But those bargains are becoming more difficult to find. This story, which appeared last week, shows why. The world's first Bible, written in Chinese, was sold for over £56,000 after being discovered in a mountain of donations at Oxfam Bookstore in Chelmsford, Essex.
Unusual Text – The first complete Bible dated between 1815 and 1822 and written in Chinese. After being extracted from the donation, it was valued between £600 and £800, but after two weeks of bid it was sold for £56,280.
Other Oxfam shops across the country have also discovered hidden gems under the hammer for tens of thousands. The Bible is among 23 books auctioned at Bonhams between March 10th and 20th, raising over £105,000 for the charity.
I don't know if any steps were taken to find the owner of the Bible, but that would have been my course of action. It seems to me that it's wrong to auction someone's succumbing to and clearly don't know what its true value is. They should at least have a shared right.
The charity shop staff and volunteers have been very sharp these days. They spend time scrutinizing their contributions, researching their value, and removing what could potentially make more at online and live auctions. Of course, this makes money for charity, which is good, but the store and its customers are losing.
Experts at BusinessWaste.co.uk estimate that after staff choose high-value items for sale online and throw away many unnecessary items, less than a third of their donations will reach the shelves of local charity shops.
Like all second-hand retailers, shopping at a charity shop is a thrill of tracking. Unexpected. A mug, vase, trinket, gold pots that can lurk in books.
Today, I rarely go home from a charity shop that holds a picture that looks like it's hanging in my living room. It comes from Teesside-based artist Ken Cozens. It's not worth Picasso at auction, but it's worth it Bob. The dark corners of York Charity Shops certainly didn't leave frameless pieces alone, as they did when we met today in the mid-1990s. That's something special for me too. It was Eston Hills, where my father grew up. It cost about £2.
Around the same time, I bought a fantastic leather backpack at the Bradford Charity Shop for around 3 pounds. This costs around £200. It was in great condition. My youngest daughter has been using it for years.
And then at a charity shop in London, I found a beautiful pair of 1960s candle holders that were once sold in 50p. Now I think they'll be grown on one side and put in a glass case locked at a price tag of 30 pounds.
It's a practice at another charity shop that didn't happen the day before the internet. A glass display case made from a “high value” product.
In rare cases, if they bag bargains, customers can equally sin by trying to make quick money. It is common for people to pick up an item, tap on their phones, and see if it is worth anything.
I am a large supporter of charity shops and although I am both a purchase and a donation, as a shopper, I recognize that you are likely to find real treasures in the sale of Jumble and Carboot.
Second hand shopping was definitely more fun in the pre-internet era. So, like many others, I am skeptical of anyone who appears on the roadbone roadbone in a Ming vase “found in a charity shop a few weeks ago.” oh yeah…
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