to ask what is the best bargain/find you have got from a charity shop/freecycle/ebay/car boot etc?

[steiner8]

Love to hear your stories! My best find is probably collectable West German pottery (fat lava), going for £1 each in a charity shop.

A vintage brown soft leather 3 seater sofa on ebay for £30.. Its so gorgeous... I spent more on cushions and throws for it.. ????

Brand new JCrew jeans for a fiver (thank you, rich St Andrews students). Steve Madden knee-length duvet coat (also from a charity shop in St Andrews).

I got a brand-new saddle for £250 that would have been £450 in the shops so I was really pleased. I'd been looking for a s/h one (Wintec Wide in brown for those in the know) but they kept going up to silly prices, then I saw a brand-new one and thought I had no chance. I happened to check the auction in the morning (rarely put my pc on during the day) and there were no bids. In the end I was the only bidder and got it for the starting price, I couldn't believe my luck. I think it was because it was a Saturday morning and all the other horsey people were out doing horsey things and forgot to bid .

A load of snes games at pickering steam fair last year. DP spent £5 and some.of the games are worth upwards of £50... It was blatantly obvious they had no idea what they were selling.

A string of pearls for £2

A Calvin Klein work dress from a charity shop in Didsbury for £8. It fits me like a glove and is by far the most flattering thing I own. I have worn and washed it loads, and it still looks as good as new.

I was given a pristine jumperoo by a couple on freegle. According to the gentleman I was emailing I was the only person who had sent a message with a please in it. My son loved it, and when we were done we passed it on. I think the damn thing is still doing the rounds now nearly three years on, bloody indestructible!

I bought my youngest DD an old wooden school desk and chair on gumtree for £5. I'd been looking for a while but all the others I'd seen were around £40-£50. The look on her face when we gave it to her for her birthday was priceless and she's barely left it since

Ooh. Loads of things!

I was given a bugaboo when dd was born.

Recently got ds a pair of almost new diesel jeans for a tenner in a charity shop.

Loads of dds clothes (next/m&s/h&m/monsoon...) all for a couple of quid a piece.

An old stereo in an auction for ?35 including fees, I sold the turntable for ?800, the amp for ?300 and the tuner for about ?150.

I was delighted that my nerdiness paid off for once.

Mine are mostly rare books from charity shops. A first edition Antonia Forest hardback for £1 that was selling on ABE for £225.

Did get a beautiful pink lampshade for a few pounds though, just need a lamp to put it on now

Ha! I found a lamp but needed the shade.
It eventually appeared in the form of Laura Ashley pleated silk in just the right colour for my sitting room.
Hold the faith.

Brand new fully lined double breasted wool Timberland coat for me, thirty quid on eBay.

Last week I spied a book lying in the road, I recognized the back cover straight away as the Eighteenth Emergency by Betsy Byars! I picked it up, it's in great nick. Perfect for DS. Free!

Ooh, loads. Vivienne Westwood dress, £15. Chrome Dualit toaster for a fiver. Alessi fruit bowl for a quid. Perfect Ercol Studio Couch for £250 off Gumtree, just up the road, when I had been getting consistently outbid at the £800 mark on eBay for ones miles away.

There's nothing better than getting the rush of a proper bargain.

An unworn (with tags!) Ralph Lauren dotty silk dress for £8, a Saville Row hunting jacket (it's pure wool, heavy as hell but so warm and well made) for £10, and a lovely circa 1820 plate for £2.50 :)

My colleague bought two 1907 solid silver ladles for £6 - the scrap value alone is worth about £80!

Jeans ( gap, river island) for a pound at carboot always buy my jeans at carboots a 1930s tall boy for 10 pound at charity shop had it for 7 years.
Purple seude shoulder bag 2 pound at charity shop
Best thing went to collect a rug for 20pound at home come home and went back 2 days later to collect there lounge carpert it was massive and fits our lounge and bedroom ( got chatting to them and they said they were redecorting and were getting rid of it i asked if we could have as just moved into council flat they said yes ) still got 5 years on and nothing wrong with it

Years ago we got a car port that fixed to the wall from freecycle. We've moved now but its still going strong on our old house

We've given a car away on freecycle

Weego twin baby carrier. Sold it back on ebay for £2 more than I paid for it! It was pretty ancient when I got it - third hand at least. Ebay is basically a twin carrier lending library, I feel bad for the company who make it because it's a brilliant carrier and the only one for small twins and they must make no money off it since we all pass them on...

Brand new still with tags Boden tweed blazer! Very happy with that

A 1930s Christmas fairy...the kind that goes on top of a tree for 20p. Similar on EBAY for around £ 75....I'd never sell her though...I love her.

Got one of those Swoosh baby toys at a second hand sale. RRP £15. Bought for 50p.

Meant Skwish!

Oops forgot to add paid £10

We got a Silver Cross Pop buggy for £20. Was fully prepared to buy it full price before I checked Gumtree just in case!
Also got a Mama's and Papa's light up musical swinging chair for £20, rrp £90 I believe. Love it!