Charity shop bargain; I’m surrounded by family & friends who don’t appreciate 😆

[OutofDepth1000]

I think these are an absolute find. Barely worn and £20! Always wanted a pair of ‘nice’ flats but never thought they’d be designer. What do you think?

Any other charity shop bargain stories to share?

I’m returning to one of the shops tomorrow for some new curtains (if they are still there) for £4.50 - just needed to check measurements

My best bargain ever was some manolo blahnik hangsi shoes in my size in blue for 50p on a car boot sale
www.manoloblahnik.com/gb/hangisi-16027.html?ff=1&fp=16027&utm_source=google&utm_medium=gb_feed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwma6TBhDIARIsAOKuANzAMFgVXOKqZUrJwjd8guzqub4ALQV3wWnGVGJ9DuggADJ3fEuvnIwaArKcEALw_wcB

Got a nice linen white stuff cardigan recently for £5 but nothing beats the bargain severl years ago of picking up a jumper for an elderly relative for 50p from the bargain bin. It seemed good quality (LK Bennett, I think) so looked it up. New it would have been £90.

White Company linen shirt for £4!

not S&B, but a Kenwood Chef with every possible accessory, £20.

I got a Burberry trench once that looked completely unworn for £15.00 once.

And an original drawing by quite a famous artist for £90.00 that I then had valued at ten times that!

Lucky, lucky you, OP! Fabulous find!

Ow. I just spent £100 on one. I seriously need to spend more time in charity shops.

My best buy was some vintage but brand new Levi 501s in exactly my size for £5.99. Also - not charity shop- but my beautiful tan leather sofa was 99p from Ebay and is still for sale new and handmade on Love Your Home for over £3000.

I'm lucky to have a number of charity shops where I live. Sometimes they have some amazing stuff, but other times its just primary stuff at £1 less. I try to visit weekly to keep an eye on what's out there.

I love charity shops! Had so much over the years. Bought a pair of immaculate black Nicole Farhi trousers as part of 4 items for £1 at the hospice shop warehouse & they retail around £80. Sadly the warehouse is no longer used. Once got a beautiful backless dress for £5 in midnight blue with a lovely subtle sparkle & it fitted like it had been made for me. That was in another branch of the hospice shop which tends to get more high end stuff in.
I definitely think a lot of charity shops have no idea on pricing. They put Asda George stuff as the same or sometimes more than it costs new. Same with Primark, New Look etc. Yet you can pick up designer things for a snip. DD & I got very excited about a Gucci shoulder bag for £3 but we still need to confirm whether it’s genuine. I have often had clothes brand new with the tags on. A lovely Next grey skirt for £3 ( the tag said £19.99) & I spotted some M & S Per Una purple trousers with a £39.99 tag on but for some crazy reason I didn’t buy them! Have always done well for fancy dress over the years & things for DD’s theme days at school. Oh & some really pretty jewellery, scarves, coffee table books, board games, the list goes on! I’m going on a “ trawl” with a friend soon & am really excited because she lives in a richer area than me!

Congratulation Op on your find. It's great to find something unexpected that makes you happy. For environmental & economic reasons I try not not buy new where possible for most things, but really search for something decent which makes all the nicer when you come across a gem. I look for natural fibres and quality that'll last, which sometimes means vintage if in really good condition. I recently got a beautiful Hobbs linen summer dress for £8 and cotton lined floaty Topshop skirt for a quid. Less exciting but most worthwhile we're the most perfectly fitting black jeans that seem to be lasting forever and the were less than a fiver. I've occasionally bought things just because they're a bargain, like a Toast dress that looked new for £15, then hardly worn because it's not really me, so I try to reign myself in now and donate back what's not getting used.

Absolutely brilliant, all these amazing finds. We should start a gallery of them 😆

I’m now getting twitching and want to visit a few other local ones! One other absolute bargain I once got was an Omersa leather pig……not to everyone’s taste but I’d coveted one for years after seeing them in an interior magazine and at Liberty of London. They retail around £300 and I got it for £30!

The omersa.co.uk/product/pig/ pig

I want your charity shops. Ours charge £5+ for a primark or peacocks tshirt in clearly used condition. They must just take out anything nice and send it somewhere else because I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual bargain. It used to be fun looking through the racks but now I know anything worth having is probably on eBay already.

I think this thread may have inspired the discussion on Radio 2 earlier.

You need the Charity Shop Not So Shit Finds group on Facebook @OutofDepth1000 . Lots of people there sharing all the amazing things they've found.

I am a volunteer in a charity shop and although every chain will be different in our shop we do not bag up the good stuff to send elsewhere. We also don't usually put clothing online, it's the bric a brac and jewellery which do better online.

We do get some lovely stuff - the best things always are donated in plain black bags, the posh designer carriers are less likely to have good stuff in them. I do buy a lot when I'm volunteering - in accordance with policy of course, and never price anything I am buying myself. Some of my best bargains over the years are:
pair of Doc Marten "chelsea" style boots, worn about once and looked brand new - £10. A Hobbs pure wool winter formal coat with the tags still on - £15, I think it was about £190 in the shop. Hollister hoodie for my teenager - £5. So many books and little gifts, and knitting wool... don't get me started on the knitting wool...

I find lots of bargains in a charity shop called Sports Trader . I've had a couple of Regatta winter coats for £10 each . I buy all my Speedo swimming costumes there for £5 each . I've had a couple of Weird Fish bags from there for a fiver each . All their stock is brand new and donated from the manufacturer.
I also work for a high street / online store . They have regular staff sales . Prices range between £1 for tops and £4 for coats . Some items have slight damage but mostly just older seasons stock . I normally buy there and then send to charity shops when I've finished with them . The gift that keeps on giving 😊.

Oh, I hadn’t heard of the FB group. Thanks for the tip.

We might need to start talking charity shop strategy so we can share where best finds are, without losing chance to find some too 😆😆

Love a chazza when back in the UK. Last time got a perfectly new Desigual skirt for £3 and a vintage jumper (which I wear all the time) for a quid.

Just been in my local Red Cross shop. Lots of new Zara stuff , none my size though unfortunately.

Since when did charity shop become chazzer or chazza?!

This week I bought a cotton midi dress from a brand I had never heard of, closet London, for £10. Retails for about £100. Many weeks you find nothing.

I once bought a battery powered pink and purple toy barbie-themed laptop at a CRUK shop. It talked in an annoying American voice, asking the user to identify letters and shapes.

How is that a find, you ask? Well the following week both my daughters came down with scarlet fever. Took ages to diagnose as doc kept saying 'just a viral fever' while I kept saying 'but they're too ill for ordinary viral fever'.

That inane laptop kept them busy throughout. Years later, I'm still grateful if I spot it in our mess of toys.