More Charity Shop Bargains for 2018 & beyond!

Miró

Living_proof said:

Not a charity shop bargain, but a Freecycle one, which is so exciting I have to mention it! .................. Really chuffed with my totally free bargain!

May I add my recent Freecycle find?  A lovely gentleman advertised an antique hall chair in mahogany with a cane back and upholstered seat in its original condition.  He even delivered it whilst observing all the r & r's re distancing etc.  I isolated it for a few days and then gave it the once over.  There is one tiny break in the caning, the tapestry fabric was very, very dusty, the braiding had disintegrated in places and the studs were a little rusty. The webbing underneath was sound and the seat pad still had sufficient 'bounce'.   So,  I stripped off the braiding and studs and gave the seat a gentle clean.  Good old Boyes department store's craft section in Northallerton came up with new braid and studs.  I thoroughly enjoyed my little project but am left with a niggling dilemma.  The break in the caning is very slight but now my eye is constantly drawn to it.  I've thought about upholstering the back instead, looking into teaching myself caning to completely redo the back or attempting a repair of just the small section, just propping a cushion in front of the break or submitting the blooming' chair to 'The Repair Shop' - (love that telly prog) tho I suspect I don't have a sufficiently heart rending sob story to go with the chair for them!!!

Woo hoo, visited my first chazza shop in 3 months this afty  .  BHF it was and the only one that has opened round here so far. The shop only had about half the usual amount of stock with a big wide space down the middle and we were given strict instructions to use sanitiser on the way in.  Prices did seem to have increased quite a bit.  I pulled a dress out of the rail to look at it and got the distinctly frosty impression it was an 'only touch if ya gonna buy' situation.  The only item of any real interest was a Radley black leather handbag but £19.95 for a used bag seemed a bit steep to me.

missychrissy

That is so sad that some CSs charge too much for some items. Reasonable prices attract regular custom. Apart from the supermarket (3) and village store (4) and one trip to the GC I haven’t been anywhere else. I’m looking forward to CS shopping in future. I’m looking out for pedestal glass bowls which are perfect for flower arrangements and Christmas arrangements with a candle in the centre and either fresh or artificial flowers and baubles around them. I already  have 2 bought for a £1 each in Barnados but I would like some more to give as presents.

Wednesday2000

The charity shops near me are still closed with big signs up in the window.

Rosa_Damascena

Wednesday2000 said:

The charity shops near me are still closed with big signs up in the window.

My new favourite remains firmly closed with no notification of an opening date. There is a Havens not far from me that is open 10am - 4pm six days a week so that will have to do.

I've actually had a pretty good run disposing of my stuff via Gumtree lately and have gathered together a load of stuff that I won't miss to post as freebies and on Freecycle.

suki1964

Most of our charity shops remain firmly closed. I can understand as most of the volunteers were definitely past retirement age. The local animal rescue one is open as its a mum, daughter and aunt who work in it mostly 

Mr S picked up a picture for the garage for £1 and that was it. I did notice a sign on the door saying they were only excepting donations on certain days so Im wondering if people are turning up, finding they aren't accepting so taking them to the rag bins instead of going back home with them

Rosa_Damascena

My first day off in weeks, and I elected to nip into four chazzers on my travels. All were much clearer with less stock, which made it easier not to buy!


But buy I did, from two of them including the one referred to in my previous post - was driving by and just so happened to see the manager setting up shop. In total I bought 4 books, a large jam funnel, 2 silk scarves and a foot pump for the princely sum of £4.50.

dolly84

miro - I love The Repair Shop too.

I doubt that a no touch policy will be around for much longer, it is impossible to expect people to buy anything without having a good look at it especially charity shop items.  I don't know why we all have to be treat like idiots, I'm sure people can observe the hygiene they feel is appropriate after touching and buying things but it seems we are no longer able to think for ourselves.

tessie_bear

so nice to read people going back in xx

Potternerd

Am loving being back in the charity shops. Not all are open but some of my favourites are. I haven’t bought anything yet but I have been tempted.

Could anyone suggest anywhere i could donate ring binders and files? I donated some clothes and books to the hospice shop today but they didn’t want the files.

Eenymeeny

Our local news programme ran a feature recently about a charity who had received thousand of bags of donations as a result of lockdown de-cluttering. They explained that all items are kept 'in quarantine' for over 72 hours before staff open them, then it takes a few days for them to be sorted and steamed in the case of clothes. She estimated that it was about a week before anything would be on display and that there wasn't anything to worry about when buying goods. I thought that might settle some peoples minds about buying. Could anyone tell me what the procedures are in 'normal' times with things like china, books etc. I always wash where possible or wipe with sanitizing wipes if not, but would be interested to know?