So what would you tell a charity shop manager?

[Supersimpkin]

I volunteer in a charity shop and want to hear it from the horse's mouth - ie the customers. Colour blocking - yay or nay? Prices? Boutique or rag-and-bone decor?

Am feeling smug as anything as have just won an award for volunteering, so let rip, I can't be offended by anything right now.

I went in an Oxfam shop recently which had a big sign at the back 'Donate here' above a doorway. There didn't appear to be anyone there so I put my items down and left. Bit sad that no one mustered a 'thank you' when most of my items were new and in unopened packaging.
I shall donate elsewhere in future.

If you have to refuse donations - put up a nice notice. Our local charity shop has really surly ones!

I like colour blocking, it's always done in size order where I am so it's easy to look through.

Don't scatter the bags and shoes around.

Don't overprice things. I'm not paying a fiver for a primark top.

I love charity shops and use them regularly for both donating and buying.

When accepting donations be grateful even if your stock room is full, I hate it when they don't thank you or tell you to just "leave it over there".

Don't put out dirty or tatty clothes.

Have a decent changing room, preferably two.

Stop over pricing, we've got 3 shops nearby, Age Concern, Mind and an independent one that distributes between local charities, the well known two sell basic t shirts for £4.25, more than they cost new, the independent one sells everything for £1 and they're the one that is always busy.

I donated 5 bags full to Mind last week and saw a few of my old clothes on their rails today, there's a jumper up for £8 that only cost £10 new.

Surly or ungrateful staff drive me nuts. Yes, coping with the house clearance of an incontinent hoarder is exactly the fun you think it is, but there's no need to be rude to the other donors.

Oh, and workfare - don't, just don't. Mind you, a lot of charities get paid by various organisations eg probation services to take on 'volunteers' ie unpaid and unthanked staff. The Charity Commission should name and shame the charities who do it - dirty money.

Keep all maternity clothes on a separate rail. Make sure the shop amends nice. Don't overprice tatty greetings cards. 50p max per card.

My time at charity shops was part of an unemployed work programme (not the UK though) and I liked it, got me out of the house where I was getting depressed and gave me something to do and they paid for me to do various training programmes at the local vocational school (got my work safety card, my working with fire safety card, but failed my selling alcohol card, oh well). Afterwards I was offered a paid position at one place (pay subsidised by the state so didn't cost the charity much but meant it was limited to one year contract)

I never heard of colour blocking b4 this thread. Do y'all LIKE shopping so don't mind how long it takes to find anything suitable?

Don’t try to be something you’re not. It’s a charity shop, the clothes are second hand, I do not want to pay a lot for second hand clothes, nor do I want to feel like I’m in a boutique.

Agree with making it smell nice.

Don't automatically chuck out any book that's more than 5 years old! I don't even bother looking at books in charity shops any more as it's all recently published stuff - no chance of finding a gem. I love crime novels from the 60s/70s or children's books from the 50s but they're getting harder and harder to find.

British Heart looks nice, doesnt sell tat, ie primark,
i want a shop that looks nice and clean

British Heart looks nice, doesnt sell tat, ie primark

My nearest one doesn't look nice, and it does sell tat, often covered in pet hair. It's grim.

Agree with pp about colour blocking, it makes it so hard to browse. If I do want a particular item in a particular colour I am perfectly capable of looking at a rack and seeing if it contains one.

And don't set up a 'vintage' section try to offload really dated stuff. If something is old and good quality it's a great idea - I often look at that kind of vintage section. But if it's Primark/supermarket stuff from five years ago it's not vintage, it's just old, and often bobbly.

Charity shops can only work with what they're given though - if you're given mostly pet-hair covered tat, you have to do your best with it.

We are very lucky in our shop - we get SO much stuff we can afford to be exceptionally picky. Primark and supermarket clothes don't go out at all unless they are pristine. Other shops hardly get any donations for various reasons (usually down to demographics and location of the shop) so might make different decisions according to what they have donated.

Personally, I would never label anything more recent than the 1980s as vintage. And the 1980s "princess diana" frocks with massive shoulder pads usually go online anyway, ans sell very well. According to the manager, a lot are sold to agencies which provide costumes for film/TV shows.

I don't mind primark stuff sold in charity shops, as long as it is cheap and wearable. It's usually wear it once or twice stuff, so why not pass it on.

I would say don’t priced too high. I often say things like Primark and Asda T-shirts in my local charity shop for 3 or 4 pounds when they would probably be less new. Definitely sort by size or age for children, colourblocking or putting everything of the same type together takes so much longer to sort through.

Have it smell ok. Use the window to tempt people in. Be clear on what kind of things you would like donated, for example my local one takes rag so I always take rag and thought most charities shops do get my friends one reacted with horror when she took some rag along

Your shop smells bad.
Sort clothing by size.

*Charity shops can only work with what they're given though - if you're given mostly pet-hair covered tat, you have to do your best with it.

I see your point. It's a shame though, because that is a branch of a national charity, and in a really good location but it's always empty. I'm sure they aren't only getting stuff with added pet hair it's more those donations are kept with non-hairy ones and the hair spreads. I can see they have to take what they get, but maybe a smaller range of non-hairy items that would sell would be better than rails full of stuff that doesn't shift because no one wants to wear jumpers covered in someone else's spaniel.

Interesting to read about the Princess Di dresses. I would say vintage is 80s or earlier too, and that is an area charity shops can do really well. There are some great ones near me that seem to do a good trade in that kind of thing. So much so, I've noticed the non-charity vintage shops cutting their prices to try to compete.

Smell really is key for me, if that door opens and I smell the charity shop smell then I’m not going in

They always smell horrid.

I once and only once found colour blocking useful but I was looking for items to costume a kids dance/theatre show in a particualr colour scheme.

But otherwise SIZE, followed by type of item all the way.

Would people really not pay £2.49 for a second hand book? I would! It has the same words in as a new copy that might cost £7.99!

Not unless its a hardback copy of a newly released title.

Why would I pay that much when I can pay £2-3 for a brand new book in The Works.

Would people really not pay £2.49 for a second hand book? I would! It has the same words in as a new copy that might cost £7.99!

I would pay £2.49 for a secondhand book if it was one I was very keen on reading and one I had on my book wishlist.

If it was just a book that looked quite interesting, then no, I probably wouldn’t pay £2.49 for it.
I’ve got a stack of unread books at home and a library card, so I’m not generally going to spend £2.49 on an impulse buy of a secondhand book that’s just looking quite interesting.

Make it easy to donate and price appropriately.

I have an online second hand book business and I buy large quantities of books at auction. I keep probably a third for my own use or to sell on. The rest, provided that they are good quality, I am happy to donate to charity - paperback novels, children's books, glossy reference books.

Where I used to live there was a specialist Oxfam Bookshop in the city centre which had collecting bins in supermarket car parks all over the city. You just pull up alongside, put your books in the chute and away you go.

Where I live now, there is an Oxfam Bookshop in the town centre but no collecting bins, nowhere to park nearby, no delivery yard. Clearly I am no going to lug three large boxes of books from the nearest car park, so they are losing out on large quantities of free stock.

I would agree about displaying books alphabetically and also non fiction by category. It's really important that children's books are properly sorted and preferably arranged by author.

Look at ways of keeping stock turning over - bargain rails of clothes for £1, rummage boxes of little toys for 20p, fill a bag of books for £5.

If you aren't able to check that games and jigsaws are complete, don't charge a lot for them. People will pay 50p for a jigsaw, take it home and do it and if pieces are missing, well it's only 50p. They won't want to do it, if you are charging £3-£4.

Nothing is more off-putting than a charity shop where the stock has been there for years

Would people really not pay £2.49 for a second hand book? I would! It has the same words in as a new copy that might cost £7.99!

Probably not When I have a charity shop that sells books at 10p (paperback) I think hardbacks are 50p but I cant carry so many of them.
The difference between 10 at 10p and 10 at 2.49 is huge.
Plus I will return my 10p books and buy more in a week or two. If I spend 2.49 and I like it, I will keep to read again st some point.

It does help that the local cs is the 10p books. I would have to make a trip to the expensive cs and most days I cant be bothered.