Thread 8 - the one with bumming and ahhing

[Reastie]

Thanks @TheGirlWhoLived for thread title

Just a reminder you can watch the thread by clicking on ‘watch this thread’ at the top of the first message. It’s much easier for everyone than so many place marking every time which can use up a fair chunk of each thread to scroll through

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Here’s Barbarara’s instructions from last year on doing clicky links:

Open double square brackets
No space
Paste link
Space
Name of link
No space
Close double square brackets

Like this
[[www.amazingbargains.com bargain ]] but with no space after/before the brackets.
If I do it again without the extra spaces only the word bargain will appear in blue

For more links etc see message 2

If any link doesn’t work or you want to add something please let me know by @ing me

Referral link here . Use this to post any links where you can refer a mner and you or both of you get an incentive. For ease and fairness please don’t post these on the main thread.

Cash back sites. You can order through cash back sites like Quidco and topcashback. It’s really simple, you just create a free account and then when you’re purchasing anything online you search on the cash back site the lace you’re ordering from and see if they do cash back and if so follow the link to place the order. You usually have to earn £5 minimum to cash the money back but it easily adds up. Go to the referral link page to join if you haven’t before.

The summer holidays 25% off at Tu was due to start next week, but has been at the least postponed, and probably cancelled. The next one is then usually October half term.

camel camel camel is a great page for price tracking amazon

A great website for looking up items of specific price so you hit the £20 free delivery at amazon here

Sockeatingmonster’s age old but very useful top tips for using aliexpress (note these are also relevant for wish website and anything shipped from China on Amazon and Ebay - you can usually tell by the estimated delivery time and multiple same pictures but different companies. Although you can filter search by country on Ebay. - thanks scrappydappydoo for that bonus point).

“1. Check reviews

1. Be wary of plastic toys. There have been concerns about toxic plastics from China, and I have binned plastic figures for having very unpleasant smells. I no longer buy any 'low-end' plastic items (UPDATE: I wouldn’t buy squishiest either, for the same reason) and only ever from sellers with lots of positive reviews
2. Aliexpress refund/complaints procedure is actually way more straightforward than eBay, and stacked in the buyer's favour
3. Beware of mains operated electricals, many of which are supplied without fused plugs. Always message the seller first if in doubt, don't rely on the photos
4. I don't trust dress up clothes to be flame retardant, although I don't believe this is UK law anyway?
5. Clothes can come up very small. Quality can be variable (excellent to awful). Photos are often of similar items, so take them with a pinch of salt and check the reviews.
6. Actually, all photos on Aliexpress should be taken with a pinch of salt. Again, check reviews (where buyers often post photos of the actual item received)
7. I wouldn't trust toys to meet UK safety standards and wouldn't buy anything that could pose a risk (e.g. Paint might not be safe for children to gum, there could be sharp edges/choking hazards, etc)
8. Lego alternatives don't tend to stick together as well as genuine Lego. Minifigures are still excellent value, but the odd one might benefit from a few drops of superglue.

10. Barbie and other doll clothes can be excellent value, but check reviews for fabric quality and finish (UPDATE: Type “18 inch doll” for clothes that will fit American Girl/Our Generation/Designafriend dolls. Shoes are particularly excellent value. Wash dark clothing first as dyes can stain dolls’ limbs) 11. Stationery is generally excellent value, although paper quality can be lower than expected. Type 'kawaii' into stationery and be prepared to spend a fortune!

Also to add I’ve seen a fair few posts from fb this year from small businesses where aliexpress have posted photos of their products and photos without permission, so be wary and be warned the photo might not be exactly what you get.”

Bargainmax here

Laser cut outs which have been popular on the thread here

Lisa angel is a very popular site with great regular sale discounts on jewellery etc here

Toysforapound has some well priced items here

Hellooo

Hoping this thread brings more buns, outdoor garden decorations and a diagon alley glitch

Celtic &Co
Sheepskin slippers ( the acme of comfort and warmth )

A20HT Gives 15% off and free postage until 18th October .
DD has had hers for 5+ years of hard wear . She would like some more please mummy xxx
DD is 39 .

Lol thought the thread title would be bun related

Got my pasta, 4 mini bottles of gin!

Just got DD the Benefit advent calendar. £58.50 with over £100 hours of products plus £10 of beauty points at Debenhams.

£100 not hours

My mum just picked me up 2 bottles of M&S gin for presents, yay!

What's the pasta and gin thing please?

I've now wrapped all presents except stockings (which I don't wrap anyway), gift bagged into families and labelled ready for DH to deliver. He thinks I'm slightly mad but concedes that if we're prevented from leaving our county due to local lockdown, posting hampers of beer will be mega expensive.

He did a gift swap with my mum last week (he was passing on a work trip they are 5 hours from us) so I now have a cupboard full of wrapped Christmas and birthday presents from them. It's slightly odd but I feel relieved to have them here.

I really want a pair of Celtic and Co slippers...
could I justify buying them for myself on the basis I'm wfh pretty much full time (had 3 days in the office since lockdown) so not bought any work clothes or shoes recently??

Wear the slippers as work shoes, at home! Pretty essential I'd say.

I've been to B&M today and bought the loveliest stockings and present bags EVER.

The stockings are £3 each and the gift sacks are £6 each. They're a lovely colour, super soft and embroidered initial. I managed to get all of our initials in one go
in a stocking and a sack, which I was very pleased about. The lady said they get deliveries a few times a week though.

Hopefully I've attached the photo properly, never added a photo to a thread before!

Tamtam the matching candle is gorgeous, £8 I think, burns really cleanly, good throw and lasts a good while. The word is obviously out, though, as the last 4 times I've been in they're out of stock.

Just picked up my bargain alpaca Lego and kvd minis from boots! Planning some retail therapy tomorrow so hopefully I'll find some bargains

@Trumpton thanks for the Celtic & Co discount, tried a couple of times to order some slippers, but their server keeps crashing. Will try again. A good deal with the free P&P :)

Thanks for tge new thread.

I just opened a new Very account which comes with £30 credit. I used it to buy a Henry hoover for DH (queen of exciting presents, me) which they currently have for £99, making it £30 cheaper than elsewhere. I have now paid off the account.

Do the shops have Christmas wrapping paper and gift tags in yet?

Hamleys have some good discounts on their soft toys atm. This pippa and Percy penguin is very cute 😍 as is the panda.

Loads of other animals and dinosaurs too.

And a doll and buggy set, half price now £15.

MYSUMMER10 gives another 10% off.

Bargain books here
www.boggledybook.co.uk/

found some sheepskin slippers (Fenland) on Brand Alley for £29, so bought them for me for cosy ties while wfh but they had quite a lot of choice
JOINTHEFUN20 took £20 off - not sure if there's a minimum spend as was also buying a duvet, to replace our current one which is patched up with duct tape

@Lazysundayafternoons I’ve seen tags and gift wrap in Home Bargains and I’m sure B&M have some in. I buy mine in the sales & store.

Thanks for the molton brown code. I've just stocked up on stocking fillers and got the free baubles and handcream!

Boots have £10 worth of points if you spend £60. They also have £10 worth of points when you buy 2 clinique items and they stack so I have just got 2000 points with my order. They have 3 for 3 christmas on some items too

Someone I follow on Instagram mentioned that 45% of all Boots Christmas gifts will be under £10 this year so hoping there're some good bits and pieces for stockings and smaller gifts!

I got some Totes Toasties slipper boots earlier from a website called xs-stock for £16.98 delivered. I have Raynauds and currently have my second set of chill blains this year while WFH. I also bought an oversized hoodie from Wowcher for £12 delivered as I had a fiver voucher from them! I will remain cosy at home!

tea!!

Link virgin...

If it worked it's lovely loose leaf tea...