What wouldn’t you buy from a charity shop?

[CoolPlayer]

What wouldn’t you buy from a charity shop? Why? What do you buy? What’s the best bargain you’ve picked up? Genuinely curious, I’ve always picked up kids toys, books ect I think it’s a great way to re use / save money. never any kitchen bits but I know people pick up some good bargains..

Chazzer Pants is the new Cancel the Cheque.

There's no type of item I would rule out. There's a condition vs price vs rarity equation involved in buying, of course. I would be least likely to buy second hand electricals - they're always tested so not unsafe but I tend to think they will have a limited lifespan due to wear and tear or obsolescence - e.g. you see a lot of speakers designed for I-pods with a dock that would only take that old style of connection.

Best bargain - a wooden clock I bought for £2.50 that I discovered sold for about £70 on eBay, not that I wanted to sell it!

@LunaNorth 😂😂😂🩲

We did get a lovely £5 table lamp with a pottery base and linen shade that matched the flower colour on the duvet cover. They are PAT tested so we were happy with it.

I wonder if so many of us (me included) made the mistake about underwear because "charity shop" automatically means "secondhand clothes" and we don't expect to see new clothes on the racks?

Yeah, I collect vintage tech as a hobby, mainly analogue cameras and old computers, but I only buy stuff I know I can use. I did recently get an old stereo to connect up a turntable I'd got free from a neighbour, and that works fine. But yeah - a lot of tech stuff in charity shops will effectively be useless because it's obsolete, and/or likely to break very quickly, so you do need to be careful.

One of my local charity shops has had a lot of tech in it recently, and some of it looked tempting, for example a nice 35mm film scanner that looked hardly touched, but when I googled it I discovered it was a model almost 20 years old and getting it to work with current versions of Windows is almost impossible. That basically makes it e-waste.

Tech in charity shops is, as far as I'm concerned, not old enough to be interesting, but too old to be useful.

Underwear and I'm a bit at shoes still, but once upon a time I was at the idea of charity shops in general and now I buy loads, so I may come round.

My best buy so far was a Parka for £15 that was still on the brand's website for £165. I'm regularly complimented on it.

Off to my favourite charity shop right now as it happens!

shouts at maximum volume

CHARITY...SHOPS... DON'T...SELL...USED... UNDERWEAR...FOR...THE...UMPTEENTH...TIME.

@Catsmere a lot of what is in charity shops isn't secondhand.
They have a lot of stuff bought in - including clothes. Sometimes discontinued lines from other retailers or if a retailer goes bust stock intended for them will be sold off. Charity Shops (and market stalls) get stock this way.
They also have products (including some clothes) that's created and sourced the same way any other retailer does.
Go in (for example) Cancer Research at the moment and they have their Christmas range out - cards, jigsaws, novelty bubble bath gift sets, mugs, tea towels etc.
These are new products designed specifically for Cancer Research (or wherever).
The Moomin range that Oxfam sells is brilliant.

@PrimitivePerson BUT THE QUESTION IS WHAT WOULDN'T YOU BUY.

I wouldn't buy underwear. Whether or not they actually sell it is irrelevant in this context, although I'm sure one of our local ones sells bras and certainly slips / underskirts.

Whether you WOULD buy something is irrelevant if you CAN'T buy it.

Saying "I wouldn't buy used underwear in a charity shop" makes as much sense as saying "I wouldn't do my grocery shopping in a charity shop".

Toiletries, underwear and shoes.

@CheeseWisely any underwear they sell probably comes from the same factories as John Lewis or M+S.
So what's the difference?

I wouldn't buy sports leggings: there are loads in the charity shops in our area from high end brands, but I associate them with crotch sweat. Probably wouldn't buy a sports T shirt either.

I have picked up a few pairs of shoes over the years though if I judge that they're practically unused. The best bet is high heeled party shoes: they get donated with little to no wear when women find them uncomfortable or indeed unwearable.

People are talking about secondhand underwear, which charity shops don't even sell.

@PrimitivePerson I know.....sigh 🙁
Some people seem to think charity shops only sell grubby, shabby and broken products that are covered in dust and germs and it's like a rummage jumble sale.
That's not what charity shops are like - apart from a very few independent local charities.
The "chain" ones are professionally run.

Adding to the chorus of “we don’t sell worn underwear”. Or socks, or nightwear, or swimwear. Only stuff which is BNWT.

interesting that people are saying they wouldn’t buy trousers or shorts as our sakes of tops and dresses are way higher than sales of trousers or skirts. Shoes only go out if they are in excellent condition, most aren’t. Special occasion shoes sell well as people know they’ve only been worn a short time,

i don’t ever rule out buying anything. Currently wearing a pair of M&S jeans which were a charity shop purchase.

Underwear or shoes

@Crikeyalmighty why not underwear? It probably comes from the same factories as John Lewis or M+S.
(being sarcastic now......because I am assuming you've not read the full thread 😂)

I wouldn't buy anything that can't be washed/cleaned from the charity shop, like shoes and ear phones.

Maybe not pants, but I have seen bras, camis and nightwear.

Wouldn't buy - Underwear (but most don't sell it anyway), footwear that looks well worn, clothing that looks ragged or well worn, PJs.

Otherwise, I've picked up lovely clothes including a gorgeous monsoon dress BNWT, a pair of Victoria Beckham jeans (£3.95!!) and other high end stuff, and a number of very nice leather handbags. I have also bought household things like picture frames, coffee mugs, storage jars - pretty much anything that can be cleaned/washed.

As a country dweller with a horse and a dog, I buy all my outdoor doggy walking/horse care gear from C shops as it gets absolutely filthy so no point in getting an expensive jacket/fleece etc dirty when I can make do with something that cost less than a fiver from a C shop.

Why are people saying underwear, do charity shops tend to sell used knickers? 🤢
I wouldn't buy anything from a charity shop after having volunteered in one, and the ones I've been in smell awful. Like musty and greasy.

People are saying underwear because either they don’t go into charity shops so have no clue what sort of stuff they actually sell, or because they are just talking about second hand in general.

strange also that you wouldn’t buy having been a volunteer, volunteers in our shop are the best customers too.