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My charity shop bargain, I’m loving it! What are you chuffed with?

(95 Posts)
Sago Thu 04-Dec-25 09:40:29

I have a little quiet corner in our home where I can read and look at the garden, I usually have a vase of flowers on the little table but not a single one of the vases from our old house looks right on that piece of furniture.

I have trawled the internet, TKMaxx, Dunelm, interiors shops etc for the right vase and nothing.

There it was in a charity shop window for £3.00!
I feel like I have won the lottery, it is exactly what I wanted.

It’s giving me so much pleasure, far more than if I had paid what I was prepared to for the right thing!

What charity shop bargain or any recent purchase is giving you pleasure right now?

CanadianGran Thu 04-Dec-25 21:00:35

I don't often go to charity shops, but my son does, and my grandson tags along. I love that he thinks of me (he's 11).

A few things GS has bought for me are wooden coat hangers for my front closet, and a nice brown Betty teapot when he noticed my original had a chip in the spout.

Whenever I do go into one, I check out the glassware for Iittala Ultima Thule glasses. I had 4 tumblers for a wedding gift and am down to two after 42 years.

Curlywhirly Thu 04-Dec-25 20:54:18

A virtually new pair of Laura Ashley 'pussy willow' curtains perfect for our spare bedroom. I'd already bought the 'pussy willow' duvet set and wasn't sure about buying the matching curtains (retailing at over £100) as they didn't have blackout lining. As the charity shop were selling them for £20 I decided that I'd unpick them and line them myself with blackout lining material that I already had (something I didn't fancy doing to brand new curtains!). Was really chuffed with the result and all for £20 - bargain!

foxie48 Thu 04-Dec-25 20:50:19

My younger daughter aged five spent her £5 savings in a charity shop on a huge tin of farm animals, figures, etc in 1994. She played with it constantly for the next five years or so until she asked us to we put it away. It came out again for grandchildren to play with. My daughter is expecting her first child, so I think it may be played with again. It's given children so much pleasure over the years.

Tenko Thu 04-Dec-25 20:47:00

We get lots of lead crystal glasses in our shop . The wine glasses look so small compared to the wine glasses of today .

Patsy70 Thu 04-Dec-25 20:38:34

petra

Patsy70

I get much more enjoyment buying from a charity shop. So many bargains- coats, boots, china - but, I think this is my favourite. It came complete with the frame.

I have 5 Jack Vettrianos all from charity shops.

There is another one in our shop, but I’m not sure where I’d put it. 🤔

MayBee70 Thu 04-Dec-25 20:31:41

Tenko

MayBee70

These birds that I bought from a charity shop. They just make me feel happy. I can’t understand why they were so cheap or that no one else wanted them.

I love those birds . That’s the sort of quirky stuff I love .

The legs are made of metal. They’ve been made with such love I feel. I wonder if someone put a lot of effort into making them for someone who didn’t appreciate them? Still, they’re much loved now.

pably15 Thu 04-Dec-25 20:23:22

I love charity shops, can't resist them, I got a drop leaf dining table ,seats 6 for £5. it comes out every Christmas.

Tenko Thu 04-Dec-25 20:07:16

I’ve volunteered in a charity shop for 3 years and my house has a lot of finds . A winter coat from Mint Velvet which I love wearing . Levi jeans which fit like a glove . Large platters which are great for Christmas and a wooden lazy Susan which comes out for bbqs and Chinese takeaway suppers .

Tenko Thu 04-Dec-25 19:57:12

MayBee70

These birds that I bought from a charity shop. They just make me feel happy. I can’t understand why they were so cheap or that no one else wanted them.

I love those birds . That’s the sort of quirky stuff I love .

MayBee70 Thu 04-Dec-25 19:09:00

These birds that I bought from a charity shop. They just make me feel happy. I can’t understand why they were so cheap or that no one else wanted them.

Eternaloptimist Thu 04-Dec-25 18:29:35

I love hand-thrown pottery so it was my lucky day when I found this in a charity shop. I think I paid about £10 for it and I absolutely love it.

keepcalmandcavachon Thu 04-Dec-25 17:07:51

My latest, a few weeks ago was a Harrods Teddy Bear wearing a chunky knit red pullover and a plaid scarf. He's sat in an armchair with a little Christmas tree & parcels as he's been doing all his shopping . So much pleasure for £4!

BlueBelle Thu 04-Dec-25 16:24:12

You can imagine working in a charity shop my whole house is full of beautiful bargains I can’t show you them all it would take a month of Sundays but I love the unusual, the quirky, the one offs and I get that in buckets full

petra Thu 04-Dec-25 16:20:38

Patsy70

I get much more enjoyment buying from a charity shop. So many bargains- coats, boots, china - but, I think this is my favourite. It came complete with the frame.

I have 5 Jack Vettrianos all from charity shops.

TwiceAsNice Thu 04-Dec-25 16:18:17

I bought a lovely Boden cardigan for £5 it looked brand new. Full price many times that

Patsy70 Thu 04-Dec-25 16:04:23

I get much more enjoyment buying from a charity shop. So many bargains- coats, boots, china - but, I think this is my favourite. It came complete with the frame.

BlueSapphire Thu 04-Dec-25 16:00:37

It's lovely Sago, but I would get up from the chair, bump into the table and knock vase, flowers and drink flying!

Aldom Thu 04-Dec-25 15:54:31

Opps forgot the photo of the scarf.

Aldom Thu 04-Dec-25 15:53:31

About twelve years ago I bought this genuine Burberry scarf from a local Oxfordshire charity shop. It was 50p.
I also bought a new cashmere cardigan for £10. The same cardigan was retailing at £89 at the time.

lixy Thu 04-Dec-25 15:42:46

Jugs, can never resist them. I have bought some beautiful ones over the years and use them for everything from flowers to table water to custard and cream.
In this house they are in a kitchen cupboard rather than on display so getting one out is a special treat.

I am looking for ‘the’ platter to serve the Christmas meal…

Davida1968 Thu 04-Dec-25 15:34:49

So many charity shop bargains, over the years! When DGC were little I bought lots of clothes & toys for them. (They're now grown-up & buy their own charity shop bargains.) For myself recently I bought a long-sleeved cotton nightie for £1 (I think it had never been worn) and a gorgeous scarf for £4. DH has two excellent coats from charity shops - one is a Rohan. I could go on.....

flump Thu 04-Dec-25 15:00:35

My best bargain was a perfectly good blue and white TG Green Cornishware jug from the local recycling centre. It had be put in a skip and the employee there said I could have it for free. Just checked the price if I wanted to replace it and a similar size would be £38!

Aldom Thu 04-Dec-25 14:39:25

Sago when I bought the beautiful RW bowl a huge collection of RW china was being unpacked. It must have been someone's treasured dinner, tea etc. services in days gone by. So many people must, like me, have had wonderful bargains. I was so fortunate to be passing the charity shop and noticed as the bowl was being placed in the window. I doubt it would have been there for much longer. There are always lovely or useful things to be had. I know because I've given charity shops so many valuable items which I no longer need.

Primrose53 Thu 04-Dec-25 14:35:27

Aldom

My favourite charity shop buy is this large Royal Worcester bowl. It was £7
a couple of years ago. I love it.

Lovely! A couple of years ago I bought a couple of lidded casserole dishes in this pattern. When I was still at school I worked weekends and holidays in a posh gift shop. We stocked the whole range of this and it was really popular in the early 70s. We had huge crates delivered and I had to carefully unpack it all, price it and then display it. It was expensive so I never bought any back then but can’t resist it now.

Sago Thu 04-Dec-25 14:02:42

It’s incredible looking at Aldom’s bowl and hearing about the crystal picked up in charity shops.
These things would have been on 1980’s wedding lists all expensive items back in the day.