A designer handbag handed into a charity shop has been sold for hundreds of pounds, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The Hermes bag - a brand usually seen on the arm of celebrities like Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham - was left in a black bin bag by a mystery woman at the Cancer Research UK shop in Pitlochry, Perthshire.
The bag, which was said to be worth at least £1,500, was bought by a woman on Monday evening after rumours swept the town that it was available. However, store bosses will not reveal the exact sale price and the buyer has declined to be identified.
Mary Butchart, manageress of the charity shop, said: "Myself and Sarah, who works out in the store, were looking through a selection of bags, and then this classy looking bag appears at the bottom of the plastic bag. I was still trying to work out what it was, when Sarah starts jumping around saying 'It's a Hermes. It's a Hermes.'"
Hermes regularly change hands up for up to POUNDS 40,000 and the most expensive ever bag was sold for over DOLLARS 1.6 million.
As rumours about the bag spread around Pitlochry, Mrs Butchart was bombarded with calls.
She added: "Yesterday I received over a dozen calls from people saying they're interested in the bag, but on Monday a woman came into buy it. We'd been urged by people to put it up on Ebay but as a charity we can't do that.
"However, this woman came and was willing to pay the cash up front for the bag, so we thought it was a very fair offer."
The manageress is still amazed that someone would hand in such a bag, and would love to meet the mystery donor, so that she could thank her.
She added: "I don't know what I'd say if I saw her, but I'd just be really thankful for the great generosity. I think it might be a regular contributor to the store, as the rest of the items in the bag were similar to what we get in store.
"Obviously as a Cancer Research store, everyone knows someone that has cancer, so we do receive some great stuff, but this is on another level. Everyone at the store would love to meet her."
Last updated: 13 October 2009, 14:19
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