Anytime I'm feeling a little stuck for a gift, I always take a quick wander round Sloans Market. It…read morebasically takes up the area of a couple of lanes connecting Buchanan St and Argyle St - with Sloans bar also, bang in the middle (but that's a whole other review!). I was last in here before Xmas, and never cease to be amased by the weird and wonderful things on display - apart from the usual local art and jewellery, you will find ties and bowties for dogs (for all types of event, too!), some `interesting` clothes, and food/sweets. It gets really busy at the weekend, but if you're not in a rush, it's well worth a gander.

The Sloan's Artisan Market is great fun. One of those places that you can always rely on to be…read moreselling new and exciting things, every single weekend. It offers a nice break from a sometimes slightly hectic city centre and it's the perfect place to shop for unique gifts, jewellery, trinkets and sweeties. Oh, and if you want your fortune told there's a resident psychic because of course there is. Aside from visions of the future you can pick up original art work, home made soaps and all sorts of unexpected goodies. Bonus points if you wander inside into Sloan's itself to check out the stalls that are set up in the halls up the stairs. Incidentally, it's a great place to take visitors to the city, since so much of the stuff on sale is either locally made or locally themed. This makes it the ideal place for finding souvenirs and anyway, who doesn't love visiting local markets when they're travelling?

This is a local artisans market that is held ever month or so at Sloans Restaurant. I read about it…read morein the Yelp events and decided to pop in. The market was held on two different floors of the Resturant . One floor had a artist on it showcasing some of his work. There was a harpist playing in the stair case which made the whole atmosphere wonderfully enchanting. The next floor had most of the local vendors. There were antiques, tea cup candles, handmade jewellery of a few different types, some tasty goodies, a local tea company, and some craft and arts. It was smaller then I imagined but the quality of the vendors was good. I bought some of the tasty goodies that were delicious and a few antique pins. I wanted to get a tea cup candle but because I was walking about Glasgow shopping for the rest of the day I decided against it ... which is sad but I had to be practical. :P Really cute local stuff will hopefully make it back for the Jan/Feb one. Check their FB page for event days and times. They also go do one in St Andrews it says: https://www.facebook.com/littlebirdsmarket

This market in the Merchant City neighborhood of Glasgow features multiple vendors with vintage and…read moreother types of goods. For those who love to hunt for bargains, it's a virtual paradise. From antiques to toys to trinkets, it's a great place to find something for yourself or for that person who is hard to buy for. Plan to spend 2 or 3 hours if you're a serious shopper, because it will take a while to comb through everything there.

Loveddd this market, super cool local artists and vintage shops. Gets busy but totally worth it to…read morecheck out and bop around. We also tried the dumping stand (Aunt Doros? i think??), super quick and yummy. Don't expect to sit down tho unless you hustle to a table, seating is limited.

My favourite charity shop for furniture - the turnover is extremely quick, so if you see something…read moreyou like, you better make the decision whether you want it or not pretty quickly - and on busy weekends, on the spot, otherwise when you come back, it won't be there anymore! The volunteers are very hard-working in the fast-paced enviroment and fair in the prices they set, and will even give you hand to move the furniture to your car. They also offering cheap delivery and letting you set the pick-up date for the furniture you buy. I've bought good a quality second hand sofa, tall-boy, writing desk, ottoman and coffee table/magazine rack from there over the years and alltogether it cost me £88. Think how much the equivalent would set you back even in ikea! Sure, you need to clean up the stuff you get a bit, as it's usually a bit dusty or could do with a scrub, but it's well worth the savings. And if you've got some stuff you don't want - they pick up for free!

Some of my boyfriend's friends have an amazingly large flat in the Hyndland area of the West End…read more They always seem to have new items of furniture appearing, including shop fittings that they tend to use to store things in. They also have a bar that they built in a cupboard - complete with the perfect sized fridge. Confused? Me too. At least, I was until I found out about their very regular trips to the Salvation Army charity shop on Dumbarton Road (no more than a stone's throw from Kelvingrove Art Gallery). In this charity shop you can find everything, from slightly scabby clothes and shoes to beds, TVs and fridges. To be honest, I can't say that I would recommend its clothes section to you. This part of the shop is generally frequented by the older lady - not bright young things like you and me. Instead, save your energy for searching through the section that takes up most of this GIANT shop - the furniture. You can find pretty much anything from the Salvation Army, and all for a very good price. My flatmate, for instance, got her hands on a futon for the bargain price of £20. My boyfriend got himself a leather recliner armchair for £15. You get the idea. As Catriona said, stock does go quickly, and if you want something you have to get it there and then. The staff do allow you to put a deposit down on something and come back for it later, once you've gathered together enough of your big strong friends to carry it home for you.

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.

Probably one of the worst auctions you could attend. Not only is the auctioneer one of the most…read moresexest you could ever imagine - you are forced to listen to him jibbering away all sorts of offensive rubbish all night. You are not allowed to talk - even in a whisper - do us all a favour and get yourself a mike and amplifier... it's the 21st century after all. Wear something warm - it's freezing in there... Actually you would just be better going to a car boot sale - a lot of it the items of sale are just tosh!

I'm a big fan of auctions and while the comfort of somewhere like Bonhams is always appreciated…read moresuch places can sometimes be terribly uptight. Much better to venture to a smaller auction house with a friendly atmosphere where the etiquette is a bit more lax. Not every auction house can afford seating for the punters, heating to stave off the savage cold on a typical Scottish night or even edible food, and of course you won't get any of these things at Robertsons. However, what you will get is a bad attitude from the so-called staff, unprofessional conduct and, only if you're very lucky, the item you bid for in the same condition as it arrived when deposited for sale. Be especially careful of bidding on boxes of items. I did. I examined the contents of a box carefully before deciding to bid on it, but when it came time to collect my purchase two of the items that had been in there when I examined the box were missing. The feeble excuse offered - another punter had removed them from the box they were supposed to be in before I examined the box and the staff had returned them to their proper place. The charges are reasonable as auctions go - probably the only reason they're still in business - but in all other respects this is a thoroughly shoddy outfit. Unfortunately, I didn't just visit the auction on a bad day. I've been there a few times and have witnessed first hand the offensive comments made by the auctioneer, endured the revolting toilets and braved the virtual zoo of animals running in and out throughout the sale. The owner may feel that "fussy people" should stick to Bonhams in Edinburgh, but I feel this is just a typical example of the arrogant and unprofessional attitude you can expect of the place.