What's the best bargain you've ever found in a charity shop?

Not charity shop but my DD gets lots of lovely things second hand via a friend of hers. Friend has a friend with a wealthy husband and she seems to spend all her days shopping for clothes she doesn't need. Every so often a couple of bin bags appear full of designer stuff some still with labels. Unfortunately all far too small for me but DD gets some good items out of it. Bit sad really that this young lady only seems to shop and not do much else.

Books, books and more books! I am an addict!
At 25p a book I buy loads and my shelves are creaking under the strain.

Knee length fuschia suede Bally books unworn, in their box for £10 would have cost hundreds, Seasalt raincoat in excellent condition £15, the other day a Brora skirt which I know I'll wear a lot for £3, would have cost about £150, a suit by an Irish designer I didn't know reduced to £10, I bought it for a wedding - skirt, silk vest and jacket, put my hand in the pocket when I was getting ready and found the tag with £900 on it, bargains to be had and the charity benefits and people get rid of stuff they don't want win, win, win. I keep thinking I'll help a shop seek some of the better stuff on eBay and make more money but I don't have time atm, too busy doing voluntary work and painting, but one day . . .

I remember being really annoyed by one charity shop lady. We took a suitcase full of very nice men's business suits. One in particular was hardly worn. This manager of the charity shop came over picked it up and said 'I am going to take this to the other shop, it is too good for in here'! I was gobsmacked. Do not know if it ever got to the other shop but I was really miffed I can tell you.

I got two lovely still life paintings of two terracotta roman storage wine pots (huge ones) set against a blue door in Greece. £5 each, and they are still looking good five years later on my hallway wall. Bought them in Oxfam.

Just today I found an Emile Henry tarte tatin set for £4.95 in a charity shop. It was brand new and costs over £70 on Amazon???

Oxfam online has some amazing stuff.

Last week I wandered into the BHF shop and saw, to my amazement an 1820 Chamberlain's Worcester teacup and saucer. It was in perfect condition with all the gilt intact and no cracks or chips. The colours were lovely, the shapes of the cup and (deep) saucer elegant and the porcelain thin as eggshell.

It was a pound for the cup and another for the saucer.

I couldn't believe it especially as I know that charities employ 'spotters' to filter out all the good stuff before it goes on sale in the shops.

The cup and saucer are sitting on my side table and have given me immense pleasure. What a bargain.

I should say 'they', not 'it' since I was talking about a cup and a saucer.

I LOVE charity shops, havent got a bargain, but just look in all of them, in Kendal there are loads of them, off the bus and into the first, then a marathon look, in case.

not had a bargain for years but haven't really been looking, books are always good for me as I'm an avid reader but some of the shops price them too high.

When DD was a child we had little money so I did get some lovely bargains for her , everything was either passed on or re-donated. Don't often find anything for myself as I'm a "larger lady".

Wow Llamedos13 lucky you, enjoy the lovely sun in Barbados. I found a Susie Cooper jug in a charity job when I was actively collecting 1950's china for a £1, plus a hand painted Midwinter plate in North London for 20p.

I was with a dear friend who has now sadly passed, looking in a charity shop off Warwick Way in Pimlico and she found a Channel navy jacket for a few pounds. She wore it out quite a lot.

I had always assumed the doors were kept open as much as possible to let out any unpleasant odours from clothing

A new Italian soft leather coat for £9 and a silver Norwegian 'puffa' jacket for £4. My best purchase years ago was a 12" statue of a young woman who we call the Blue Lady which I bought for 2/6 and has been valued at upwards of £350. All the DDs want her so it'll be a case of drawing straws once I have kicked the bucket

I buy all my clothes except underwear from Charity shops . I do go into `normal` shops but only to laugh at the extortionate prices for tat usually made in the Far East . I always have a look where things are made , to see what kind of profit the shop are making ! All of them bar a few have clothes made in poor countries . My best purchases are a new Burberry scarf £1 , Irregular choice shoes £6 , A Biba vintage coat £ 15 , UUG Boots almost new £5 , a Channel scarf 50p , too many things to list but I always go to the independent shops and not the ones who are just big businesses like Cancer research, British heart etc as a lot of their profits go in huge wages to the top dogs . I do live in a quite affluent area and I think it makes a difference to the quality of the donations .

storynanny I have never noticed unpleasant odours but I do live in a nice area , where do you live? The clothes are steamed and any smelly , dirty stuff is bagged up and sent for recycling . I have worked in Charity shops so know this to be the case . If the doors are left open I would question why the charity are happy use the money made on donations to be wasted in this way !

I always go round the charity shops where I live to see whats in. They are on my list for my weekly shopping trip this morning. A cashmere/silk pashmina for £2.50 was my last good deal. The threads tend to pull easily but for the price I don't care. I have never felt such wonderful soft and warm fabric.

I got an unworn Armani overcoat for DH in a charity shop for £10 (£12.50 cleaning). When we checked on the internet it was priced at £999 on the Armani site.

Buy various things in charity shops. Had a T shirt with floaty dress over from Monsoon for GD. It was new, still with labels on and cost £3. Have also had new children's items from John Lewis, M&S and mini Boden. Books and toys always a good buy.

Usually just buy books and toys/ puzzles for grandchildren, but did have a real find one day when I was expecting to pay a lot for lining fabric for eight full length curtains and found a huge roll of brand new from John Lewis for under £10 in our hospice shop.
Also found some ready- made black- out linings for about £5 while on holiday.

I don't have much luck finding bargains, we don't live in a very affluent area, quite rural. I have noticed that some shops have a bit of a smell,and others are lovely and fresh.

However recently I have found that buying books on my kindle is getting expensive (I read fast). Many of the free kindle books are rubbishy. So I will have to go back to buying at charity shops, then giving them back once read, and/or the library.

I will have more free time next year, so may start scouring the charity shops more diligently.

Last week, I bought a 'Dash' coat for £4.99. It was brand new and still had the label attached. Never worn.
I just wonder what the story is behind it.

f77ms- I agree if one lives in or near an affluent area the clothes are more upmarket. I looked in a charity shop the other day but the way the clothes were arranged, style and quality I had to have a second look because I thought that it was an upmarket clothes shop with no prices on the clothes so I automatically assumed I could not afford them. I doubt if anything would have fitted as the sizes were very small.

I went into my local charity shop yesterday but everything although clean, was very well worn. That charity shop owns a washing machine and they also steam clean clothes if necessary. They have a better selection of books than my local library.

I think I live in the wrong area! My young GD [12] has bought me some very nice costume jewellery which I wear a lot and, thinking about it, I did buy a hardly used sofa and armchair for around £100 which is doing sterling service from a local charity. And then there are books........but the clothes around our way don't seem to be designer so Ebay for me!

My thoughts also poppycat an open door is an invitation to go inside and browse,I have seen people not too good on their legs trying to push open doors and given up and walked away, and mums with tots in buggies try to navigate the door whilst holding on to their prams so an open door makes some sense to me,people with walking frames need the open door policy so they can enter shops safely.

The fun of a Charity shop or junk shop, low grade auction sale etc, is often not the obvious bargains but the random items that can be found almost everywhere. I bought a faded, but pretty, double duvet cover once and turned it into bedspreads for two single beds. I have recently bought a brushed cotton single duvet, by chance it is in the beige and dusty pink tartan pattern, fashionable for home furnishings at present, which I intend to turn into cushions covers and a chair throw.