Have you ever found exactly what you were looking for in a charity shop?

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On Monday I listened to a Radio play of The Woman In White and it reminded me of how much I love that book and that I needed to get a copy. The copy I wanted was The Penguin English Library Classics version.

The next day I went into a small local(ish) charity shop and the exact book that I wanted was sitting there so I got it, for only £1:50 so I bought it.

It was a very nice coincidence that made my week so I wondered if anyone else has been looking for a specific thing in a charity shop, jumble sale or similar and found it?

Yes, just today actually.
MIL is very I’ll in hospital, she’s 92, and nor expected to live much longer. DH had just realised that he had no dark trousers or shoes.
I was going to charity shop anyway for some books, so he tagged along and we found a decent pair of black trousers, a pair of barely worn black leather shoes and a black tie. All in the correct size for the grand sum of £7.00.

Yes, walked past a charity furniture shop to get to the hairdresser, and spotted a lovely table lamp the exact shade of my cushions, in the window. Had been looking in vain for weeks, so snapped it up, complete with bulb, shade and plug for the princely sum of £8!

Quite a few times over the years. Most notable was a Denby dinner service from Morningside Oxfam in just the right turquoise shade for my kitchen.

When I was a student at Edinburgh university many years ago, I used to love going up to Morningside (if you meant that Morningside) to visit the chazzas. You got a much better standard of stuff there!

Ditto, when visiting MIL in the Cotswolds

I collect vintage postcards with a particular theme and had been looking for a reasonably priced album for months. They are not cheap by any means. When I took some old handbags in our local charity shop the other day, there was just the right album and only £1.50. Grand job.

I didn't 'need' it as such but my best ever find is a signed UK first edition of an early novel by one of my favourite authors. It was published in the 70s and was part of a tiny print run as the author was pretty much unheard of at the time (but very well known now). I didn't even notice the signature until I got it home. It's one of my most treasured possessions now.

I had a set of 6 nice wine glasses that had gradually reduced to 3, when I saw 3 wine glasses in the charity shop window priced at I think 50p each, thought they'll do until i get a new set.

They were the exact same as the originals!

I live close to the Cotswolds. Care to point me towards the good charity shops? I’d be very grateful.

Interesting to read about books. Charity shops used to be what I thought of as a library. Since then I have tried and tried ( having downsized house ) to give books to charity shops and many of them just won't take them .

On the Upside I found a cashmere sweater in a charity shop ( I feel the cold ) and it did me great service for 6 years until the moths got it. ( I think it was £8 )

I’ve always bought everything I can from charity shops-saved a fortune with the kids

anyway,one day my youngest dds shoes where on the way out-and I was skint

i was plucking up the courage to ask my mother if I could borrow some money to buy her a cheap pair to tide her over (I’d ring her,ask,get screamed at for daring to ask,she would lend me the money but the interest would be sky high so it was a vicious circle)

id just dropped her silblings off at school and went the long way home,just to kill some time before I had to make the dreaded call-our route took us past the charity shop-and in the window,in the right size,was a pair of brand new-with tags-cream Clark’s shoes

£1.50 complete with box

i was over the moon-I got home and cried with sheer relief-they lasted her a long time-I think she ended up growing out of them in the end

world book day-I found 3 outfits for the younger kids,right sizes and what they wanted to go as
£3.50 in total

my eldest dd really wanted some converse but I didn’t have the money to buy her any brand new
walked into a charity shop-brand new,with box,right size and colour-converse
£2.00
she wore them out in the end

same dd really wanted a tatty teddy necklace-£35 in argos
we walked round the corner to the charity shop-same necklace
£3 (but no box)

my ds really liked topshop tee shirts-but they where £30+ each
we raided every single charity shop we could
got him about 20 but I never paid more than £2.50 each

ds needed a school blazer-they’d changed the uniform ready for the new school year
£60+ and I couldn’t afford it
went to a car boot-a mum sold us one for £4 as they where moving with her husband work-and she was getting rid of tat and this blazer hadn’t been worn as they’d only just changed the uniform

a mirror-my dad had bought my mother a mirror when they started dating and my brothers had all spent a fortune buying the same mirror but the newer versions where only made in the smaller sizes
i was at a car boot and found the full size,vintage mirror-£25
it hangs in my dining room

Yea! I got
Married 3 years ago and didn't have a huge budget for a dress . I kept ordering ones online and then sending them back as I wasn't happy. My son was only 4 months so I didn't feel that confident yet. One day I just thought "maybe just a white maxi dress" walked into a charity shop and found one that fitted me for £7 I dressed up with a bridal sash/belt thing round the middle and a slip underneath. I felt
So comfortable and confident .

No, but carboot sales have occasionally had exactly what I was looking for. The most memorable was a few years ago when we wanted some gothic revival style wallpaper for our guest room. Actually I'd had my eye on a fabulous Zoffany wallpaper but as we were short of funds at the time, couldn't stretch to what felt like a vast sum (probably £50 a roll back then???). Then, annoyingly, our good friends invited us for a meal and proudly showed off their newly wallpapered living room....in the same pattern 🙄

I reluctantly decided that the wallpaper would never be ours now as we'd be seen to be copying our friends - the truth being they often pinched our decorating ideas, lol 😆

Imagine my surprise when I rocked up at the local carboot sale a couple of weeks later and spotted a guy selling seven rolls of the Zoffany paper in the same colourway I'd wanted (and that now graced the walls of our friends' home). I couldn't resist asking the price..."£5" said the bloke selling. I was about to hand over £35, thinking it an absolute bargain, when I realised he meant he wanted a fiver for all seven rolls 😁

Fortunately our friends totally understood it was too good a bargain to miss and it became a long-standing joke between us that they'd forked out hundreds whilst we'd got the same thing for £5!

I needed an Easter basket for DS school project, I saw the perfect one in a charity shop window, they wouldn’t sell it as it was apart of the window display

Yes! My daughter wanted nothing but a yellow dolls House for her birthday. I searched the internet high and low and couldn't find a yellow one. I was starting to contemplate painting one. Then I walked into a charity shop and there was a lovely little yellow dolls house for £7. Absolutely perfect.

Yes all the time, this weekend I got some castor protector thingies I wanted for a new chair. We joke about praying to the god of charity shops.

Yes, several years ago we were spending Christmas with some family members including DGD who must have been about 6. I wanted to do a stocking for her beloved teddy; had several things to put in it, but not the stocking itself. I had a very clear idea of it, was scouring shops in Windermere where we were staying, and eventually found exactly what I was looking for in a charity shop for 50p - it even had a teddy bear appliquéd onto it!

Yes, three tiny hand knitted baby cardigans, all pink and all with little animal buttons on (clearly made with love). I loved them. DD only weighed 4lb 9oz at birth and they were even a wee bit big on her. 50p each in the Sue Ryder shop in Witney (Oxfordshire) in 2004.

@ThatPirateLady try Witney (if not too far).

Yes - i've got the entire Game of Thrones book series for £10.

Also found a chest of drawers for £10 that were just like a Laura Ashley set i'd been admiring in the catalogue that cost £700. They were ancient and flimsy but the style was perfect.

What a lovely thread 👍🏿

18 months ago I bought a pair of quite unusual shoes online that I fell in love with. Cost me £120 ( yes, I know, but I fell in love with them and they were comfortable). I'd not worn them very much as we weren't going out - covid ya know - but I wore them to go out one night a couple of months ago and the heel snapped off while walking through town. I was gutted !! Got to the bar and was telling my friends what happened. One of them pulled up Vinted on her phone and only went and found the exact same pair of shoes - in my size !! £40 !!!! The only pair on there. Sent my damaged ones back and got my £120 back !!!!

A 1930s drinks cabinet for £70. I don't think they realised how old it was 😬

@ThatPirateLady

It's been many years since I've been, but there were a few in Moreton-in-Marsh, and a nice one in Bourton on the Water.

I found a vintage Chanel jacket in the one in B-o-t-W for £20 in the mid 90s. It fitted but I didn't buy it as I thought I'd never wear it. Idiot... I bet it would be worth a lot now!

It's very boring but I once bought some high waisted trousers that I wanted to wear with a plain white long sleeved top. I stopped in the charity shop the same day the trousers arrived so my kids could look at the toys and I saw one in my size for 50p.

Yes!

16 and desperately wanted a pair of dark brown/pink trim roll top timberland boots. They were about £130 new. We couldn’t afford that and even if we could, my parents were absolutely not spending that on them.

Walked into PDSA and there they were. Brand new in the box. In my size for £5.

I still remember the utter thrill and I still have them, I’m 34 and they are absolutely not my style anymore but I cannot bare to get rid of the because I still remember that utter joy in finding them!

Yes, frequently.

New with tags t-shirts for DD4, two gorgeous winter coats for me, brown leather sandals, snow boots, several books that were on my list, a Pyrex dish to replace one that was broken, a squirrel proof bird feeder, a bread machine, a nice woven basket for coralling books-in-progress and crochet, some very nice candles, and frames of different sizes for old photos.