Your Best Bargain Ever That You Got 2nd Hand from an Op-Shop or Any Sort of Marketplace

Geekomatic on 17/11/2022 - 21:39

I just had a read of the "best OZB bargain" from a proper shop.

I'd like to know your best find at garage sales, op-shops, FB, etc.

In advance, please don't gloat about a deal where the seller was in dire straits and you took advantage. If we wanted to be infuriated and depressed, we'd watch Waleed Aly.

I'll start:

Got a full set of Mordaunt-Short speakers at our local Salvo's. It was the end of the day, I'd dropped my daughter at her piano lesson, and decided to have a squizz. As I walk in, a guy was using a handcart to put these speakers out on the floor. I walked up and saw a $30 tag on one of them (figuring each). No! $30, for the entire set!. The sales price for this set was in the area of $1600AUD!

Photo of the entire set

Your turn!!!

General Discussion

Comments

  • solidussnake on 17/11/2022 - 21:45
    +4

    I got 2x $200 benchtops pretty much brand new for $20 as a real estate company wanted it gone

    OLED PS Vita with 4 games and a memory card for $150 then sold the 4 games for $40 and ran homebrew On it.

    The IKEA biggest cube storage one I think it's 5x5 got it for $70 and sold the four inserts for $40

    My Mrs got me the new GT game in July for $40 on PS5 after I found it on marketplace new sealed

    Will try and update more as I remember lol

    • Geekomatic on 17/11/2022 - 21:57

      Awesome!

      I was after your best, mainly. The "one" where it made your month/year/life to get it. :)

  • Ehty on 17/11/2022 - 21:46

    I’ll pass my turn.

  • AustriaBargain on 17/11/2022 - 21:53
    +3

    Gold Cross pen from a garage sale. Was owned by a former Premier of the state, he died so his widow sold all his stuff. They only cost a few hundred new (it's the 5% gold one, not the solid gold one sadly), but it was one from back when they were still made in America, so it was a good score. It's a very stylish pen and people always comment on it. What can I say, I like goooold.

  • Geekomatic on 17/11/2022 - 21:55

    These Mordaunt -Short speakers are amazing! Most reviews were positive, but man, they KILL. I can die happy—- ;)

  • ihbh on 17/11/2022 - 22:03

    Bulk lot nearby: Galaxy Explorer & smaller space/older sets, Skeleton Tower, Hillside House, Apple Tree House, Log Cabin - $25. I only saw part of a dragon and the Hillside House box, but it was a decent quantity (~6kg).

    Best bargains based on my heart felt appreciation are they people who drop free things off at my place because they don't want to see it go to landfill but can't hold on to it any longer (e.g. move to smaller place). I was even going to give an older lady a nice bottle of wine who was dropping some books off including a hardcover investments book. But she was in a rush and mentioned as she left the neighbour got to some of the books - including the one I had really wanted.

  • sharkyoz on 17/11/2022 - 22:30
    +5

    bought a dirty old oval tin box with beautiful raised decoration for $2.
    got home ,cleaned it lightly, saw silver hallmarks, was from Manchester 1873
    sold it for $275

  • MS Paint on 17/11/2022 - 22:34
    +1

    I've got plenty of bargains over the years but they were all from desperate sellers so I'll keep my mouth shut. I never screwed them down they were just after quick sales (probably for their next hit or the item was stolen).

    • Geekomatic on 18/11/2022 - 21:59

      That's not the same as willfully taking advantage.

  • gottacatchemall on 17/11/2022 - 22:36
    +3

    Is it just me on does marketplace no longer have bargains. People seem to price their old tech super high and anything semi decent is snapped up instantly. Better off buying new from ozbargain deals.

    • solidussnake on 18/11/2022 - 07:24

      That or the countless scams too makes it not worth it

  • Master Bates on 17/11/2022 - 22:42
    +6

    Someone once bought 10 PS3s for $199 each and sold them for $380 a piece.

  • Mechz on 17/11/2022 - 23:08
    +2

    I got some 'worn very rarely' jackets in Tokyo OP shops for under $50AUD each.

    One is a G-Star winter coat that goes for over $600.

    • TooSerious2 on 17/11/2022 - 23:34

      Heading there in a couple of weeks. Love OP shops. Can you suggest any areas?

      • Mechz on 18/11/2022 - 09:48
        +2

        Cat Street I think. It's been a few years.

  • altomic on 17/11/2022 - 23:14
    +4

    too many to list, but..

    $2 relatively scarce/unique vintage car badge at an OP shop. sold for $100

    200Litre commercial grade air compressor for $30 off gumtree, seller said it had a leak. the stopper in a valve had worn out and was allowing air to escape. flipped the stopper around and fixed it -literally a 60 second fix. sold it a week later for $485

    ebay- bulk lot of lenovo tablets (15). sold as non-working, as-is, not powering up. $250. the issue with this model of tablet was that when their battery got too flat then they wouldn't charge when connected to their charger if you simply "plugged it in'. the charger plug had to be added slowly on an angle to the charging port . this allowed a small spark that would "awaken" the battery and allow it to charge.. bought a bulk lot of chargers, cases with keyboards, and then sold each one for ~$120 - $150.

    collectable Skateboard deck - paid $50 from Yahoo Marketplace in Japan. sold it to a leading skateboard designer for $500

  • Aap Ke Papa on 17/11/2022 - 23:27
    +2

    Brand new sealed Ring 3 Doorbell worth $299 for $50

  • godofpizza on 17/11/2022 - 23:40
    +6

    sealed ps2 console for $30 and a Phililps Cpap machine which as listed as a humidifier for $20.
    Unfortunately the CPAP serial number was flagged under the recent recall (https://www.philips.com.au/healthcare/e/sleep/communications…) and I got it replaced for free.

    • cannedhams on 18/11/2022 - 00:57
      +6

      That reminds me. Bought a used samsung washing machine for $50 off gumtree. Googled to find the manual and apparently there was a safety recall. Messaged Samsung and they asked if I had a receipt, and I said no. They said uh thats a shame, means we can only give you $450.00 for it. Uh yeah thats a terrible shame I said.

    • Geekomatic on 18/11/2022 - 22:00

      Cpap, as humidifier???. Wow.

  • cannedhams on 18/11/2022 - 00:51
    +1

    I got a Marc Jacobs tote from the Salvos for $2. Canvas but genuine. Gave it to my mum.

    Agreed to buy a near-new couch off Gumtree for $200, got to the guy's house. Rich guy, nice house. He points to the couch on the nature strip and says "just take it. I only put a price on it to stop the ferals from hassling me." Nice!

  • YTW on 18/11/2022 - 01:05
    +2

    I think my favourite two items would be things I'd been really wanting but not been able to justify buying at the time, then had serendipitously fall into my lap.

    The first was 4 Ikea Trones shoe storage boxes, which used to cost a fortune when they first came out (I think they've come down in price now). Got them for $2 each.

    The second was two beautiful lamp shades from Early Settler that I'd been considering but finding hard to justify spending a couple of hundred dollars on…got them, looking brand new, for $5 each.

    Probably my biggest bargain $$ wise would have to be the brand new (still had the plastic on them) 2+2.5 Italian black leather electric recliner couch set I got in an op shop for $600. When I priced them later they were about $3.5K. When I was in the shop making my offer I had guessed they were worth about $1-2K as I had no idea what leather electric recliner chairs sold for. They were in perfect condition except for what looked like a small paint splatter across the front of one (it wasn't, it wiped off) and the recliner buttons are a little fiddly, but they work.

    I was there as they unloaded them from their van onto the shop floor and chatting to the delivery guys about how nice they were, another woman was also watching them and was quite pushy and rude. She announced they were hers, marched off, got the manager and demanded a price. The manager was caught off guard and said "$200 each?" and the woman shot back "I'll give you $350 for them both" to which the manager was hesitantly starting to accept when without really thinking I blurted out "No way, you can easily get at least $300 each for them" and the manager turned and asked if I was actually willing to pay that…turns out, after a moment of reflection, I was. So, lots of yelling and screaming and a few hexes later (from the woman who very nearly got them for for $350) I had two new couches. To be fair, we did offer the woman a chance to buy them for $600 but she wasn't happy with that. I gave them my old couch to sell when they delivered the couches rather than selling it so that they could get a bit more money (and to keep life simpler for me).

  • ForkSnorter on 18/11/2022 - 08:34
    +1

    A few years ago I got a nice wooden walking cane, made from an actual branch of a tree. It only cost me a leather sofa.

    Basically, I carried my leather sofa on foot, all the way from my apartment to the 2nd hand shop, then asked the owner of the shop if I could swap it for the cane.

    • ihbh on 18/11/2022 - 10:13

      What do you use the cane for? Beat off stalkers?

      • ForkSnorter on 18/11/2022 - 11:46
        +1

        So far I’ve had the cane for 20 years and haven’t used it. When I bought it I was thinking I can use it when I’m 80 or so. It was kind of a long-term plan.

        • ihbh on 18/11/2022 - 12:37

          I hope you sized it for shrinkage when you get to 80 or so!

  • [Deactivated] on 18/11/2022 - 08:52
    +1

    Mine was a brand new copy of 'Bayonetta Non-Stop Climax Edition' from the clearance bin of a tiny book, record and game store in Tochigi, Japan. I paid less than AUD75 when, at the time, it was fetching 5-6 times that (or more) on eBay. It's one of the 'grail' items in my Switch collection.

    Also got one of the infamous HP Touchpads for $99 during that epic fire sale in 2011.

  • lunchbox99 on 18/11/2022 - 09:05
    +2

    I bought a 24 port (might have been 48 port) POE Cisco switch for $300 at cash converters. At the time they cost my workplace about $8k in bulk, $16k rrp. I sold it on eBay for $6000.

    • godofpizza on 18/11/2022 - 10:00

      the person who pawned it probably got $100 for that switch is unreal.

      • lunchbox99 on 18/11/2022 - 11:38

        It looked almost identical to a dumb version that is actually worth $300 second hand. I was literally waiting for a pizza and had a look in the shop next door. Saw it on the shelf and thought it looked the same as the 50 or so that we just installed in our building the previous month.

        I actually provided the serial number to people who spoke with Cisco to make sure it wasn't stolen. It wasn't - their theory is a business went bust and someone sold it thinking it was the cheap version.

        It was something like this, but from 10 years ago
        https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/185133764660

    • Mcuser on 18/11/2022 - 11:21

      you win lol

  • pegaxs on 18/11/2022 - 10:12
    +4

    A brand new PS2 that had sound, but no picture. Asked them if I could plug it in to see if it at least turned on. Plugged it in and it turned on, made the start up sound, no picture… Said "no problem, I'll take it" thinking I might have been able to play the warranty card with Sony. Paid for it (It was $150 back in late 2000, early 2001. They were $749 new or about $1,200 in today's money)

    When I went to unplug it, I noticed the AV cable wasn't sitting in flush, so I gave it a jiggle and pushed it home and well, wouldn't you know it, I now had sound AND picture. Took it home and used it, no issues. Still have the same PS2 now, over 20 years later and it still works like a brand new PS2.

    • lunchbox99 on 18/11/2022 - 19:37

      That story got me hard. Well done sir.

  • Mcuser on 18/11/2022 - 11:18

    Heaps of new or not that old iPhones, iPads, MacBooks for $600-800 off retail, always current models. FBM and GT.
    Latest was a MacBook Air M2 8/256gb new for $1100 a week ago, with 35w adapter retail $1929.
    Cash is king.

    • CrispyChrispy on 18/11/2022 - 12:11

      Do you resell them? Use them?

      • Mcuser on 18/11/2022 - 12:23
        +1

        Both, using the MacBook Air M2, although is for sale for $1400, no bites yet, wife has a 12 max 256gb I got 18 months ago new/sealed. It's been harder since covid lol, havn't been able to score a 14 pro yet. Always on the hunt.

  • RetroGameNerd on 18/11/2022 - 16:01
    +1

    Been collecting Pokemon games and Nintendo consoles since COVID hit.
    Have had a few good marketplace/gumtree wins etc.
    Most recent win was in June when I picked up an excellent condition Nintendo DS Lite for £10 in the UK.
    Biggest win was a 2DS (tablet style) CIB Pokemon Moon Fan Edition, CIB Pokemon White 2 and Pokemon Omega Ruby for $50.
    Picked up two original Xbox consoles off Gumtree for free, one (A) had a broken disc drive the other (B) had a dodgy power supply, put disc drive from console B into console A and had a fully functioning Xbox.

  • yogihogi on 18/11/2022 - 21:41
    +1

    Set of pioneer cdj2000s with mixer, amp, speakers smoke machine lasers + more basically a full Dj setup bought at a local auction house for $285 sold for over 6k next day on eBay.
    Other one was a Lexus is350, was advertised and priced on gumtree as a is250. Still driving it.

    • Chickenleg on 26/11/2022 - 21:13

      Woah, well done. Usually a lot of AV hire companies are scouring the auctions for audio setups

  • Geekomatic on 18/11/2022 - 22:04
    +1

    I love your stories!

    Keep them coming! It's nice to get attention for your crazy luck!

    :)

  • TheNewBargainer on 26/11/2022 - 09:33
    +2

    Fellowes Venus 2 A3 laminator from cash converters.
    $1100 brand new from Officeworks
    Incorrectly priced at $19. After I purchased it online they had to honour it, but I believe someone got in big trouble for the blunder.

    It was just a right place right time situation.

  • chris666 on 30/11/2022 - 17:46
    +1

    My best deal was from masters bought a dryer for $600 found it cheaper they forgot to add the price match they some how stuffed up and refunded the 600 and added another 150 so I got a free dryer and $150 to take it home..

    Telstra when xbox series x came out sent me 2 tried to contact them to return wasted a few hours decided it was mine

  • ngengerous on 01/12/2022 - 13:32

    Back in 2015, I recalled seeing a fresh news article about Apple recalling all of their Beats Pill XL speakers, and offering $415 for each returned speaker. It gave me an idea… I jumped onto Google and quickly found a store selling them brand new for $350. I decided not to be greedy and bought only one, but for the next year I was able to use a fantastic speaker for all my end-of-school parties and holidays - and when I'd had my fill of fun I returned the speaker to Apple for a decent profit!

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