Found Gems From Op Shopping

Hi Everyone,

I fell in love with op shopping a few years ago. It all started going to a store with a friend who is careful with money but manage to find some great deals the stores. They have a great eye for detail and told me there are things they always look for at op shops and for them are board games, kids sporting equipment and high end brand clothing. So after some thinking and chatting with her, I now look for normally new boards games and cute home decoration that is hard to find or vintage. During my last visit at the Blue Mountains, we found a cute op shop and I found some really old vintage Japanese glassware for discounted prices.

There are loads of of cheap Asian homeware in op shops here but Japanese ones are a rare find. Good ones are even harder to find. The store I went to seemed to have received a load of glassware from an old Japanese restaurant or from a really old owner. Many things I cannot use at home but I did find some really cool things I found which I think is worth quite a bit and at least vintage. Firstly is this sake set. Sake sets are extremely expensive here in Australia. I have been looking for a set like this for some time at reasonable prices so I was pretty excited when I saw this set. Not only it was made in Japan, it was brand new in the box. Everything looked pristine. And the best part it was only $10 . It was totally a bargain and even if I just leave it in the cupboard as decoration was well worth it.

The other is one of best bargains I have found in the last year. The box looked really old (vintage style) and I knew it was a winner. I opened it up and OMG the plates are really pretty. It was brand new as well and each plate was in perfect order. Again the set was made in Japan and the store owner thinks its a good find considering the condition. Getting it for $15 was a bargain! I love the fact the plates looks like a shell in some angle and its all nice and shiny. Very Japanese style which I love. The interesting part is it has printed '大日本' meaning 'Big Japan' which also when anything is stamped with those words is a piece from the Meiji period from (1868-1912) after checking this online.

The final one is a cheap bargain for 50c. This cute bowl is Japanese made that is mainly used for storing trinkets. You can’t even get anything for this price in Sydney these days let alone something made overseas and is vintage. Not sure what I will put in it but I will sure find some good use for it.