Hi from Wales, UK.

[Gigervamp]

I found this site via a link on a site, that i''d found via a link etc!

i''ve had a quick look at the site, but i''m looking forward to having a good ol'' browse!

How i came to thrifting.

my parents loved what we called junk shops. every time we went out, they visited junk shops.
at the time, my brother and i thought of it as *dragging* us out! we hated it! but when i got to my teens, i understood, and loved being taken to these places.

at the age of 15, i bought an incomplete art deco tea set (which i still have), and a lovely glass dish (unfortunately smashed by my kids even tho i had put it on a shelf away from them) from the flea market in Camden, and frequented Portobello Road market, long before these markets became *fashionable* and ended up being out of reach for thrifting.

since becoming a *grown up* i''ve grown to love *thrifting*

i loved the second-hand shop that was in South Norwood. I went in there pretty much every day and got friendly with the owner.

I bought quite a few things from there. A full set of dining chairs, a Vectrex computer game, a sideboard, a fencing sword, to name but a few of our treasures that we found there!

unfortunately now, (as far as thrift shopping is concerned) i''m living in the middle of nowhere, with no transport, so don''t get to thrift/charity/junk shops/car boot/garage sales very often.

and now i have been able to build my kitchen from scratch, and whilst the units are from ikea, i''ve been having loads of fun checking ebay and the local car boot market for things like mincers, plates etc to supplement the things that i had inherited from my Nan.

So, that''s a part of me.

[Good Buddy]

Many of us were "dragged around" by our parents, man did we hate it.
But as I got older too, I found I had a desire not to antique shop, but to thrift. I liked the idea of recycling and giving some money to charity.

Please let us know how thrifting is different than in the US.
I work with a Brit that grew up outside Liverpool and she said that unlike the US, people are far more proud to shop at "charity shops" I guess they''re called there.

Welcome to the forum!

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I''d also be interested in knowing whether you discover more things at the charity shops and car boots that are a bit older than we typically get here?; I probably watch too much "Cash in the Attic" on BBC America, but I always get a chuckle when furniture from the late 1800s basically receives a yawn in terms of it''s importance or value. With our much newer history, 100 year old antiques here do probably seem pretty unimpressive by comparison.

I didn''t get the opportunity to go to charity shops or antiques places much when I visited London-- though I did get to a market in Covent Garden. Crowded but fun!

[Mission Mart]

Hi from Central Illinois! I visited London a few years ago, Windsor to be specific, and had a blast in all those thrift shops. I bought a shirt I still wear and dearly cherish as a momento of that trip!