kielder 100 tee in blue and a hawksmead trail runner top that I still wear. Best bargain has to be the upright piano for £60 it took some getting home 😯