Reddit users are sharing the strangest things they’ve found hidden inside their charity shop purchases – and one item was truly gobsmacking.
Charity shops – those wonderful, treasure-filled, cluttered havens with affordable finds aplenty.
Typically packed with an eclectic mix of clothes, footwear, books, trinkets, furniture, crockery, accessories, and everyday items – charity shops offer a brilliant way to shop economically, support good causes, and help combat the relentless cycle of fast fashion and its environmental impact.
People frequently use charity shops as a way to declutter their homes and wardrobes, donating items they no longer need. These items are then purchased by someone else who gives them a new lease of life, and the cycle continues.
During this process, people often forget to clean out or completely empty the items they are donating, with new owners regularly discovering pleasant little surprises when they put their hands inside a pocket or open a drawer.
A discussion on Reddit explores exactly this phenomenon, with people describing all the peculiar, delightful, and sometimes utterly bizarre things they have discovered inside their charity shop purchases, reports the Express.
On the subreddit AskUK, one Redditor posed the intriguing question, “What’s the strangest thing you’ve found inside a charity shop purchase?”, and the responses were extraordinary.
In fact, the most remarkable response came from the original poster (OP) themselves, with the Reddit user revealing how they found an… unsavoury item in a piece of furniture they had bought from a charity shop.
The original poster shared: “I was thinking back to my time in New Zealand, and the purchase of a $50 chest of drawers. Upon getting it home, we found $50 and a bag of heroin in one of the drawers. So, I ask what is the strangest find in a charity shop purchase?”
While one Redditor couldn’t hide their astonishment at the discovery: “Seriously? A jacket or a pair of jeans I could maybe understand, but if your shop’s stocking a chest of drawers surely you’d have a cursory glance inside the drawers first?”
Another wasn’t remotely surprised: “Considering that Kiwi OP shops are essentially what UK charity shops used to be like 20 years ago, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Yet another Reddit user recounted what they discovered inside their own chest of drawers purchase, and it was equally extraordinary as the first: “I bought a chest of drawers from a charity shop, absolutely s*** my y-fronts when I opened the bottom drawer and there was a glass eye in the back of the drawer wedged at the back underneath the paper people used to put in drawer bottoms.”
Other users added to the discussion, sharing the equally peculiar items they had stumbled upon whilst browsing charity shops.
One Redditor uncovered an unusual assortment of objects: “I bought a sideboard from a charity shop and found an entire set of cutlery in a drawer, opera glasses, and an old cast iron iron wedged inside.”
Meanwhile, another had received a truly unusual item: “I used to volunteer for a charity shop, and they once received a donation of a briefcase, and inside it was the previous owner’s last will and testament. The family returned the next day looking for it thankfully.”
In a disturbing twist, one Reddit user said: “My friend used to work at OXFAM and once opened a bag of donated clothes and found a dead cat in with them.” Whilst there is absolutely no verification for this claim, it’s equally horrifying and heartbreaking.
Some people though, are simply blessed with extraordinary luck, with one user recounting their charity shop discovery: “My ex worked in Oxfam and picked me up a handbag he knew of like. Going through it I found €200 in a pocket.”
Another delighted charity-shop visitor recalled: “Went for a really nice coat for my kid for £5 and she put her hand in the inside pocket and pulled out £28 worth of gift tokens that were still valid.”
There were also some people who found themselves on the opposite side of the situation – being the ones who left something precious in an item they donated to a charity shop.
One user explained: “I donated a jacket forgetting that I hid an unusual diamond, sapphire and white gold ring in the pocket. I hope that whoever acquired the jacket appreciated the ring as much as I did.”
And in what can only be described as a peculiarly providential (and frankly disconcerting) occurrence, one Redditor shared: “Not me, but my mum.
“Years ago, one of her friends from somewhere down south passed away. We were on holiday in India at the time and didn’t make it back home for the funeral (they weren’t very close, but mum was still a little sad about it).
“About five-ish years later, we were on a little weekend away in Scotland. We were ambling about in a charity shop looking at books, and mum buys one – which was odd cos she hates reading fiction.
“When we get back to our bnb, she flicks through it and a bookmark falls out. The bookmark was a memorial prayer card from the funeral she missed. She was in mild shock for the rest of the trip and kept both the card and the book to this day.
“…also she never did read the book.”
