If you're looking for a bargain in a charity shop where the staff have no idea as to the value of…read morethe items you're selling, this is not the shop for you. If, however, you're looking for great quality antiques and knick knacks at a fair price, accompanied by friendly service from knowledgeable staff, this is definitely the place to go. Situated at the far end of the High Street, near the ferry port, the Cowal Hospice Trust Charity Shop is a veritable treasure trove. From jewellery to clothes, furniture to ornaments, soft toys to board games, this shop has everything and while the prices can hardly be described as "rock bottom" they are invariably reasonable. I've bought a number of pieces of furniture from the shop, including a wingback chair that would have been at least £60 in Glasgow, but there was fairly priced at £25. I've bought jewellery for my wife, paintings, and a range of unusual items you're unlikely to find at any High Street store. It's like a fantastic flea market under one roof. Well, actually it's two roofs. The shop is divided in two with one side selling furniture and more expensive antiques, the other selling clothes, DVDs, jewellery and household items. It's a cash only business, but if you walk in there with just a tenner in your pocket you can leave with a bag filled with goodies and be sure that your money has been well spent. I'd just like to add a quick note about Morag, who I believe manages the shop. Even when she's having a bad day she's there ready to offer a friendly greeting and a smile, ensuring customers have a pleasurable shopping experience regardless of how much they buy. She's also a fairly unique entity in charity shops. She doesn't pretend to know exactly the right price for everything (though her instincts are very good), and if you feel something is overpriced she can always be convinced to revisit that price - not that you'd really have much cause to haggle in this brilliant shop.

My partner and I stopped by Glasgow Vintage Co our last day in Glasgow. There are a few vintage…read morestores around this area, but of the bunch, this one definitely had the best selection. When you walk in, you clearly get the vibe that this is a university student's frequent haunt. As we shopped here, students came in and out, receive a discount, and generally have their needs met with the types of clothing available. However, the selection of clothes in the store isn't so student oriented that a wider audience won't be able to find something of interest. The first floor is more women's oriented, with tartan featuring prominently. The second floor is men's, which had some decent selections of Fred Perrys and the like. When we were there, the store was staffed just by a couple girls on the first floor, and they were pretty deep in conversation with each other. Didn't bother us at all, but perhaps don't expect to have staff catering to your every need here. But if you just like to do your thing and browse through the racks, you should be well sorted.,

TL;DR bad quality, overpriced, cheeky response. Would like…read moreto say the staff member on when I was in was lovely. However... I spent good money (too much) on trousers that had an irreparable defect that I did not notice until I put them on at home. I understand this is a risk with 2nd hand clothing, and places don't accept returns etc, but I do draw the line at paying ~£30 for something I literally can't wear. I messaged their instagram page about it and expressed my disappointment that they weren't willing to reconcile this in any way (I said I felt this was poor customer service) and the message I received back was so cheeky I am honestly in disbelief. So here I am doing the only thing I can do since I've literally wasted my money.

l Have never seen a charity shop so crammed so full of goodies. there are so many books here and…read morethe ornaments there must have been shelves upon shelves of the stuff. Items here range from the 50's to the modern day, pop along and you will be sure to find many a bargain. I did notice that the shop was staffed by younger people something that l have never seen before.

The Salvation Army charity shops are an unstoppable force…read more My winning streak for bargain hunting in the Glasgow Partick branch was carried forth, bizarrely, to the distant shores of Helensburgh. In amongst a plethora of clothes and kitschy vintage cushion covers, I uncovered the most coveted jumper in the history of Mankind. It's unnatural to fall in love with an item of clothing, but I did - it's my favourite jumper in the whole world. It even came with shoulder pads inside! (I cut them out.) This place is packed with genuine articles from the 80s and 90s that have slipped back in with the trend setters. West End studenty type shoppers would probably have an orgasm in here, especially when they looked at the price tag. I did when I saw the best jumper in the universe cost 2 quid! I wear this thing almost every day, seriously. It's magnificent. It's quite possibly the best bargain I have ever acquired. This place is teeming with bargains from all areas and the staff are really friendly. They seem to have a good sense of humour - you'd have to, to like the kind of jumpers I buy. I just love this shop. I never come out of here empty handed, and wear half the items I buy in here more than expensive stuff in my wardrobe. I'd spend the fiver on train fare to pilgrimage to Helensburgh's charity outlets even if I didn't have family down here!

I hate second hand shops…read more They are smelly, poor merchandise and nothing you would dream of having new never mind used This place however is a nostalgic dream, full of all those brings you didn't know you needed, from old 35mm slr cameras to that record that you wanted when you were younger Great place for a rummage and helpful yet not overbearing staff

A wonderful cornucopia of nostalgia, Alison's Vintage (previously of Glasgow's West End) is a…read moredelight to browse around. Nice collection of weird and wonderful things including some neat fifties and sixties tea sets that caught my eye and some old vinyl records to thumb through. I may just do all some advance christmas shopping in here!

The minute I set eyes on CHAS, I just knew we'd be friends. I'd pass by everyday and gaze lovingly…read moreat the stock filling up, waiting for the day Stirling's newest charity shop would open its doors to the people of Stirling. The window display looked great and the shop had a trendy vintage feel about, similar to the chic charity shops you'd find on Glasgow's Byres Road. Each time I walked past, I felt like the shop was teasing me with all it's second-hand vintage goodies. I could look but I couldn't touch... ....Until the shop opened and I could finally fulfill my thrifty desire. Wow, wow, wow! The place is huge and filled with lovely things. Velvet pencil skirt. Fringed flapper mini. Green safari jacket. Everything was lovely and beautiful and so many pieces caught my eye. Impressive considering the shop had only just opened! With more than a handful of garments, I popped to the changing room. The changing room is GIANT! - More like a dressing room with a little chair and quirky decorations. With such roomy changing facilities, you might as well make the most of them! Dance, skip, jump. Give yourself a personal fashion show! Why not?! You've certainly got the spacial capacity and you'll be looking dapper in your new clothes! Seriously though, you will not be struggling for space in there. Staff were really very friendly. The manager of the Byres Road CHAS was in for the afternoon and insisted on holding the changing room curtain closed for me, ensuring that there wasn't a gap whilst I changed! - There's nothing worse than that dreaded gap, making for the quickest change in the history of quick-changes. So, I was in no rush and had plenty of time to make my choices. (Don't worry, I overheard them say that they're getting some velcro to sort out the gap. Gap no more!) I left chuffed with an oversized houndstooth coat (£9.99!) and a pearl-style necklace. CHAS may be the newest charity shop in town but it's definitely my favourite so far! Step aside, charity shops of Stirling. - There's a new kid in town!

I pass by here most days and pop in now and again for a swatch at their new stock. The staff are…read morehelpful and are quite happy to have a blether if they're not too busy. For the past few months I've been hunting for a wooden box - and as luck would have it, Mr A spotted just what I was after in here, for a fiver. One quick visit later and it's on my fireplace. Most of the stock in here is kinda on the moderately priced side for a second hand shop, but it's worth a peruse.

Sadly I've only been here twice over the years but this is an awesome Barbados charity shop…read more Most people that know me I'm often found in charity shops looking out for vintage items. I was in the area so made a point of calling in to see what stock they had in. It's not often that l see a modern well stocked & organised charity well this shop this one of those What did they have? There was rails of modern & vintage clothing with window displays that where thought out most items where vintage - retro & collectable small selection of jewellery in two display cabinets. There are shelves around the shop some had women's bags others had modern items but everything seemed like quality, there was no tacky ornaments or what l see as junk. Expensive? Well not really I've been to some charity shops and found others that I've been to very expensive and can source items that they sell cheaper brand new. The prices here where pretty good. I managed to pick up some collectable pint glasses at £1 each l also found a game controller for £4.99. This Bernardo's charity shop is a pretty good one and if you are looking for some good vintage items you would love this shop. Definitely be back.

With the British heart foundation I find that they seem to sell more of their own products with…read moredonations coming second. Shelves seem to be filled with card's, costume jewellery, gloves, hats and scarves all brand new stock. Limited selection of DVDs and CDs with clothing rails too packed together making it too hard to navigate around the shop. Quite often a member of staff will shove their charity tin in your face as if grudging giving your change after a purchase.

OBAN STORE. AWFUL COSTUMER SERVICE. Im working in Oban for a while and i visit and buy frequently…read moreclothes (EVERY WEEK) at the Oban Store. Today, unfortunately, I had a problem with the payment and I had to go to the ATM and when I came back to pay I noticed that my card had been in the ATM which I ended up to make partially paying for my purchases. The young man of the care was always rude, and always treated me very badly. Today was the maximum rudest he could be, not even looked at me, not thanked me, i left half of my salary! It was arrogant and rudest was the worst service I ever experienced. Felt racism, discrimination, pure hate. He almosts could kill me with his eyes. Was an horror film this morning. I'M NOT GOING BACK TO THIS STORE ANYMORE.

In the first three years that I lived in Dunoon, I went into this particular Bernado's store no…read moremore than a couple of times a year. I couldn't stand it. It was horrendously overpriced, the volunteers were rude and the store was very poorly organised. However, over the past year I have become a regular customer. I don't know exactly when things changed, but it really isn't the same shop I first visited. The staff take pride in the store, keep it tidy and organised. Nothing is overpriced. There are a couple of bits that are a little more than I'd want to pay, but at worst the price is on the high end of fair. For bargain hunters there are now multiple 99p bins containing a mixed bag of rubbish and fantastic finds. Examples of the latter over the last couple of months would include pewter picture frames, a complete set of Royal Worcester plates and a gorgeous cruet set. The store now has the added feature of a tombola. For £1 you get two tickets and if you don't win you get to take a booby prize out of the toy box. It's not a bad idea, except my wife, who is obsessed with soft toys, tries very hard to lose every time and has sometimes been disappointed with the great prizes she's won - and most of the prizes are well worth the £1. As I've said in many of my reviews, it's staff that make a store. I'll pay a little more for good customer service and walk away from fantastic bargains in the face of rudeness. And the staff in Bernado's... Let's be frank. If you're running a charity shop you rely on volunteers. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. There are a couple of volunteers in this store that are completely clueless. They don't know how to work the till and if you ask them a question they'll stare at you blankly. However, each and every one is friendly, each and every one tries their best and if they're struggling they'll ask for help. The rude volunteers of old are long gone and most of those who are in the store now will greet you with a smile. There are a few minor issues - the jewellery cabinet goes all the way to the floor and my back can't take a careful examination of the lower shelves - but overall it's a great place to shop and a great place for bargains.