One person’s cast-off … many love the thrill of finding something preloved that’s worth keeping. Photograph: Matej Kastelic/Alamy/Alamy View image in fullscreen One person’s cast-off … many love the thrill of finding something preloved that’s worth keeping. Photograph: Matej Kastelic/Alamy/Alamy Guardian journalism is independent. We earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more .
Readers and the Filter team share the best buys they still treasure, from charity-shop gems to Vinted bargains. Plus, the fashion experts’ guide to women’s basics
Hannah Booth Mon 21 Sep 2026 16.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google W e love secondhand shopping here on the Filter – whether it’s Second Hand September or not. You can unearth one-off, affordable pieces, and feel good about not adding overconsumption to your list of things to worry about. So to inspire us, we asked you for your best-ever preloved finds, whether that’s furniture or fashion or more (and added a few of our own, too).
“An Ercol daybed I bought on eBay for £50, in need of some TLC,” reader Fiona told us. “Stripped, re-webbed and with a new cushion, it is now a thing of beauty and very comfortable.”
“The best thing I ever bought secondhand is a mahogany dining table 30 years ago: I can’t remember how much I paid, but it was a fraction of the cost of a new one. It’s Edwardian and very solid. Soon after, we found four Victorian balloon-back chairs that nearly matched two we already had. The chairs were professionally re-covered so cost more than the table in the end. They’re all now heirlooms,” Anthea told us.
View image in fullscreen Worth its salt: Filter deputy editor Monica Horridge’s £2 charity-shop duck. Photograph: Monica Horridge/The Guardian Rugs are often extremely good value secondhand. “I got a gorgeous rug for £5 from a charity shop in Newcastle,” Eileen de Quadra told us. “Stunning.”
“I found a beautiful rug at Antiques at Wendover ,” said Filter production editor Emily Goddard . “It looks like an oushak rug, but the lack of a label means I can’t be sure it is made of wool. Either way, the quality is incredible, the colours rich, and it cost about £30. It’s starting to get a bit thin in places, but it’s still vibrant and luxuriously soft.”
Filter contributor Lucy Pavia found a 19th-century French dairy bowl at the Yorkshire Flea for £40. “Terracotta with a lovely buttery yellow glaze. It sits in the middle of my kitchen, and I grow bulbs in it in winter when everything outside is a bit dreary.”
Clothes are, of course, a secondhand staple. Filter fashion writer Peter Bevan discovered “a Gucci oversized navy pinstripe shirt in a tiny thrift store in San Francisco for about $60. Whenever I’m getting dressed in a rush, I throw it on with navy trousers. It looks polished without a second thought.”
View image in fullscreen Suede success: Millie Fender in her £20 Vinted find. Photograph: Millie Fender/The Guardian Filter commissioning editor Millie Fender usually buys leather or suede secondhand. “I found the perfect 90s Liz Claiborne brown suede jacket on Vinted recently. It fits like a glove and cleaned up beautifully after a trip to the dry cleaners. I paid £20, but because I already had that sitting in my Vinted balance, I’m telling myself it was free.”
Guardian lifestyle trends writer Leah Harper recently found the perfect cropped white T-shirt in a pop-up vintage market above a local pub. “I paid £2.50 entry and the T-shirt cost…