Charity shops

McKneff

Yes, Im addicted to it Im afraid, its not a case of being able to afford the new price, I just love the buzz.

I love car boot sales too, Ive got some bargains from them over the year.

Chickenopolis

Tiff- yes I am also guilty. I think that if something is stylish and well made it will always be desirable. My favourite thing of the moment is a "fat face" shirt that I brought in a charity shop. I am wearing it today.

I was lucky enough to stumble across a Burb***y mac a few years ago for £9.99 in a CS-They retail at £800 new- I love it.

madtrekker

Yes, I get a real pleasure from buying stuff 2nd hand. It's not just for financial reasons (I'm tight rather than poor!) but also a sense of satisfaction that I'm a) being a bit "green" as I'm reusing stuff that might otherwise have been binned and b) getting some really nice things for far cheaper than the tat that you can buy in Primark / supermarkets. Also, you get a lot more choice than what's currently in the shops as there are people selling stuff from this season, last season, the year before and so on.

DD is 18 months and most of the clothes that I've bought her have come from EBay. She's had some lovely things from the more expensive high-street shops that have cost 99p plus P&P and almost all have been in immaculate condition, barely used (some even brand new with tags at that price). Plus, when she's finished with them, I've sold them on and got back most of what I paid, sometimes I've even made a profit!

We bought a lot of baby equipment on EBay too - things like a baby hammock (I bought a new mattress but the hammock itself cost me 1/3 of the new price and I sold it when she outgrew it for twice what I paid!), baby gyms (paid around £10 delivered, new would have cost £50 for the same one!), footmuff for pram (£25 delivered instead of £80 new) and so on. I'm sure friends / family think I'm a bit "scabby" for buying 2nd hand but I'm often stopped by people who comment on what lovely clothes DD has. They are nice clothes, I'd just never dream of paying £20 or more for a brand new outfit for her that would last a few months at most.

I'm currently 7 months pregnant and all my maternity clothes have come from Ebay. I did have a quick look for new stuff on the high street but there was so little choice in the shops and it was so outragously expensive that I thought it just wasn't worth it for the 4 months it would be worn. I have a good mix of clothes - work, casual, special occassion etc and haven't spent more than £100 in total. Plus, I will get quite a bit back when I sell the stuff on again I'm sure (in fact I've already sold a few bits that I decided I didn't really like that much and I've made at least a few quid more than I paid on everything so far!).

tiff

Yes, if I had to do the baby thing again I would do the same. We wasted so much money on things.

So is it more acceptable these days or are we still in the minority? I have a friend who tagged along for the day when another friend and I went charity shopping and she brought her hand sanitizer because she had touched the clothes in the shops!

sb88_2

OMG! I'm glad I'm not the only one! I went shopping with my freind on Saturday, she wanted to buy an outfit to go out in, and I was looking around thinking - Wowsa, I don't know when the last time was that I bought something new!! I find secondhand things so much more inspiring!

HariboJunkie

Yep.

For me it's furniture and antique/vintage collectibles. Looking around my living room the desk, standard lamp, fireplace, mantelpiece, over mantel mirror, 3 blanket boxes, bookcase, one sofa, 1 side table and one table lamp are all preloved (mostly victorian) and mostly restored finds from junk shops/dumps. Only 2 sofas, cushions, paintings and the rug are new. Even the TV was rescued from a skip (HD Flat Screen and works perfectly).

In the kitchen the table and chairs were freecycled and my armchair was a charity shop find.

I am lucky to have had some amazing finds over the years and OH was collecting bits before we met too so luckily we have the same taste.

I do buy what I can from charity shops but am not terribly lucky with clothes there.

My old bottle collection consists of bottles dug up with our bare hands from all over the country and they make lovely ornaments.

I hate to buy new when I can get the same or better from auctions, the local recycling centre or freecycle.

Hobsons_Choice

I was on holiday recently and realised that over 50% of the clothes I'd taken were from charity shops. I was on hand luggage only as well! Ideal for holidays really, you can buy cheap Tshirts and leave them behind if you decide to take souvenirs/duty free etc home and haven't the room to pack 'em all in.
I've also bought lots of charity shop furniture, sanded it down and painted/stencilled/decoupaged to fit in with my existing decor. Sometimes you can't find exactly the right colour with new buys.

Archer0710

I am certainly addicted to second hand furniture, well pine stuff at least.

I pride myself on rescuing it, especially as it has a somewhat bad reputation these days but I love proper hand made furniture. I spend some time sanding it back and re-waxing it.

I am happy to scour adverts / eBay etc but I was once such a snob over things.

wilkies5

I agree with you totally. I get a real buzz out of getting a bargain and making use of something which someone else no longer needs! My youngest son is the same but my 19yr old is horrified with my frugal habits!!

lizzyb1812

I love secondhand shopping - charity shops, bootsales, auctions, junk shops, etc, etc.

When I started using charity shops the very first ones were just appearing and it was really low rent to use them. I was at uni and hard up so got lots of bargains in the few that there were then. I used to visit the couple of shops in my home town but was very discreet in case someone I knew saw me - not because I was embarrassed but it would have got back to my mum. She was OK with me shopping there but I didn't want her friends thinking she couldn't support us - 4 kids, a husband unable to work - she didn't need any more hassle.

My best bargains have been books - a "Sharpe" novel bought for 10p and sold for £40 and a first edition Sherlock Holmes bought for 20p and sold for £105 :eek:. Mmmm..... perhaps I should start doing that again