Why do charity shops...

or, even worse, ask if you could swap it for a coat you had at home.

Wtf what a weird attitude. They can't display their own Christmas decorations? If a staff member had their coat hung up on a peg near the till would you demand to buy that too?

I can understand why you're a bit put out but you don't go into other non-charity shops and expect to buy bits of their Christmas displays do you? You know like those nice window hangers or garlands around the windows in most shops?
We have a fold up chair that which customers sit on to try shoes on, plate stands, wooden clothes hangers, book stands etc which in our charity shop are 'our' items that help us sell goods that customers want and display at best advantage.
A Christmas tree is the same thing - it's a prop to entice customers in to buy just like other retailers do. Why is a charity shop so different? Your reasoning is a bit bonkers to be honest.

😳 ‘power trips’?! Would you say that about any other shop worker just trying to do their job?

This is the second thread this week full of people asking why charity shops do/don’t do this, that or the other, with the general subtext of ‘why are they so stupid?’

The thing is, the management of the shop will already have thought of all the pros and cons of window display protocol and have come up with a strategy that suits their shop - because, believe it or not, charities do have paid management who know stuff about shops.

The attitude to charity shops on here is just saturated with snobbery, I’m afraid.

I think it’s fine to ask if the baubles are for sale as long as you don’t try to push if they say they’re not. Please don’t ask if you can swap them with some of your old ones. That’s a bit weird.

If I saw a Christmas tree in the window of any shop I would assume they had put it there as a decoration and wouldn't expect them to be selling the tree decorations.

I think it's weird that you expect them to sell them

No idea why you're getting uppity responses to a perfectly reasonable question. If anyone's actually upset about baubles in a charity shop, they need to have a word with themselves.

They don’t want to sell them because they’re not for sale! They’re the shop’s Christmas decorations. I don’t know why people are struggling to understand that.

@Flossyflop would you go into liberty's and ask to buy something from the shop window displays?

Pretty much every shop at this time of year has a tree or decoration up and it's perfectly reasonable that they're decorations and not stock. It wouldn't even cross my mind to think i could buy anywheres decorations and to be affronted if I couldn't.

I wondered if it was the same poster too.

So you want to buy some of the baubles on the tree which is part of the window display? Presumably they are different to the ones the shop is selling? I guess they don't want to constantly have to redecorate the tree.

Because they are the shops decorations?
Lots of shops and businesses have decorations at Christmas, that they are displaying and not selling. Understandable that you might have thought they were selling decorations, but when they told you they weren't it's odd that you didn't just accept that and move on

Same thing in my local charity shops - it feels sometimes as they don't want to sell anything. Run by non business minded people often.. Plus, human factor - some charity shop workers enjoy this little " power trips".

Stuff that's in the window is often difficult to get at. If there's only one person available on the shop floor, whilst they climb into the window, the shop is unattended and easy for thieves to grab stuff/the till and go.

In fact, whilst most people would have innocent motives for asking to buy something from the window display, it would also be a very successful tactic for said thieves, to ask deliberately so that they can get away unimpeded.

Plus, if they have a carefully planned display, with nice, attractive items in it, on the one hand they will have people wanting to buy those items; whilst om the other, if they randomly remove them for sale or deliberately put rubbish in there that nobody will want, they'll be criticised for 'not making an effort' and may lose custom from people who are seriously unimpressed and thus don't go in!

This drives me nuts and fortunately is not the policy where I volunteer.

I think charity shops can be ridiculous for this sometimes - I've has a few fails. Tried to buy a Halloween costume and was told to come back in November as it was their display. Erm no one will want it then.

Another time / shop there was a lovely dress in the window - Mother's Day was that week - but I couldn't buy it until the following week as it was their Mother's Day display. I just said not to worry I was looking for something for a Mother's Day meal. I'm sure they'd sell, but they had a whole rail of dresses that could have sat in the window instead.

I doubt it. Baubles are pretty much disposable. If they’re not good enough to go on the tree, I think they go in the bin 🤷‍♀️

OP, are you the same poster who knocked over the window display in a charity shop trying to see the size or price of an item of clothing and was annoyed about a staff members reaction?
If so, please don't go in asking them to sell you the baubles, or swop them for yours.

Because they are not stock, they are visual merchandising items

I will ask them why next time I'm in - if it is due to not wanting to replace as they use each year I could ask if I could swap for some of mine.

Don’t ask that. You’ll sound like a nutter. Go to a shop or website that sells decorations and buy some from there.

A lot of the big name charity shops now have visual merchandisers, who do the window display, mannequins etc..:

The manager in my local one gets quite stressed out when she has to do it herself, I give her a hand as I have a good eye.