What is your charity shop bargain of the week?

dianasnan

Greenqueen wrote: »

I was quite taken aback this week when I went into one of our local CS to find a young man standing at the door to meet and greet whilst shaking a collection tin. I`ve often seen the tins at the till and will pop some change in now and again but this seemed quite intimidating. Is it becoming the norm? I wonder how many people turned and went straight back out again.

Our Cancer Research shop often has a young lady shaking a tin outside and singing ( not always in tune I might add). very off putting both outside and inside the shop as you can still hear her at the back of the shop.

babyshoes

There is a little charity shop near where I work, always reasonable prices though never found clothing that I liked in my size. Usually find a few books I want in there though.

Today I picked up a fleecy baby blanket for the ferrets, 75p. When I got home, I discovered it is actually Baby Gap, and similar ones are selling on ebay for upwards of $10 in the US! As it is in very good condition, I have texted a preggy friend to offer it to her. Will gladly take it back when she is done with it, the ferrets don't mind stains or tatty edges as long as it is clean!

PinkTiger

my bargains this week are- 4 cake forks for 20p
a 1950's mirror (the type that has no frame & has a chain, hope that makes sense!) for £3.

it's very unusual to find such bargains round here so i'm very pleased with myself :j
another find although not such a bargain is a picnic basket, it cost me £8.99, but i have been looking for about a year with no success.
it is in great condition though, it has a couple of melamine plates & knives & forks which still have the plastic on them.

it is in a cardboard box & has a picture on the side, it had been filled with food items, they obviously kept the food & gave the basket away:eek:. i'd have given the food away & kept the basket!

Byatt

I'm not usually lucky where clothing finds are concerned but over 2 days (a couple of weeks ago) I found an Artic Storm (as new) kagoul type jacket for £6 and then a faux fur gilet (as new) for £6 (this is the one http://www.casamiaexclusive.com/itemDetail.asp?ID=955) Both in my size which is nothing short of a miracle!

Nicepeach

Hi all,

Friend & I got together for a catch-up today. She messaged me first thing & asked if I fancied making it a CS day in a nearby town instead of pre-arranged tidying of her garage... So, arrangements were made & I duly picked her up...

She obviously hadn't given it much thought, she'd only prepared A LIST of all the CS complete with ADDRESSES & PHONE NUMBERS, made us a packed lunch & even remembered a supply of carrier bags for any potential purchases! I couldn't believe it, she's usually sooo disorganised. She wanted new clothes for her kiddies as they are growing so fast & she doesn't have a very big budget at all.

Anyway, off we tootled in my little car & we both bought NOTHING! :eek: The town we went to is quite affluent & we had high hopes (even with our £5 budget) but the prices were really high so we both came away empty handed (& still no china tea-seat which I have a separate budget for!).

Babyshoes - well done with your purchase, that's kind of you to offer it to your friend for her baby.

Pinktiger - great finds for you too! I got some pretty cake forks a while ago. All very civilised when eating cake here now (NOT!).

Happy bargain-hunting everyone. x

DundeeDoll

Aw nicepeach what a shame. I'm lining up my saturday - 4 CSs, chinese SM (in search of white vinegar) and central library. Hope the weather's as glorious as it's been while i've bene stuck in work

Nicepeach

DundeeDoll wrote: »

Aw nicepeach what a shame. I'm lining up my saturday - 4 CSs, chinese SM (in search of white vinegar) and central library. Hope the weather's as glorious as it's been while i've bene stuck in work

I don't really neeeed anything (except the elusive tea-set!) DundeeDoll but as I said my friend is looking for some bits for her kiddies but it was all too expensive.

Was a nice drive in the sunshine through the beautiful countryside around us though & we had a good girly chat.

Good Luck on Saturday, let us all know about any acquisitions!

Slightly off topic but if it helps at all I got a big (think 5ltr) of white vinegar from the local food wholesalers ages ago (I use it instead of fabric softener - didn't believe it would work, but it does!). Think it cost me less than £2. I tried a local ethnic/chinese shop but all they had were little bottles the same as in mainstream shops.

Apparently, the wholesale place is trade only... but I smiled nicely at the man when he told me this... & I smiled nicely again last week when I went back & asked him if he could get large amounts of bicarbonate of soda. He didn't have any but ordered some in for me & it arrived 2 days later. I am the proud owner of a 1Kg "tub" of bicarb :j. Chap said he'd never seen anyone so pleased about bicarb in his life after he got a peck on the cheek (as well as the cash, of course!) for his trouble.

BitterAndTwisted

I need to get some baking done. I found a bundt cake-tin today for a pound. I'd been hoping to spot one for ages. It's not one of those fancy ornate ones it's quite plain but it looked brand-new. Happy, happy BitterAndTwisted

serious_saver

PinkTiger - £8.99 is a bargain if it's something you've been looking for and it's much cheaper than the shops

NicePeach - That really is a shame but I hope you at least had an enjoyable time with your friend whilst looking. I'm very lucky where I live. It's a short journey to the best charity shops in the area so I'm rather spolit for choice.

Uniscots97

building_with_lego wrote: »

Go on- it was so easy! Last time I was in IKEA I bought three of the small (25cm square) box frames, knowing that a project would turn up. Gluing the buttons down took all of 15 minutes- a quick, effective, VERY pleasing little job. Go on!

I saw some lovely box frames in Poundland, I might give this a go. I also found in the CS I used to volunteer in the wooden paddles you have on old style swing doors. I bought the lot for £2, not done anything with them yet but (you gave me an idea ) thinking of doing name plates with buttons