A recycled lifestyle…

Last week I was lurking around on Ebay looking at sofas for my new shop. I’ve been looking for weeks, and nothing even vaguely right had turned up; everything was the wrong shape or colour, the wrong size, or just plain too expensive. No way was I buying something new, either. So when I saw a reasonably-coloured, comfy-looking suite in the next town at 99p with a day to run, I whacked in a bid. Seconds later I realised that it didn’t say that it had fire labels, or that it was from a smoke-free home, & my heart sank. I emailed the seller and they replied that it did in fact have fire labels, but they didn’t say anything about smoke… oh well, I thought, it’s only 99p even if I have to take it straight to the tip. But let it be a lesson to myself not to haunt Ebay late at night when my judgement’s gone to sleep!

Well, we picked it up today. When we got the two chairs into the unit, it was apparent that although it had clearly been enjoying family life for a few years, the covers were still intact & it was actually still extremely comfortable & supportive. And when we manhandled the very-solid sofa in, my friend said, “You know, I’m beginning to suspect that this may have cost a bob or two originally…”

We found £3.37 down the sides, along with several little plastic men, keyrings and crayons, so it has paid for itself already if you don’t count the fuel cost of going to get it. And we found the maker’s label & were able to identify it; it’s a Multiyork Gloucester large sofa & two chairs, currently retailing at a minimum of £3590.

That could be the best 99p investment I’ve ever made…