Bargains from Secondhand Shops

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semigeek

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Topic # 185805 6-Dec-2015 17:21

Do you browse the second hand shops looking for a bargain? If so, what have you found that has been a great deal.

Today I picked up a Targus laptop bag, that is probably not unusual, but this bag has a brand new laptop charger in it which is still in the plastic bag and a persons business cards, their place of employment being on the cards as Citrix in Wellington. The bag is hardly used and even the shoulder strap is still folded up with a tie around it.
Now I am wondering whether the bag was stolen at some point in time.

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Reply # 1441440 6-Dec-2015 17:35

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Ring the person on the business card and ask him/her???

semigeek

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Reply # 1441443 6-Dec-2015 17:45

I've emailed them. Just seems odd to find a bag nearly new with a new laptop charger and cards.

Rikkitic

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Reply # 1441465 6-Dec-2015 18:11

Sounds to me like the thief was in a hurry.

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Bung

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Reply # 1441471 6-Dec-2015 18:26

Secondhand store or Opp shop? I find quite a few laptop bags donated to Salvation Army or Hospice shops. Not stolen just obsolete. The computer often ends up somewhere else.

semigeek

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Reply # 1441476 6-Dec-2015 18:47

Bung: Secondhand store or Opp shop? I find quite a few laptop bags donated to Salvation Army or Hospice shops. Not stolen just obsolete. The computer often ends up somewhere else.

Op shop really, where everything is secondhand :) Turns out it wasn't stolen anyway, so that is good.

Geektastic

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Reply # 1441602 6-Dec-2015 22:16

I used to browse antique shops (fine art auctioneering was my grandfather and then father's business) but almost every shop I have been in here claiming to be an antique shop is in fact what we would term a 'bricabrac shop' selling ordinary stuff that just happens to be a bit old. It's rare to find a Louis Quinze dining table...!

As Er Indoors will tell you, I have enough old c**p already without buying more...!!!!!

mattwnz

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Reply # 1441611 6-Dec-2015 22:34

Geektastic: I used to browse antique shops (fine art auctioneering was my grandfather and then father's business) but almost every shop I have been in here claiming to be an antique shop is in fact what we would term a 'bricabrac shop' selling ordinary stuff that just happens to be a bit old. It's rare to find a Louis Quinze dining table...!

As Er Indoors will tell you, I have enough old c**p already without buying more...!!!!!

That stuff probably doesn't sell these days. Retro 50's and 60's Scandinavian furniture are what is popular and making good money at the moment. Otherwise people tend to buy new as it is relatively cheap to buy, as much is imported from low wage countries.

DarthKermit

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Reply # 1441614 6-Dec-2015 22:45

I enjoy poking around in second hand shops, op shops, second hand building supplies businesses and flea markets. I've found countless bargains, eg:

At the Sanson markets (held in Sanson every Sunday) I found an eight port network switch for $2. It didn't have a power supply but I found one in my garage and once I reversed its polarity it worked fine. Now have it installed in my home network.

Found a cat play tower/scratching post over in Woodville for $28, it was perfect for our new kittens that we got in January.

Found an Oak mirror in Foxton for $30 that was ideal for a door for my hall network cabinet.

jonathan18

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Reply # 1441799 7-Dec-2015 09:34

A workmate was telling me the other week he bought a pair of Blackbox M10s for $20 at a charity shop here in PN; that's certainly a lot cheaper than I paid for mine! I'm assuming the shop had no idea what they were selling.

As far as non-tech stuff, I got my wife for her birthday a stunning six-setting Shelley tea set for under $130 from a s/h shop in Bulls last week - another seller in the town said that seller has no idea of the value of what he's selling (unlike the shop on the turn-off to Taupo - they have the opposite problem!).

richms

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Reply # 1441829 7-Dec-2015 10:06

Not much tech stuff gets to those shops because of the hassle they have with electrical safety stuff.

I was really p'd to learn that one of the shops just dumps all the gaming stuff that comes in with donations because of some BS policy they have.

Richard rich.ms

MikeB4

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Reply # 1441853 7-Dec-2015 10:31

Second hand shop? how quaint.

Actually I thought they were all call antique shops now

Mike
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andrew027

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Reply # 1441875 7-Dec-2015 10:57

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My wife loves second hand and op. shops. When we moved house a couple of months ago we had a cleanout and took quite a bit to the Salvation Army and SPCA shops in Lower Hutt. I had to stop her from coming home with more stuff than we dropped off!

richms

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Reply # 1441881 7-Dec-2015 11:08

I wont do Salvation army, but the hospice ones around here just seem to be a dumping ground for old mismatched plates and cutlery and well worn furniture of no design merit. I guess they sell the good stuff on trademe to get more money for their services.

Richard rich.ms

tdgeek

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Reply # 1441901 7-Dec-2015 11:34

Any recommendations for a good place for donating to, in CHCH? We just bought a house this morning. The weekend we move which will no doubt leave a keepers pile in garage, a sell on TM pile, but I'll make a give to charity pile too. Ideal if they pickup, but not crucial.

Kim587

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Reply # 1442628 8-Dec-2015 12:58

Regarding the question about where to take things in Christchurch, it depends on what you have, but I'd recommend donating to a red cross shop.
The EcoDrop isn't a charity but is also a good place to take surplus stuff, they accept lots of things for free as long as its sellable or recyclable which saves on dumping costs.

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