I just bought a genuine Mulberry bag for £4.99

[0pheIiaBaIIs]

I've had it authenticated but I knew it was real when I saw it on eBay - I used to collect Mulberry bags but sold them all when we needed cash about a decade ago. The seller had just listed it as 'khaki bag'. I know it won't be to everyone's taste but little baguette bags are currently making a comeback AND it's the most beautiful old-style Mulberry - thick leather which smells amazing and beautiful bronze hardware. And did I mention it was £4.99?!

I'm so happy!

(Also please take this opportunity to share your best bargains because I do love a bargain story)

Was eBay around 20 hrs ago?

20 years ago I meant

I got a half clam shell leather Harrods bag for £5. (I only know the style of it as one of my daughters is a handbag expert!) It's called Harry the handbag and I use it every day. Many people are after it, but it's MINE!

Everytime, ebay was founded in 1995. Under the name auctionweb. Changed to ebay in 97.

Who is giving these expensive handbags and new with tags clothes to charity shops in the first place? I mean, if you wanted to help out the charity surely you would point out to the staff how much they're worth so they could be priced accordingly?

I’ve never given a Chanel bag or anything like that but I have given fairly pricey things before and I never know if it’s condescending to say to staff “actually, this is worth quite a lot of money” or not?

I registered with eBay in 1999.

God, that makes me feel so ancient 😩

These days I think a lot of charity shops are pretty clued up about assessing value, although of course sometimes bargains will still slip through.

It’s good to know they’re making the most of donations but it does mean the chance of a really thrilling find is probably smaller than in days of yore.

I bought a box of unknown items in an auction years ago. Got loads of little ornaments etc. and at the bottom of the box was an old brass ashtray. I checked it out and it's a rare Rolex collectible from 1950's and worth about €2,000!

This thread is lovely! I'm envious of all your bargains!

I used to work in a charity shop in a very affluent part of London. We used to get all sorts of beautiful things donated. A lot of it was house clearances - lots of gorgeous vintage stuff which we used to get authenticated and auctioned (this was pre-ebay). We once sold on a Chanel suit for over £2,000.

We also used to get people getting rid of their exes' belongings quite a lot. But more often than not, people just being generous and giving away good quality clothing/bags/accessories for us to sell to raise money.

@GabsAlot I've a feeling that because she couldn't vouch for its authenticity (she said in the listing she bought it second hand) she didn't want to potentially get into bother should it prove to be counterfeit.

@LadyB49 what a lovely story!

On another note I saw a top from primark bnwt originally £3 the charity shop had marked it at a 5er. My friend always gets things in charity shops for good prices, I just dont have the patience to look properly.

When eBay first started you could leave feedback without ever having a transaction on the platform. So if you were trading toys for example you could leave your trading partner eBay Feedback despite having had nothing to do with it.

I bought and sold toys from charity shops and boot sales back then when DD was small and I was a SAHM. I learned quickly that some collectible toys that were released in the UK were different to those in the USA to US buyers paid a huge premium for them. I knew what I was looking for.....

Off the top of my head:

A 70's boxed action figure that turned out to be the holy grail of the range. It went to a museum in New York for a couple of thousand, I'd paid £11.

A set of 3 baby my little ponies that were only produced in the UK. I'd bought a suitcase full for a fiver. £250. On that case I made just over a thousand.

A very rare care bear that cost me 50p. He went for £3,500

Bear in mind this was a few years ago and prices have plummeted once people started to flood the market with this stuff. But toys have a second life and when they do, it gets expensive. General rule is when you are 30/35 what you had as a child will be huge because at that point you've got a bit more disposable income and want to replace your favourite toy. Polly Pocket for example is currently selling for a small fortune.

wow op great find-shes missed a trick there

I take things to the charity shop that still have tags...I get notification of how much it has raised. Hardly anything !
I had a big clear out earlier in the year as the house was to be renovated.

Pantomime tickets for £1.72 each instead of £35 each - website glitch. Quite a few celebs were in it!

Not as good as some of these but a pair of jeans on the £1 sale rail in the charity shop. I just liked the look of how they hung on the hanger. My size and Levis. they are so comfy.

Mint Velvet jeans & Boden jeans from the same charity shop....£1 each! Got a lovely little Radley bag for a fiver off ebay years ago as the colour wasn't very fashionable. But of course, fashions change & it is now!

My DIL worked in an area where the footballers WAGs are in abundance, she has bought designer clothes still tagged from a charity shop that they bring in as unsuitable whatever. She paid £40 for four designer outfits.

I bought a gorgeous pair of Lanvin sunglasses from TK Maxx yesterday for £9.
I actually did a double take as they were in the clearance section. A quick on the spot google - they retail for around £270.

I love a good bargain, and I know not everyone is a fan, but I love eBay. I seem to buy most of my clothes from there, wear them for 6 months and resell for higher than I originally paid.

I have a Gucci bag for £2, didnt realise it at the time, was buying some tatty plastic toys for my little niece and grabbed the bag and used it.

I have a vintage 'margot' french cream faux fur 3/4 length coat, which looks fab on my daughter. £4

I have a 1899 jasperware teapot £10

I also have a small handblown port glass, with engraved pattern, have no idea if that is worth anything, or its age. I dont know anything about glass. But its pretty so am keeping it!

I got a solid oak side board/cabinet on ebay last weekend for £70. Looked online and they are still selling the same thing for £450. Chuffed to bits with it.

A John Rocha coat for ds for £3, was immaculate.

Loads of stuff, though generally high street, rather than designer (I’d just assume fake, tbh).

I have a wide collection of non matching le creuset (outlet prices - over £1000, charity shop prices - less than £50).

But my favourite ever buy came from an antique shop, bought when I was a sixth former. I was mooching around the bookshelves (happily, because I love old books), and came across a copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was £2, and claimed to be a first edition. I bought it to replace my well read paperback copy, and forgot about it for years. Then I read an article in the Times about collectibles books. TLTWATW featured large. To cut along story short it was auctioned, and got over £500.

I live in an affluent area and would NEVER be able to get a charity shop bargain as found on here

You would be surprised volunteers at charity shops have no idea half the time what stuff is worth, frequent the smaller charities.

@LadyB49 ahhh that's lovely. When I was a Charity shop manager I happened to be at the till when lady came and asked if I'd help her find something suitable for returning to work. Over the course of the next hour I pulled loads of stuff ( some from the back shop) for her to try on whilst I jiggled her gorgeous baby . She explained that she'd left an abuser and needed to return to work. Myself and a volunteer managed to kit her out in two lovely work outfits plus shoes, boots and a laptop bag . Also managed to get baby a fab little outfit. It should of added up to about 50 but I charged her a tenner and put the rest of £ in myself.
She came in two months later with flowers and biscuits... I may of shed a tear or two.