What Is The Best Bargain You Have Found That Was Second-Hand?

I have just recently bought a great bike for $100 on Facebook Marketplace and was wondering what's the best deal they found whilst on Marketplace, Gumtree etc

Comments

  • +3

    Unfortunately I just missed out on it, but just recently someone was selling the Breville Dual Boiler & Smart Grinder for $300 on marketplace barely used. It's now going for $1400 RRP.

  • +4

    A drawing at an auction for $10….. valued now at $2,000

    • +11

      Valued by who

      • +13

        mummy <3

  • +1

    A trumpet for $10
    Lawnmower for $40

  • +4

    4 bottle lot of Dow's vintage port valued around $300 a bottle for $40 for the lot. They were in a wine auction but hadn't been listed and lucky for me there was no interest in port so my opening bid of $40 got them.

    • Right time, right place! What vintage year was each bottle? Be great if they were ready to drink!

      • +2

        from memory they were 1966. All gone now, got them around 2010 and had one a year since then.

  • Steelcase Leap V1 for $50 just had to make a 2 hr round trip lol

  • Solar inverter for a couple hundred dollars.

  • Herman Miller Embody for $800 on eBay and armless Aeron for $300. I moved to regional NSW, then left for Melbourne. At the time I didn’t own a car so I sold both chairs and sold them for $400 for both. If the buyer is an OzBargainer you’ve got a great deal.

  • K63 wireless keyboard and G403 for a total of $90. pretty sweet deal for me. And Ikea Markus for $50. best task chair ever.

  • +1

    Several boxes of Unique Cars magazines for $10 total.

  • +5

    Herman Miller Aeron, $50.

    Chair at work in the store room, with "Out of Order" on it. Talked with the office manager, she was about to throw it out/get it picked up as it was "out of warranty".
    Offered to take it off her hands, she agreed.
    The gas lift needed replacement (~$50) and now I have a new $1,500 computer chair.

  • some planks of wood ig

  • +22

    Post Sydney Olympic Games auction at Homebush Bay of excess material, I bought 7km of unused shielded Cat 5E ethernet cable for $50. (RRP at the time was about $7,000, I think.)

    We sold 3.5km for $100 & wired up our whole house, almost unheard of at the time. We had so much excess cable we were using them to tie saplings to garden stakes. And we're still using the cables now as digital snakes for professional audio desk setups.

    • What’s a digital snake?

      • Old fashioned analog audio desks used multi core cables to carry multichannel audio from a stage box to the mixing desk. Tens of thin cables in one thick sheath. Modern digital desks use a single ethernet cable to do the same thing. The old ones were known as analog snakes; the newer ones are digital snakes. They don’t need to be the fastest data cables in the world so Cat 5E is still good enough.

        Oh, since the OP’s question was about “second-hand”, I should add that the cables themselves were unused but were in opened reels where some cable had already been used. These were the leftovers on the reels but most reels were just about full. Even that almost full 3.5km reel that was a pain in the neck to get home.

    • 7km of cable! Wow!

  • +1

    NZXT H440 case with 850W Corsair PSU for $10.

    The guy seemed really frustrated with it when he sold it, but it's been perfect for almost a year now.

  • +3

    I have lots of good free stuff off the side of the road but my best purchase was a "broken" bicycle, advertised for $100 but the guy took $70. It was near new and the frame was cracked and unrepairable but it had a full 105 groupset and good wheels and other components.

    • What were the good stuffs that you found for free?

  • +2

    Condoms
    Still in great condition

  • +3

    $50 for Nintendo 64 with 2 controllers and Mario Cart on marketplace. Played it a few times and sold it 3 months later for $250 earlier this year.

    • +1

      When I was a dumb kid with no concept of value, I put my N64 w/ Mariokart, Goldeneye, Mario Party and a few of the old AKI wrestling games out in our family garage sale. I think they ended up getting sold for $25 for whole lot (my parents didn't care for video games, so I think they were happy to take the first offer). The buyer must have been laughing their arse off on the way home, meanwhile I still regret it to this day.

  • +4

    Yearly council junk collection, next door neighbour had a dryer with a power cord that had been chewed on by a dog. Trip to Bunnings and $10 later, a working dryer.

    It lasted about 10 years.

  • +4

    A company I used to work for were auctioning off some office supplies to raise money for a staff member who was ill. They had a “coffee machine” listed, so I put down $35, thinking it was just a cheap filter machine with the pot, like you see in American movies (I was a merchandiser and had never actually been to the office). I won the auction and when I went to pick it up this guy asked if I needed help getting it to the car. I was confused, until I saw the machine: a Saeco fully-automated ‘Cappuccino’ machine, being sold new for about $1500. I still can’t believe what a bargain I got! Sadly, I was a bit ignorant to how important the descaling fluid was in the beginning, so after a couple of years it stopped working properly and I don’t want to pay the $50 fee to have it looked at. Still, I definitely got my money’s worth!

    • Run some white vinegar through it

  • -1

    Prowned Apple keyboard and pens made of gold. When you make a pen out of gold, at least in the 20th century, you made them to last. Same with Apple keyboards, they are really high quality that keeps going long after the budget keyboards of the world have all be thrown into the trash. Also studio monitor style speakers, people buy them excited by reviews, but they don't fit their houses or they try to put them on a bookshelf because they are called bookshelf speakers. So these people buy these really highly rated speakers and then never set them up properly and then just want to dump them. I guess with all of these things you need to recognise the value of them which takes time and experience, which is why they sell so low second hand, or even just given away as junk.

  • Home theatre system for $700 cheaper than new.

  • +5

    $200 for a nearly new 2019 Merida Speeder 200, RRP new for $1000+


    No. I didn't buy it but caught my stolen bike ads on Gumtree on the same day.

  • Two ikea benchtops worth $200 each for $20 pickup as a real-estate agent wanted to offload them from his workplace was a 5 min drive too, he asked if I wanted to look at them when I enquired lol just said I want to grab them in 5 mins and he sold them to me haha, he had about 20 people messaging him. I used one and mounted it to the wall downstairs for a telly to go on and other one for a work bench

  • -1

    Not exactly second hand but the sweetest deal i ever had is that my optus sports subscription is still working almost 2 years after porting out of optus because the reception at my house was almost non-existent.
    I hope they don’t read this and crack down on me. I will only blame you if that happens!

  • MSI 5700XT Gaming X - $150 (worth ~$600)
    Logitech Z623 speakers - $15 (worth ~$200)

    A guy agreed to sell me a 2010 Mazda 3 for $2000 ($2500 asking price, worth about $5000) but then let me know he decided not to sell it anymore 3h later, I feel like he sold it to someone else for his asking price though.

  • +2

    Not very exciting for the average ozbargainer I know, but picked up a knitting machine (didn't know what it was tbh) in mint condition for $9.99 at an op shop and sold it for $450. Only neg was that there were 2 and we left the other one behind, not really knowing it was worth that much.

  • Four-tiered planter boxes on metal stand, was put out to hard rubbish. Me and my partner saw it, picked it up and walked it home. Easily worth $100

    Got our dining table from an op shop for $50. Scratches and nicks everywhere, but otherwise a sturdy table

  • Picked up a breville barista express ( BES870) for $150 from fb marketplace.
    Still had receipt and manual, mostly unused/unopened equipment and extras and was ~ 1yr old. Receipt said she paid $800 at myer. Machine still sells for $600+ on sale (according to ozb). Lady who sold it had upgraded to the touch-screen version of it. I probably spent $10 fuel to pick it up.

    • That was my story, was it the same lady in Melbourne lol?

  • Managed to pick up two reclining leather sofas off gumtree for $100 total.

    When we got there, we were shocked to find they were actually la z boys worth $1800 EACH brand new. They were actually still in great condition, only about a year old

    • +3

      are you saying you've got the chair that Sit magazine called the Chair of the Year?

    • Picked up a La-Z-Boy in new condition from an op shop for older family member for $25. Op shop thought the mechanism was broken. It wasn't. There was something stuck in it.

  • +4

    Game Boy Advance SP with 4 games for $50
    Game Boy Micro FF edition for $90

    • Purchased a "faulty" GB micro for $15 a few years back . Turns out the charger was the only faulty part…

  • +2

    Back in 2005, a girl in her mid 30's had listed her Mitsubishi Lancer Coupe for 6500$. I went to see the car on Sunday arvo and literally she wanted to get rid of it that day. The car was clean had RWC, etc… so I was interested but only had like 50$ cash with me. She started negotiating and said If I came up with 4000$ cash she will let it go. Banks were closed, so the only way was to use the ATM but the limits were $1000 per account. So I had to convince few friends and ended up with 4000$ cash by evening and actually dropped her in the airport as she was moving to London. She had totally forgotten about selling the car as she was busy with the move. I had the car for next 3 years hassle free and sold it for 4500$ !!

    • +5

      Hey, I was planning on coming back to Aus at the start of the year, but will have to wait until Covid is over. You owe me $4500 plus interest so start saving up.

    • The car was clean had RWC, etc…

      So you didn't get a mechanic to inspect it before buying?

  • 2.3m Bailey fibreglass platform ladder RRP $1189 at Total Tools for $20 from a clothing warehouse closing down sale.

    3m Gorilla fibreglass ladder RRP $548 from Bunnings for $20 from the same sale.

    Handed the lady a $50 note and she tried to give me change. Happily told her not to worry about it.

  • My wife

    • +5

      Same here her father even gave her away at the wedding :)

  • Sea to Summit down sleeping bag $12

  • Bought a logitech g25 steering wheel, pedals and shifter for $60. Been wanting to try/build a racing sim for a while. Must have got in quick because the guy said he'd had 3 other people after me ringing him for it.
    It sat in the corner for a year until I decided i wouldn't use a sim at all. Sold it for $100 a few weeks ago. Sold within 3 hours.

    I wonder where all the people who lowball and ask for things 75% less than asking price are in this thread?

  • +6

    I like to think I am a master at finding second hand quality furniture.

    Ever since I moved out of home.

    Solid hardwood bedroom suite from a boutique furniture store, It came with bed, 2 side tables, big chest of drawers, mirror and I think what they call a lingerie draws. They paid $12.000, I paid $700.it was 10 years old already but it looked brand new.

    Proper leather couch, albeit it from plush, a u shape one, seated 12 people. They had the receipt for $9,000 but I bought it for $900. Sold it when I moved for $1500.

    Next couch was a Jardan couch. Advertised as "Jarden" Never heard of the brand but they are a boutique furniture maker in Melbourne. It's a 3x3 L shape and deep seats. Can sleep 2 couples when needed. I went and checked it out and really liked it, but it cat damage but is able to fix it with a mechanical lint remover. Got it home, thing weighed a tonne, and they threw in 6 cushions. Googled the actual name, Jardan, and found out it was a $12,000 couch, and the cushions themselves were $250 each.
    Paid $500.

    There's been plenty more, solid hardwood dining table $400, ($3, 500 on sale), kitted out 6 burner BeerEater BBQ with full gas bottle $100. But the above are my favourites. I will have the bed suite until I die I think.

    I am a massive advocate for buying second hand. Better for the environment, and I love getting really nice quality furniture for a fraction of the cost that someone else has paid.

    • How often do you need to sleep 2 entire couples on the same couch……………..

      • When you live in a state with no restrictions and in a city apartment? Nah not too often but sometimes the need arises.

  • +2

    I'm also a huge fan of second hand things. Got my shower screens and door for $50 from eBay as the owner was demolishing. My gym; a decent spin bike was $100 and bench was $30. I bought a lot of designer suits and shoes second hand (just needed dry cleaning but shoes were in perfect condition). I furnished my first house with second hand designer furniture from real estate show rooms (eBay).

    Favorite items are two pairs of Bally shoes for $30 or less each. I've been wearing both for years and they've survived with minor maintenance (polishing and slight sole mending).

  • Got a brand new black Italian leather (think thick, buttery soft - very high quality) electric recliner set (2 + 2.5 seaters) in a beautiful, modern design that still had the protective foot wrappers on it for $600 out of an op-shop. Not sure it had ever been sat on. One recliner button was a bit fiddly at first and it had a mark on it (that wiped straight off with leather cleaner). I think it's a display model that's been written off on insurance and then donated. Looked it up online and it looks like you'd be a minimum of $6-8K to get it new. Been a great lounge set.

    Previous lounge was a very popular $3.5K Harvey Norman lounge that sat unused in someone's spare lounge for 10 months before they sold it to me for $750. Loved that lounge and still use the ottoman with our next lounges.

    Other recent highlight was $100 worth of lampshades for $5 - had been considering the exact lampshade and decided against it as was too risky (a bold print) to pay $50 each and tire of them. Found a pair of them in the dump shop a year later in new condition. Look better than I expected and will be happy to change them out in a year or two knowing I didn't pay a lot for them.

    Most recent was two kids bikes for $50 and $25. Both in great condition and good bikes - looked them up online and they're $400 & $350 new (if you can get the stock).

  • +2

    A pair of 2nd hand speakers were going on Gumtree for $150. The brand looked familiar… I asked a mate who is somewhat of an audiophile about them and he told me to just shut up and buy them immediately. He had an identical set that he'd paid $2000 for 12 years earlier.

    7 years later I'm still using them and they are still fantastic :)

  • +7

    Not sure if 2nd hand, but Cartier watch from AusPost. All I had to do was send my bank a couple of emails

  • Paid $400 for a pair of technics SL1210s turntables back about 10 years ago. Unfortunately had to sell them due to finances years later, but still was able to get $1100 for them.

    Nowadays probably go for more, since covid has pushed up prices for a lot of music gear

    • That’s a crazy price. Still have my pair I bought new in 2001.

      • Yeah funny thing was it was some young lady selling them, and they were her ex-husbands who moved back to the UK. lol i remember when I got there, she had like 10 other people calling/texting her. Lucky I got in first.

  • +2

    My watch was bought 2nd hand. The original owner purchased it only 2 months beforehand from the boutique according to the warranty card. All the protective plastic sheeting remains, complete with the original box & papers, and absolutely no scratches anywhere. RRP was 16-17K. I got it at a police auction selling off proceeds of crime at 7K. Very happy with my purchase. Sure, the watch is expensive but it remains a "buy for life" piece that I won't ever need to replace. It was definitely authentic because I took it instore to remove a few links from the bracelet, and the associates didn't decline the service.

  • +3

    vintage channel bag bought from local op-shop for $20…. FB Marketplace/gumtree value is $7500

    • +7

      Is that Channel 7 or 9?

    • If the bag says Channel, I think you may have overpaid!

  • +2

    Blood Transfusion 1 unit of Blood - Cost to me as a recipient on Medicare $0 - Cost to Government $377.36!!
    https://www.blood.gov.au/national-product-list#note-2

    • +4

      I'd suggest that's more a thankyou to the selfless donor who took an hour out of their day and donated it for $0

  • details on your bike? make sure it's not stolen.

    • Yeah wasn’t stolen, went to the guys house and told me all about the bike also had a for rent sign on his front so his story seemed g

  • I got a Fisher & Paykel Washing Machine (WL8060P1) for $280.00 off eBay (Used, Buy it Now), it's current RRP is $1349.00 (The Good Guys).
    I got the original purchase receipt so if anything happens with the direct drive (10 year warranty) then I'm covered

  • The best bargain my friend found was a shocker, he ended up selling two TV's on gumtree, and they sold second hand for $450, one was a 32inch unopened TV, and the other was a 42inch TV, sadly the person who picked it up was the girl he was chatting to online for two weeks, the father picked the TV's up, and he was so confused he didn't say a word.

    I told him, atleast you sold two TV's, but he was furious.

    Maybe the person who bought those TV's were/is a member here, i doubt.

    • +12

      I'm really confused by this comment.

      • Its a haiku. You have to read it backwards

  • Pretty much new pair of RM William boots for $50. Guy didn't like the feel of them and preferred Ariats. I wore them a few times over a month, but I didn't feel right in them (I'm Asian). Sold them for $175, probably could've got $200 though.

    • Hahahaha I’m Asian lmao

    • You most certainly could have gotten at least $300 for it. I sold mine that I had worn for 2 years for $350. I didn't take any special care of it, I suppose they're just sought after?

  • A cat carrier cage for free :D

  • Have found quite a few good bargains - a couple of iPod Classic 160GB's for $10 (with boxes!), Onkyo TX-NR709 for $50 many years ago and a Denon AVR-1713 for $50 with a slight hum in the surrounds when nothing was playing. Also got a free Chromecast Audio, OG Chromecast and Roku 3 (US model) a few weeks back.

    All in use except for the Onkyo which ended up developing the HDMI sync issue :(.

    • Bake it in the oven. Google it

      • Went through a couple of goes with a heat-gun which lasted a few months each, but failed progressively quicker :(. Last couple of attempts with a heat-gun and some flux kept it going for a while longer, but it reached a point where I couldn't repair it :'( - ended up selling for parts. The Denon was a nice replacement though.

        • +1

          Yeah fair enough. I sold mine before it failed (it had good ventilation), but my mates packed up, so I did the oven thing and was working ok for a year. Haven't tried it recently.

  • +1

    $70 for an Xbox One S 500GB with one controller and one game.

  • Got a first edition Transformers Devastator in all six boxes for $60 in-great condition. Sold it for $950.

  • I am in the middle of a renovation at home and last year was looking on gumtree for Bi-Fold doors. I found some very cheap ($800) 2.4m x 6m ones & jumped on it. The builders allowance for these was around $8000. Turns out the "guy" selling them was actually the company my brother works for and they were remodeling a showroom. After he worked his magic they were free! Bottle of scotch to the owner as a thankyou and now they're installed in my house.

  • Aside from my post earlier about a Mirra for $60, I ‘scored’ or got left with a pretty decent treadmill from buying my last house. Previous owners were moving 2000km away and had already moved out, and the removalists wouldn’t disassemble the treadmill without an extra fee so they just got left there.

    Think the treadmill was going for around $600-800 second hand last time I looked.

  • 4.5 years ago I found and bought never opened HP spectre x360 g2 on facebook market @ 900. (i7-6600u, 8GB ram, 128SSD)

  • I bought my first car for $500. Used it for about 3 years, never had any issues and ended up selling it for $1100.

  • eBay - bought an iPhone 7 months after release for something awesome price can’t remember exactly.

    When the package came, it was in fact 2 higher spec 6S. Sold one for profit kept the other.

  • Managed to score a table tennis table on FB marketplace $100. Surface was still in really good condition and came with rackets/balls. Couple of weeks leading up, I was considering purchasing from Decathlon/Rebel Sport. Brand new tables start from $350.

    • +1

      Quality TT tables are measured by the thickness of the table top, e.g. 25mm, and legs for stability.

      Over time if you want to get more into this, you'll buy your own rackets and rubber and cut out and glue them on. Also ball quality varies with stars - 3 for play quality; 2 or 1 for training. Rebel etc. balls probably don't have stars. :)

      • Thanks for that. Any shop recommendations for quality rackets/rubber?

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