Bargains galore! Can we include charity shops?

I recently walked out of a charity shop with 40 LP's at 20p each, mainly near-mint Decca, DG, HMV from circa 1965.

I often get opera boxed sets LPs from the 1960s for 2 pounds.

If you allow FREE bargains in this thread I've had several donations of classical 78rpm collections for free (via my website). I mentioned one of them in another thread, 200 records pre WWII still mostly unplayed by me (I need a weekend on my own) with wondrous known and unknown names, so many that I'll need to start another thread and enquire if anyone knows who the artistes are. The oldest record is by Wilhelm Backaus and the cat.no./style of the black HMV label suggests that that one is pre WWI  !!

The best CD bargain was from another charity shop, Naxos complete Mozart piano concertos for a fiver, Jenõ Jandó.


John W

Probably the most surprising bargain I ever got was when I stumbled across a dump basket full of new CDs in a 99p shop in Wimbledon.  One of the titles was Neeme Jarvi/SNO/Felicity Lott: Ein Heldenleben & Four Last Songs.  I bought one copy, dashed home to listen to it and make sure it actually worked (!) then dashed back to buy all the remaining copies.  These, apart from one which I've kept as a spare, were given away to delighted recipients in a very short time.

I've been going mad with boxed sets recently. The EMI Collectors' Editions of Schubert and Beethoven (50 CDs for £45), the Beethoven 60 CD edition (for about £30), Shostakovich symphonies with Barshai (11 CDs for £17) and the Stravinsky edition (22 CDs for £22).

Yes, two sets of Beethoven, but the latter has more modern recordings, including the Zinman symphonies which have some interesting innovations - not my first choice but fascinating for anyone who already has a set - and the former has the Cluytens ones, which I have a soft spot for. The Stravinsky, from what I've heard so far, is quite special.

Yes, Bryn, I did read about that and I must get round to digging out that recording sometime. It's still an incredible bargain, though. I was worried about what the sound quality was going to be like and I didn't know much about Stravinsky as a conductor but the sound is fine, very clear with ambience, and the playing is very precise, just how I like this sort of music.

I saw the £30 Beethoven in HMV Oxford Street, Tony, but I was already too heavily laden to carry it.  I’m hoping it will be available in one of my local stores when I can get there.  Is that where you got it or is there another High Street source?  The Shostakovich is one of the sets I picked up in Kruidvat in Amsterdam and was even cheaper than yours – the price tag shows the peculiar figure of €16.77 – but that must have been a special because it’s nearer €40 from the kruidvat.nl online shop.  It’s available from zweitausendeins.de for €22.99 which is roughly the price you paid.  The Zweitausendeins stores in Germany have, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned on the BBC board, taken some of the edge off bargain hunting in the UK.  I’ve often seen items touted as unmissable bargains when they’re significantly dearer than the Zweitausendeins list price!  The shops are always a little cramped and can’t offer the comfortable purchasing experience you get in HMV et al but the prices are irresistible.

Thanks, Tony.  As it happens I'm going to Chester races tonight and tomorrow so I'll definitely look in and see if the offer is still going.  I'm glad you told me because I've always found the the classical departments at Chester HMV (and Virgin) very disappointing so without your advice I probably wouldn't have bothered.

It was the sheer bulk that put me off in Oxford street.  I was going from my Merseyside home to Holland Park Opera and was already carrying my overnight gear as I didn't have time to go to my accommodation before heading to Holland Park.  Taking that big box with me and then getting to Surrey by public transport late at night was just too much.  We're taking the car to Chester and coming straight back to my house so it's much more of a practical proposition. 

Yes, Ron. I think the mix up at iTunes which made the Haitink complete Shostakovich cycle available at £7.95 was another bargain last summer!