Secondhand Puzzles

[puzzledout]

lighthearted

AIBU - to say never buy a secondhand puzzle, in case this happens to you!

See photo attached

😭

Most puzzles don't have an accurate piece count on the box. They are rounded to 500/1000/2000.

And most likely, the volunteers are people that enjoy doing jigsaws and this way they get to do them free.. Who are you to judge whether or not it's a waste of their time 😆

Most puzzles don't have an accurate piece count on the box. They are rounded to 500/1000/2000.

I had NO idea

I only found this out recently too, TBF. YouTube decided I wanted to watch a channel called 'Karen Puzzles' and she told me.

My DF (83) loves his puzzles, has done a lot of second hand ones- never yet happened to him.

And a massive +1 on the works. Got him a 1000 piece for him the other day for £7- he was about to buy one from the Torygraph but saw it was £30!!- sod that. He commented on how the one I got him was particularly well made, all the pieces were unique and not stamped from a repeating pattern, and had a really good tight fit.

I will be visiting the works 😊

We do a lot of puzzles and rely on the local charity shops for new ones to do. Occasionally there are pieces missing, but mostly they are complete. If there is a missing pieces I write on the box and indicate where the missing piece is from. We’ve had a couple with several pieces missing, which is annoying, but just put them in the recycling. We take the finished puzzles back to the charity shops. It’s worth £2-3 from the charity shop as opposed to £6-20 for new puzzles.

Word of warning for The Works shopper's- I've had 2 jigsaws from there and both have been quite poor picture quality and both had additional (duplicate) pieces in them.

My mum loves completing jigsaws and will often buy from charity shops. If there is a missing piece, she takes great pleasure in creating a replacement. Uses grease proof paper to create a template of the space. Then using cardboard from a toilet paper roll, makes a piece and then paints it to fit in. She says it’s very satisfying. She always puts a note in explaining before giving to charity.

I buy all my puzzles from charity shops - I tend to go for good brands such as ravensburger and boxes that look pristine. I've never had a piece missing.

I've not been impressed with the cheap ones I've had from the works, with the branded ones you get a good variety of puzzle piece shapes and a picture that has been designed to work well as a jigsaw, the cheaper ones tend to be a nice picture cut into a puzzle shape - it's a bit difficult to explain the difference in words, but I definitely find the branded ones more fun and challenging to complete. I would rather buy one of those secondhand than a Works one new.

I've had pieces missing from new Ravensburger puzzles too, but if you tell them they'll send a replacement and they're great quality. Just be warned that you can only get replacement pieces for current collections, so might not be possible for charity shop buys

Tonight I'm starting a new second hand puzzle, it's a corner piece puzzle called The Badgers, wish me luck 🍀!

My DM does at least 1 a week, all from charity shops. Occasionally she has one with a couple of pieces missing but last month had a 1000 piece puzzle with about 300 pieces missing!

All edge pieces were gone as well as a large patch of blue. She thinks someone bagged them up to be helpful and then forgot to put them in the box.

I've bought 4 jigsaws from charity shops recently and ALL have had 1 piece missing. It's a standing joke in our house now that all puzzles must have 1 bit missing. YANBU

For jigsaw enthusiasts, may I recommend the ‘WASGIG?’ Series of jigsaws. The picture on the box is not the same as the finished puzzle, the puzzle being what happened next, or what you could see from a different angle, or the ‘same’ scene in a different time or date like 50 years later iyswim. There are a few ‘clues’ on a separate sheet in the box and then it’s up to you to work out what the picture is.

I once found an extra piece in a brand new jigsaw. I have always wondered if someone ended up with the one missing a piece or if it’s still sitting in a shop somewhere.

I've had this twice!

1000 piece puzzle doesn’t necessarily have 1000 pieces. More likely to be, say 32 x30= 960. So you need to do two edges. That’s for one with regular pieces. Irregular pieces you definitely need to do the puzzle.

Mind blown.
Had never heard of The Works and just googled them, only to find that there is one in my actual home town, in the main thoroughfare, that I have never noticed.

Reminds me of this thread:-
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4157194-And-then-she-lost-her-mind

We have a charity shop in town that has a ‘checker’. Puzzles are all complete and £3.99 or so. The one next door doesn’t check and all theirs are £1.75. One missing piece doesn’t bother me but more may be an issue.
I once took my Grandma to her local charity shop. They kept their puzzles upright but clearly didn’t tape the boxes as there were pieces on the floor 😢