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.

Jane at the CS First ed with d/w. £2. Didn't realise how od until I went home. They were going for around £125 on ABEbooks at the time.

Lovely child's little wooden chair for £5.

Beautiful wooden desk for dd2. It's like an old fashioned school desk but much posher, in dark wood, with leather writing areas, and drawers down the side for £20.

A solid wood child size table and 2 chairs for 10 quid off ebay. Seller lived local. Still used every day.

When DP and I moved into our rented house someone had left a big box of Nintendo Wii accessories there. We didn't have a Wii so we listed them for free on gumtree and a lady picked them up the same day.

A few weeks later she gave us a call because she was having a change of furniture in her bedroom and asked if we wanted the old stuff as she'd notice we'd just moved in. The stuff was lovely and looked hardly used, and she even had her husband drop it off for us in his van! Not bad for a box of plastic crap

One of my faves was an antique ebony clarinet, bought for DS at a troc et puces in France for €90, subsequently valued at £1500 for insurance purposes. Still have it somewhere, must get around to selling it now that DS no longer plays...

A Mamod toy steam engine for a tenner!!

Bloody hell duchesse! I paid £70 for a second hand plastic clarinet for my son, yours is a bargain!

I got some GHDs in my local Oxfam for £7. Was pretty chuffed. They did break about three weeks later though.

Fishwives mentioning the Antonia Forest bargain reminded me that I got a 1970s copy of Falconer's Lure in a second-hand bookshop for £2. I've seen it go for £100!

Picked up a black leather quilted Chanel chain handled handbag at a boot fair last Sunday for £1. It needs fixing (fairly easy job) and best yet, it's 100% Authentic!

Always in the hunt for a bargain. It's my trade you see ????

A few years ago I used to sell old Enid Blyton books on eBay. I bought a job lot in a charity shop for 10p each, and made up a few matching sets from others bought at car boot sales and the odd one on eBay. My best sale was over £30 for six books for an initial investment of a couple of quid. Sadly they don't seems to sell so well anymore :(

Love a good bargain.

John Lewis wooden garden furniture set for £60 off ebay, £600 new.

Jumperoo £20 ebay

Mamas and papas high chair £5 ebay

Balance bike for ds £1 car boot.

I bought twelve balls of alpaca wool for 50p each. I sold them on ebay for £56!

3 ft fishtank and stand for free.
A couple had just bought a new house and found on day of moving that the previous owner just left everything.
Full marine set ups in the garage, dead koi in polystyrene boxes in the garden and this tank in the kitchen.

Even came with a few fish. Cold and tropical in the same tank plus goldfish. No filter, no heater and not been cleaned in weeks/months.
One goldfish died a few days after transporting but he was pineconing when we got him, the Chinese Algae Eater and Plec went to the local fish shop for rehoming, the danios are happy with everyone else in the tropical tank and remaining goldfish has a tank all to himself upstairs!

A decent used price for the tank would be about £150-200 ish.

Full boxed set of Roald Dahl books in mint condition - £3

Chest of drawers and wardrobe when i first moved out - £20, kept them 1 year, then passed them on to a friends little sister.

Loads of kids stuff for my neice / friends kids. Best bargain was a jumperoo for £8! Gave it a good clean and it looked brand new :)

A double glazed wooden conservatory/orangery for £100

Paving slabs that should've been over £1000 for £30

Kitchen tiles that should've been £30 each (around £500 to do the room) for £25 the lot

Oak flooring should've cost £7000 to do the whole house (aside from kitchen and bathroom) for £500

A black snazzy fridge freezer with water cooler still selling in shops for £450 for free!

All our clothes come from charity shops and any I don't want any more I give to charities - it allows me to have a change in wardrobe that I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

I love a bargain!!

Bought a huge box of thomas the tank engine for £5 as my dad uses them for train displays. He only wanted the big one. Took the box to a second hand shop expecting a no but they offered me £100 for the whole lot. Was so shocked. Looking back guy said id start at £100 so often wonder if i could have got more but was just pleased to get the £5 back and the extra £95 was a very pleasant bonus. Put the money into an account for a house desposit (still sitting there)

I was looking to replace my old Ladybird Well Loved Tales (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Princess and The Pea, Snow White and Rose Red, Snow White)

I had them all in the early 70's, the illustrations are beautiful and I wanted them for future possible grandchildren

Ebay prices were ridiculous, as high as £70/80 for one book.

I found them all in a charity shop for £2 for the lot. I was so excited!

Bloody hell JazzAnn, where did you get that lot (especially the freezer)? Lucky so and so!

Just wanted to share today's bargain- a brand new with labels Next dress -price on tags £28, charity shop price £4. Very happy

A solid oak single bed for DD for £45 when an identical but veneer one was brand new £99. Just what I was looking for as it's low enough for her to get in and out of.

£15 for a barely worn pair of knee high Gabor black leather boots. Was supposed to be getting them from my in laws for Christmas but they gave me a voucher instead!

Ooh ElaineVintage that would have been my ultimate find!

I got a lovely teal Noa Noa cashmere and wool jumper for £4 but accidentally washed it on a normal wash after one wash (i'd washed it on a handwash the first time) and shrunk it. I did get a Whistles skirt for £2 the other day and two pairs of Boden trousers for £1 each.