Abstract: The present invention provides a manually operated pick-up device particularly of the type for picking up items outside of normal reach. The manual pick-up device comprises a shaft, pick-up blades mounted at a bottom end of the shaft, a handle grip mounted at a top end of the shaft, and an actuator mounted on the handle grip. The pick-up blades are mounted at an angle to the shaft such that with the shaft angled downwards the contact edges of the blades lie in a substantially horizontal plane. Actuating the actuator causes the pick-up blades to move between an open position and a closed position causing the pick-up blades to pick up an item.