Absolute bargains

A painting bought at a flea market in the US may turn out to be a work by French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir.


It was bought by a woman as part of a box lot that included a doll and a plastic cow, and cost her $50.

Experts say they believe the painting to be Renoir's 'Paysage Bords de Seine' - a river scene - from about 1879.

Auctioneers expect it to sell for up to $100,000 later this month.

Del Boy and Rodney bought a load of old junk from a house clearance which included a priceless Marine pocket watch, that auctioned at Sotheby's for millions.

Just last week I picked up a 12 pound book on eBay for 50p

What's the best bargain you've ever bought? Can you top Del Boy and Rodney?

Perhaps your name is Angry Dad and you got a great deal on your last set of knuckledusters, or your name is Hipster_Nebula and you bought a tin of haggis curry for 5p, but aren't really that bothered.

Please also pass on any great bargain hunting tips in this thread.

I spend a good part of my life hunting down CDs on eBay & Amazon. I find it amazing how many people have rare CDs but don't know it. I recently bought 'The Mighty Son Of Noise' by Son of Noise for 99p because the bellend listed it as "RAP CD". If I sold it today I would easily get £75.

How many albums to do own Natasha? Do you have your Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian servant transfer all your music to digital format?

largehat wrote:How many albums to do own Natasha? Do you have your Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian servant transfer all your music to digital format?

I don't do digital music. Shite.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

largehat wrote:How many albums to do own Natasha? Do you have your Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian servant transfer all your music to digital format?

I don't do digital music. Shite.

What do you do, take a Discman, 10 CDs and two dozen batteries on a long haul flight? That sounds shite to me.

About 8 years ago I was at a car boot sale in Birmingham and bought a box of crap from a stall for £5. One of the items was a red pen in a leather case from the 1940's. Inside the case was a scruffy letter dated 13 June 1956 signed by Marilyn Monroe. For a couple of years I thought it was a fake until I saw her signature on the Antiques Roadshow and it was exactly the same as the one on my letter.

I did a bit of research and contacted a couple of Marilyn Monroe experts in the US and they were convinced my letter is genuine and the pen almost certainly belonged to her as well - particularly as it is a red pen and MM always used a red pen.

I'm not saying it's valuable as it's not been properly authenticated but it's certainly worth more than £5.

Owen Owen Owen wrote:About 8 years ago I was at a car boot sale in Birmingham and bought a box of crap from a stall for £5. One of the items was a red pen in a leather case from the 1940's. Inside the case was a scruffy letter dated 13 June 1956 signed by Marilyn Monroe. For a couple of years I thought it was a fake until I saw her signature on the Antiques Roadshow and it was exactly the same as the one on my letter.

I did a bit of research and contacted a couple of Marilyn Monroe experts in the US and they were convinced my letter is genuine and the pen almost certainly belonged to her as well - particularly as it is a red pen and MM always used a red pen.

I'm not saying it's valuable as it's not been properly authenticated but it's certainly worth more than £5.

Miller says "Nothing could be farther from the truth! There are some authentic Marilyn's signed in red, but the majority of those are secretarial. Marilyn nearly always signed in blue, black or green. Red is the least frequently used color."

I would imagine the nature of the letter would be a factor, OOO. Who was it to/what was it about?

And are you in the habit of handing over 5 quid for random boxes of shit?

largehat wrote:I would imagine the nature of the letter would be a factor, OOO. Who was it to/what was it about?

And are you in the habit of handing over 5 quid for random boxes of shit?

It was a letter to a fan in Washington, five lines, basically 'thanks for writing, my fans mean everything to me, hope to see you when I'm next in DC etc etc'. Nothing very interesting in all honesty. It could well be a fake, but I'd still get more than £5 for it.

And yes, back then I was in the habit of buying boxes of shite from car boot sales, auctions etc. You can find some real quality stuff in there - I once found a Moorcroft ashtray which I flogged for £80.

Hipster_Nebula wrote:

Owen Owen Owen wrote:...particularly as it is a red pen and MM always used a red pen.

Miller says "Nothing could be farther from the truth! There are some authentic Marilyn's signed in red, but the majority of those are secretarial. Marilyn nearly always signed in blue, black or green. Red is the least frequently used color."

Is saying "it is a red pen" the same as saying "it is a pen with red ink"? I understood the original statement to be mutually exclusive, but I am happy to be corrected.

Well she either used the same red pen and refiled the ink many times during her life, which would mean "owen owen owen" has a very very valuable pen.

or she always used red disposable pens, in which case you'd expect "owen owen owen" to have a relatively invaluable pen.

I used to be obsessed with Cash Generator and Cash Converters because I love picking up second hand CD's and DVD's for a matter of pence. I used to get a daysaver on the bus and go to numerous different branches in a day. For example, I'd get the bus into town, the 582 to Leigh, one of the buses from Leigh to Wigan, then the 540 from Wigan back to Bolton, or the 471 from Bolton to Bury, then Rochdale and back...all in search of CD's and DVD's. I've even been on the 125 to Chorley and Preston which is agonising.

I've realised it's just cheaper and easier to get everything off Amazon and ebay now, but I miss the Cash Generator buzz of when you least expect it, spotting a gem sat between 'Dive In' by Darius Danesh and 'What My Heart Wants to Say' by Gareth Gates.

doffcocker wrote: I'd get the bus into town, the 582 to Leigh, one of the buses from Leigh to Wigan, then the 540 from Wigan back to Bolton, or the 471 from Bolton to Bury, then Rochdale and back...all in search of CD's and DVD's. I've even been on the 125 to Chorley and Preston which is agonising.

Pipe down Amos.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

doffcocker wrote: I'd get the bus into town, the 582 to Leigh, one of the buses from Leigh to Wigan, then the 540 from Wigan back to Bolton, or the 471 from Bolton to Bury, then Rochdale and back...all in search of CD's and DVD's. I've even been on the 125 to Chorley and Preston which is agonising.

Pipe down Amos.

They are all high frequency routes that Doff mentioned - none were like 536 or 544 or 515 or 714 or 574 etc etc etc which are all hourly

i once won a jumbo pack of knickers on ebay for 1p. Half of them were pinched off the washing line mind.

Those jumbo size knickers weigh a ton - I bet that's why Quent could only cart half of 'em away!

got me first guitar for £30 in perfect condition with amp chucked in for free. Worth roughly £80-£110 brand new for the guitar and about £60 for the amp!

A set of his and hers diamond encrusted knuckledusters from the pound shop in croydon.

Angry Dad wrote:A set of his and hers diamond encrusted knuckledusters from the pound shop in croydon.

I never had you and your better half down as Chavs.

Reebok Trotter wrote:

Angry Dad wrote:A set of his and hers diamond encrusted knuckledusters from the pound shop in croydon.

I never had you and your better half down as Chavs.

Twas a humerous dig at large hat RT ,poundland only do plastic ones.