ANY mum knows how difficult it can be to multitask when you’ve got so many things on your plate.
And for Emma Burchell, juggling so many things came to a head when her absentmindedness led to her £350 pram being accidentally sold by the local shop.
Mum-of-two Emma made a massive error when she left her pram outside a charity shop in Adelaide, Australia
She left the Bugaboo outside the front of this Salvo’s shop, where staff thought it was a donation and ended up selling it
Emma and her two kids went to the Salvo’s shop in Brighton, Adelaide, , to donate some bits they no longer needed.
While there, Emma took her youngest out of his Bugaboo Butterfly pram, so that he could have a play with some of the toys.
But as she attempted to stay on top of all her daily tasks, she ended up leaving the store without the pram – and only realised her mistake when she got home.
She then headed back to the shop to pick it up, only to find that the staff had assumed someone had donated it, and had put it up for sale for £5.86 ($12).
Unsurprisingly, the pram had been quickly snapped up by an opportunistic bargain hunter.
Emma admitted she was fuming with herself over the mix-up, which she said happened because she was exhausted and overwhelmed from solo parenting while her husband was working abroad.
“You can’t understand unless you’ve been there,” Emma told Kidspot of the situation.
“You don’t get it unless you’ve had that sleep-deprived mum brain.
“You’re just walking around like a zombie!”
She took to to share the tale as she emotionally begged for the mystery pram buyer to come forward to return the pushchair.
Her story was also shared on local Australian news, and quickly caught the attention of Bugaboo themselves, who offered Emma an upgraded Butterfly 2 model, as well as donating a separate pram to the Salvo’s store for another family in need.
Emma then ended up getting a message from the person who had bought her pram, who wrote to her on social media: “I asked the cashier how much… that’s when they told me $10 (£4.88), so naturally I snagged it.
“Got to the counter and they somehow charged me $12.
“But I didn’t care, I thought hell yeah this is amazing I’ve been looking for one for my daughter for so long!”
Top charity shop tips for bagging a bargain
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area – As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don’t hang around – If you see something you like, buy it, as it’ll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels – Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn’t sold during their . Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home – While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis . many also sell from dedicated stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope . You won’t get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you’re looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
Luckily, the woman was able to keep the pram, as Emma had already accepted the offer from Bugaboo for the upgraded pram.
“Social media actually worked,” she grinned.
“It got my pram back, and more than that, it sparked so many acts of generosity.”
