How I saved £10,000 in a year from charity shopping

The retail manager claims the toy section is one often overlooked but where the most money can be made.

Among the dishevelled-looking Barbies and tired teddies, cult toys including figurines from Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and even Jellycat plushies can be found.

A recent clip shows her rummaging through a bucket of toys and unearthing three Shaun the Sheep figures that she snapped up for 50p each.

One of these recently sold for £8.99 on eBay, translating into a 1,698 per cent increase on what she spent on just one.

Admitting that if she could 'start over' career-wise she'd probably be a reseller, Kay is now urging others to check out the toy sections in charity shops as they're a 'goldmine' for bargains.

Kay, who lives in Sutton at Hone, Kent, said: "Charity shops are an absolute treasure trove and people are really missing out on some amazing stuff.

"Most of the time it's stuff that people wouldn't even think of.

Who would have thought to go into a toy bin and pick up toys for 50p?

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"Wallace and Gromit has a massive cult following and the stuff sells really well.

"Because you can't get it anymore, you can't go into Smyths anymore and pick it up, it holds its money.

"One of them was 50p and one sold for £8.99, so if you were to bundle them together you could sell them for £27.

"I always say look in the plushies bin too because a lot of people are into Jellycats and I've found them in the past for 50p.

"I found one toad in a Cancer Research plushie bin for 50p and if I was to sell it today it would sell for £100.

"There's so much money in toys that people don't realise.

They're like a gold mine and people don't look in them enough.

"If I could do my life again, I probably would've been a reseller and I would've done it as a career.

"I've got friends who are making £200,000 a year reselling, that's more than some doctors make."
Kay first started going to charity shops and car boot sales in 2020 after lockdown and when pals suggested sharing her thrifty finds online, she set up a Facebook and TikTok account.

Despite helping keep toys from landfill, Kay says trolls online shame her for being a reseller.

Kay said: "I get comments like 'I hate resellers'.

"I feel like there is a stigma around it.

There are people saying 'you're taking away from people that need it' and 'charity shops are there for people that can't afford stuff', which isn't true.

"The lady in the shop said the Shaun the Sheep figures had been in there for a month and nobody had picked them up.

"If I hadn't taken them and given them a second chance then they would just be going to landfill.

"Sometimes a lot of stuff sells because it's nostalgic.