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My online dopamine hit is DoneDeal. I love a good rummage, you see, and virtual thrifting has proven just as satisfying as the traditional bricks-and-mortar kind. Forget the waiting and watching and strategic bidding involved in an eBay purchase. On this little-sister site, when I spot a bargain, I simply make a call, and the deal is, well, done. My second-hand shopping obsession developed in London in the early noughties. Back then (before the Mary Portas power makeover), charity shops were pretty much a hodge-podge of flammable fabrics and old-lady bric-a-brac – more of an eye-sore on the high street than an attraction. But behind those tired exteriors, these forgotten-about spaces had hidden treasures … memorable finds include a DKNY cashmere jumper (?8), a Fendi Baguette (?30) – not my style anymore, but I still keep it, in the same way you would a winning lottery ticket – and a pair of knee-high Prada boots (?15 … yes, really). So while friends spent their lunch breaks at Pret A Manger, I was spending about the same amount of cash on the kind of pr?t-?-porter I could normally never have afforded. These days, I can get my fix without devoting the footfall. And although I haven’t bagged any cut-price Miu Miu from this virtual jumble sale, a Muji dining table at a third of its RRP, an Edwardian mirror for the price of a good pinot noir, and an unused IKEA armchair for next to nothing have been more than enough to feed my habit. Well, they do say women shop in their thirties and decorate in their forties. Having said that, a C?line dress for sale in Donegal has just appeared in my inbox ?
?For more of the IMAGE team’s digital addictions, and to find out which type of online shopper you are, check out the August issue of IMAGE Magazine