I was looking forward to rummaging through Oxfam in Richmond on account of the theory that Richmond…read moreresidents must be donating some grade A clothes - plenty of them make enough money to have designer wardrobes, so I surmised that a least a percentage would end up in the charity shops. Alas, the young Richmond residents don't seem to be donating much to there local charity. While there were quite a few rails of clothes, they were mainly in the 50+ age bracket. Well done middle aged Richmond! Shame on the youngsters! What I was impressed with though, was the amount of books that were on offer. So many that they were categorised; Literature, Biography, History and Mind Body and Spirit. This gives you a sense of the reading materials of Richmond. The Mind Body Spirit section was big! I was also surprised to see sweets and chocolates. You don't get this at my local. There was a lot of Fair Trade chocolates, and the Divine chocolate range, which I often see in Selfridges for three times the price. There was also a bit of the Burnt Sugar range sold here, this is the organic fudge made in different flavours. I know where all my family are going to get their Christmas chocs this year!

this is a great oxfam , always worth a look as stock good quality clothes including max mara and…read moreralph lauren plus excellent home pieces at very good prices

Fara is not as popular as Oxfam, and this is probably due to the fact that the books and clothes…read moreshop is really dusty, dark and a little off putting when you look at it from the street- whenever I go in there I always get the impression that I'm the first one to have gone in all day, as the staff usually look pretty surprised and then rush at me like it's their one chance to serve a customer! However, Fara does have some great clothes, and I've even found a few designer gems in the piles of clothes I've rummaged through, but if you're not prepared to sift through endless piles of second hand goods, then this isn't the place for you. The staff are helpful- as I mentioned before they are very attentive, but generally in a good, not intrusive, way. In addition, the kid's shop down the road is even nicer- much more bright and organised than the original shop, and with even more bargains. Overall, Fara is a really cheap charity shop, and if you can brave the piles of bric a brac, you can come away with some real gems. And it's all for a good cause, so it's guilt-free shopping!

From the owner: FARA Charity Shops sell a wide range of well selected, high quality and good value items in our…read moreshops across London - all generously donated by FARA supporters. Filled with designer/high street men's and women's clothing and accessories, books, media, bric-a-brac, and small furniture, our shops and friendly shop teams raise funds for FARA's vitally needed programmes helping some of Romania's most vulnerable children and young people. Donations always welcome. Open seven days a week.

I'm not a great charity shop shopper, really - I haven't got one of those waifish frames that crap…read moreclothes hang well off. But I do like this one. It's in support of the Notting Hill Housing Association, and we've given a lot to it over the years - and maybe it's because it's local that it has good stuff - last week I found a really fantastic suit, perfect fit, for £20. Probably belonged to someone dead, come to think of it. Or someone who got even fatter than me. I guess this doubles as our local second hand bookstore, too - in that way that bookstores are being replaced by charity shops. And it has a good range of VHS and DVDs, and all kinds of pretty things for gifts.

This is a new Furniture shop branch of this incredible Charity. Just peeked in and the quality of…read morethe contributions , some already spoken for, so if you want a peek yourself park in nearby Depot Road, and browse for yourself.

Having been into the new store over the weekend i can't believe it is a charity shop, well laid…read moreout, great quality and really friendly staff. More like a department store than a charity shop. Well worth a look. ***** :-]

I would definitely recommend The Thrift Shop London to all of my friends. The selection of vintage…read moreitems is great and at such reasonable prices too! I ordered a necklace from their online site on Friday and it was at my house on Saturday! Superb service :)

We have three main charity shops in Molesey. I wouldn't say one is particularly better than the…read moreother - its always hitting all three when you are on the prowl. I would suggest that Queen Elizabeth's foundation is for the... um, mature lady. I sometimes come for a rummage to see if anything has turned up from Topshop, but I am unlikely to find it here. There is not really anything here to suit a 20- something, unless you are an incredibly creative 20 -something. Still, I have my fall back if I don't see any clothes that I like - I head for the books. When I am in charity shops I like to indulge my inner old dear. I look for books by Agatha Christie - I love Poirot, more than a young un possibly should. I think charity shops are great for books, they inspire you to pick up something that you wouldn't necessarily read. I found the complete trilogy of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials in hard cover. I saw that it was originally £25.00, and I was sold it for £2.00. Now that, my friends, is what you would call a bargain.

QEF (Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is a popular charity shop that is on the main high street, so…read moretherefore is one of the busier in Molesey (busy is a relative word, it isn't busy compared to central London!). Any guy who goes charity shop shopping understands that 90% of shops are dominated by women's clothing, and all that is left for guys is oversized suit trousers, short sleeve shirts, polo shirts and hawaiian shorts. Always the same poor quality goods. But QEF has surprised me! The majority of times I have come in, I have found something decent. Fitted shirts, sweatshirts and shoes. To find quality clothes for a 23 year old man in a charity shop is a challenge as I don't look the best in old man clothing. Another selling point to this place is that they have a '£1 rail' for both men and women and they actually do have some decent t-shirts in here. I like this place!!

You can usually tell what you will find in a charity shop by knowing what the town is like. Case in…read morepoint - Princess Alice hospice in Esher. Do you know Esher? The ladies that lunch do so in some glitzy garb. Think sequins and furs, accessorised with some more sequins. I found some of this in this shop. It was like Alexis Carrington was having a throw out. I rather enjoyed it! The shop is very well stocked. More so than I am usually used to. Plenty of clothes. Most of it was for the more mature market, but they were in excellent quality, and did not look old or worn at all. There were also plenty of coats, hats and scarfs here as well. I didn't really see any clothes that I liked, so I headed over to the books. There were three full shelves, lots of videos, and two boxes of vinyl records. I picked up a fascinating book, called 'The History of Magic', it was only £2.00. That is why I love charity shops!

Good bargains to be found and the friendliest staff ever, they are just so thankfull when you…read moredonate your stuff.

This good old-fashioned charity shop situated on Kemp Town's St James' Street is certainly not for…read moreeveryone. When comparing it with Oxfam's flashy locally designed clothes just up the road on North Street, or even with the colour co-ordinated rails of Kemp Town's neighbouring charity shops, you may well turn your nose up at this one. It's dark, dingy and disorganised. It can even smell pretty bad. However, if you're not too sneeze-prone and have a bit of time for a good rummage this place is definitely worth a visit. Although maybe don't even bother if you suffer from OCD - with its disarray of items, and seemingly no discerning judge of what makes the shelves, it is hard to resist the temptation to give The Friends Shop a thorough clean and tidy. But for the dedicatedly thrifty amongst us the prices are dirt cheap - all books are 50p for example and clothes much the same. Make a few trips, have a good rummage, and you're sure to find a bargain you'll be proud of. Well, eventually. One of Brighton's hot spots it may not be, but I feel strangely fond of The Friends Shop. It recalls those days of yesteryear before charity shops were popularized by magazines and celebrities, and thus anything vaguely nice always ransacked by an earlier bargain hunter. And with money raised supporting local hospital and healthcare facilities, at least there's one clear excuse for that 'bound to come in handy' item you end up buying.

Before charity shops caught onto the fact that they were sitting on a goldmine of retro treasure,…read moreand hiked up their prices, you could get any number of things for less than 50p. Friends however, still maintains this old school ethos or maybe no-one told them about inflation. Either way, have fun rifling through the rails as bric-a-brac drips from the cluttered walls. There is so much packed into a small space that it takes a surprisingly long time to get around it all. Best of all is that they have already concocted different fancy dress outfits from the random jumble, genius.

Think you can open a new vintage shop eh? Think you're special do you? "Vintage Heaven indeed!" I…read morewas prepared to scoff after leaving this new store. I had to eat these words before they even came out of my mouth. Vintage Heaven does live up to its name by being not only very competitively priced but also stocked to the brim with goodies. They even have bloomers and although some people might draw the line at second hand pants, I say if you're going to do it, do it right. You could actually get an entire outfit here from bloomers to coat and hat for under £100 although you might be put off trying it on in their skanky cupboard of a fitting room. Despite that little inconvenience, I have to say, I am rather impressed and this shop might even make it possible on a rainy day to knock off walking all the way down Cheshire Street to Beyond Retro.

"I started wearing vintage as I'm a cheapskate" - A quote made by one of my friend's. Ah yes 'tis…read moretrue I am I am I am a c.s lol A simple shop with a touch of vintage, this shop IS what it said it is "Vintage Heaven" (excluding the white fluffy clouds, golden pavements and Angel's). They sell/stock classical menswear, ladies wear, kids wear and accessories at reasonable prices. The members of staff are polite and very helpful. If you want to experience the true essence of vintage then Vintage Heaven is the place to be.

My mom and I popped in here to see what items they had. They had decent stuff but the blonde woman…read morebehind the counter was beyond unfriendly. Everytime I looked up she was glaring at me and making it obvious there was some form of issue. She hovered around me looking at the racks and every-time I walked away from a rack she hurriedly went through and checked every Single item. It was like she thought I was stealing although I had not done anything to indicate such. Recommend literally any other charity shop, I can assure I've never had an experience like this before

You can tell by the pair of Jimmy Choo's in the window, that this charity shop has a little extra…read moreflair. Although the name is a little hard to read from the outside, because it's not up yet. You can find the shop by address or the letters that read "Ollamar Travel" in spray paint. There was a nice selection of coats and a few lovely dresses when I visited. I also found cute table top accessories, candle holders and pull out organizers that look like dresser draws. You can also donate your old clothing in-store.