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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you ever do this to a charity shop?

78 replies

BupcakesandCunting · 07/07/2011 15:29

Would you ever try and knock them down on a price? Would you ever return goods for a refund if you changed your mind on them?

AIBU to think it's a bit of a shitty thing to do?

OP posts:
LolaRennt · 07/07/2011 22:36

I think charity shops also provide a service to provide clothes and goods to people who haven't much money so the clothes should be reasonably priced. More importantly if someone sees a shirt they want it could sit in the charity shop for months it makes more sense for the shop to haggle and sell it to make room for more stock. Some money is more than no money if it doesn't sell.

SevenAgainstThebes · 07/07/2011 22:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hufflepuzzpig · 07/07/2011 22:43

Re: the stealing thing... When books are donated that aren't in good enough condition to sell, they go to recycling and the charity gets 50p per kilo (rags are about 65p). Apparently there's been a lot of theft from our book bank. Stealing from a charity for pittance, how low can you get eh?

BornSicky · 07/07/2011 22:44

yes, and I've done it.

Prices of items in charity shops are getting silly. I saw a vest from Primark in there for £3.00 the other day... said vest is only £2.00 brand new.

I wanted to buy a skirt, but the zip was broken and it was stained. Not a big brand or anything, but the shop wanted £6.50 for it. I asked for a discount and they gave it to me for £3.00.

mercibucket · 07/07/2011 22:46

thought you were going to be talking about those mentioned later in the thread
who bring stuff in for a refund when they never bought it there in the first place
who just steal stuff from there

asking for a refund or haggling are ok in my book if you are counting the pennies. there are those who can afford to donate and choose to buy from charity shops as a type of donation as well - they don't need to haggle or ask for a refund, they could just donate it back again. but some people shop there cos it's cheap and that's fair enough too

biscuitmad · 07/07/2011 22:46

I did haggle once I wanted two pictures and I didnt have enough for both. I think I got £4 off.

I have noticed that some charity shops overprice items by £4 or more, and the item for sale isnt worth the money. I now avoid those shops and go to the cheaper ones. Ive never returned an item I rather give it back to charity as it goes to a good cause.

CubiksRube · 07/07/2011 23:03

My local charity shop (go there 2/3 times per week) has a sign saying, "Please don't ask for discounts, our prices are fair and where necessary we have asked for expert opinion" or something to that effect.

And they're right, their prices ARE very good so in that scenario, no I wouldn't haggle. Also, they don't do refunds just credit notes which I think is fair and have no problem with.

If I genuinely thought something was very overpriced (not by £1, for example, but really overpriced), I might haggle. I visit charity shops because I'm a bit of a magpie, but also to buy things I couldn't usually afford, for example large quantities of books for DP, and the price does have to be in the right ballpark.

bronchiectasisme · 17/08/2017 09:40

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LuLuuuuuuu · 17/08/2017 10:20

I volunteered in a charity shop and there is a lot of thieving , believe it or not . We put it down to either a .. chancers or b. stoney broke . No way of knowing though as they are of course fast .

On my first day I was just doing what I'd been asked to do and a customer came over to inform me one particular dress marked at a price was really undercost as its designer from an exclusive Mayfair shop . I had no idea (never been able to afford designer anyway) but was nice of her so I informed the manager.

ThymeLordIsSpartacus · 17/08/2017 10:22

Bloody zombie thread. I thought Bupcakes was back for a minute Sad

Juicyfruitloop · 17/08/2017 10:25

Yabu some families are truly skint. If it does not fit. In Dublin they are a lucrative business. It's a small percentage after staff wages, store rent, goes to the charity itself. No body should be made to feel bad if skint.

Juicyfruitloop · 17/08/2017 10:26

Zombie darn

YouRat · 17/08/2017 10:32

Some charity shops around me are more expensive then normal shops Confused. My mum is in charity shops all the time looking for bargains. She will try to get the price lowered if she's buying multiple items and most of them are happy to do it. She has also returned items that have not fit but always bought something else at the same time. Don't see an issue with returning items.

Papergirl1968 · 17/08/2017 10:39

I bought a DVD yesterday which turned out not to have the disc in. Annoying but I wouldn't do anything about it, even if it was a town I go to regularly, which it isn't.

Papergirl1968 · 17/08/2017 10:40

Ohhh, zombie!

grannytomine · 17/08/2017 10:40

I've stopped going in to our local charity shops as they are so expensive and the staff never seem very friendly. I used to buy lots of books from them but I go to the market in a nearby town. The stall I go to sells books for £2 a time and you can return them and £1 refund. Great choice of popular books and friendly service. Why would I go in a charity shop and pay £3 or £4 for the same book? Get served by a very condescending woman who makes me feel unworthy to be in the shop.

So no I wouldn't haggle or ask for a refund. I just wouldn't go in.

MsLexicon · 17/08/2017 10:46

I am personally fed up with charity shops over-charging. A lot of people cannot even afford stuff from charity shops now. Is ridiculous.

LuLuuuuuuu · 17/08/2017 10:49

Papergirl , you should have checked it was in its box really .

Talking of DVDs . At the charity shop I volunteered at, we meticulously checked the discs for scratches . Any that did have were sent to another store of ours where everything is a pound . Those too far gone were put aside for somebody who used to collect them for reasons not known to me.

whatsleep · 17/08/2017 10:52

But surely people who are struggling also deserve the 'charity' approach of only being charged what they can afford? The items are donated to the charity shops for free so if a mum needs to cloth her children and is struggling financially I don't see it being unreasonable. The charity shop will still be receiving money towards their charity.

MarklahMarklah · 17/08/2017 10:58

No, but I have told them when they have items priced too highly (for example croc style shoes that they sell four doors up in Poundland, which the charity shop had priced at £2). If something was broken then I'd take that back, but I don't haggle over prices.

viques · 17/08/2017 11:15

I haven't haggled in a charity shop, but I do work for a charity and I know that some of the people who donate and sign up to gift aid then claim the money back that the charity has raised from selling their goods.

Yes indeed, why go to the trouble of selling your old stuff on eBay when your local charity shop volunteers will press, price and sell for you ? No more wrapping, taking stuff to the post office, hoping the PO doesn't lose the item,worrying about feedback, your local charity shop takes all the stress and hard work away from you.

(actually they only do it once with us, we then politely cancel their gift aid)

TonicAndTonic · 17/08/2017 11:18

I don't buy things from charity shops that often (because they aren't that convenient for where I live, not out of any kind of snobbery). I wouldn't haggle on price, if they've overpriced something then personally I just won't buy it. I have considered pointing out that a local charity shop keeps pricing quite well-worn Primark clothes at more than they would cost new, but the staff are really unfriendly at the best of times so I don't really want to get in an argument.

I also wouldn't return something for a refund, I'd just donate it back to the shop. In my case it would only happen because I can never be bothered to try it on in the shop before I bought it!

LisaMed1 · 17/08/2017 11:20

I've helped in a charity shop. It was fun. Blood stained donations anyone?

Just to be clear - a charity shop is their to raise money for their charity and a charity has a legal duty to get the best outcome from donations. Those charities that contest wills - they can't not fight. They have a legal duty to maximise resources.

The duty of the charity shops is to their charity and not to the people who shop there. If they can help out those shopping there, all to the good, but it isn't their first responsibility.

On the other hand, some charity shops are grossly overpriced (Oxfam, I'm looking at you) and I think they should take the approach of pricing to sell to maximise their returns.

demirose87 · 17/08/2017 11:27

My mum spent a tenner on a pair of jeans from a charity shop when she got home they had a rip up the whole length of the leg. My mum struggles for money sometimes, that's why she buys some clothes from charity shops, so I dont think she was unreasonable to take them back.

ColdFeetAndHotCakes · 17/08/2017 11:37

Generally I'm too embarrassed to haggle anywhere. Yesterday however I was helping my sister buy something that I know quite a lot about, but they are unfortunately either very over or under priced in charity shops. She sent photos so I could assess what we'd have to spend on it, what condition it was in, and what it'd be worth afterwards. The aim was not to spend more money than she could release from it should she fall upon hard times. She decided to go for an underpriced one in the end, and as it had been sat around for a while they reduced it further at the till, but I was prepared to explain over the phone to the charity shop why we were only prepared to offer X amount for an over priced one. I would never consider haggling if I didn't know the true value of the item. If I had more disposable income then I would rather pay what has been asked.

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