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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think they shouldn't have increased the price?

54 replies

iamdivergent · 17/07/2014 14:51

This morning walking to work I saw a table and chairs in the window of a local charity shop, they were marked at £45. I took a pic and sent it to DH, not noticing but the price was also in the pic. DH liked the table too, so at 9am I called the shop.

The person who answered took the details and said they'd call me back, (I wanted to reserve and go in and pay when I finished work), he called me back about 20mins later and said that the table had been sold already. I thought, oh well and continued on til I finished work.

Walking back home I walked by the same shop to find the exact table with a new price on top - an increase of £30 from this morning. I was Hmm so I went in and queried to be told that it was definately not the same table.

I looked at my pic, it is definately the same table and chairs, down to a big scratch down the middle of it. We could just afford it at the original price, but can't afford the extra - so annoying and a bit shitty of the shop imo.

So AIBU?

OP posts:
LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 17/07/2014 17:05

Charity shops used to be great for when money was tight, or you hit on hard times. The prices were sensible and most could afford to shop there.
Now it is cheaper to go to Primark and the poundshops than the charity shops.
They are getting greedy with their pricing and are loosing customers as they go.
I do donate to charity shops, but tend to go for the local one which prices for the area it is in - babygros and vests 10p - 20p each, books £1 or 50p etc. It is great for struggling families, and great for the shop as they always have new stock in the windows, they also make a good profit ( I know one of the volunteers). That is how the shops should be, at the end of the day even if they sell all their stock at £1 they will make 100% profit.

skinoncustard · 17/07/2014 17:30

I am very wary of charity shops , many years ago I handed two black bin bags of soft toys in , I had even washed them all first. Next day a neighbour had a coffee morning, she was excited to show us all the super toys she had got for her grandchildren. You've guessed !!! I kept quiet and asked where she got them, (she) I volunteer in the local charity shop,
(Me) they are lovely- how much? ( she) oh I put 50p in the till, it's amazing the stuff I get !!!!!

Never again !

Original poster
iamdivergent · 17/07/2014 17:36

Shock Sad

OP posts:
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 17/07/2014 17:36

That is appalling, skinoncustard!! I wouldn't donate there again either.

unlucky83 · 17/07/2014 18:39

Agree with ridiculous prices...I got lots of books for my DCs from charity shops years ago .... Even then the difference in prices between the 'big name' ones and less well known was surprising -but now they are crazy.

We have a recycling charity near us - got a few things from there for our first house, over the years have donated lots of stuff. It was set up by someone who was genuinely keen on recycling. I like recycling/reusing things so I would always check there before buying things...and they were good for obscure things...like a short length of Kitchen worktop for a utility etc ...
Most things weren't priced - it was case of asking how much?
As they expanded they got new people working for them and now I have stopped going. They would give you a ridiculous price...
Eg I wanted an old bucket for a cement job - £1 for an old grubby mayonnasie/oil one from a restaurants... (I know it was only £1 but I could get new one for that from B&Q!).
I started haggling eg I wanted two stools - they had some that needed a lot of TLC - wanted to charge me £20 each!. A cheap hardboard bedding box - got them down to £30 and still it wasn't worth that!
I just stopped going - really not worth the hassle - and I don't donate stuff to them anymore... and they have stopped taking/stocking lots of things...
(Since found out the guy who started it has left...maybe why the ethos changed so much)

londonrach · 17/07/2014 18:44

Local fb sites are good if you need anything f and haven't the money.

londonrach · 17/07/2014 18:47

Shocked skinon. Personally I only support the local hospice no national ones now. I carry my items past the big ones. Be careful if you gift aid unless you pay more tax than they claim back as mr tax man chased my mums friend for x amount of tax claimed back.

EatShitDerek · 17/07/2014 18:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

londonrach · 17/07/2014 18:47

My local hospice sells books for £1 each. I read and return. Win win....

EatShitDerek · 17/07/2014 18:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

unlucky83 · 17/07/2014 18:58

I was in a charity shop - big name - a few years ago - children's books 3 for £1.
We only wanted 2 (priced 50 & 75p) ...went to pay and they charged us £1.25! If I hadn't been so shocked I would have picked another up, paid and handed it straight back!

CarbeDiem · 17/07/2014 19:06

OP if it's definitely the same table then that's really unfair of them and yes I think they WBU.

I've been out of the UK for ages and love a good charity shop bargain so I visited when I came back.
I don't live in an affluent area - quite far from if I'm honest. I am shocked at my usual charity shop prices. There's 2 in particular that have gone crazy with prices very close to the original cost.
Where I live in Europe you pay by the kilo for items from the charity shop nothing is individually priced (furniture possibly would be but I've never seen any), usually between £5 - £15 depending on which shops you use.
Sometimes it works out better.

Original poster
iamdivergent · 17/07/2014 19:34

glad to know I am not bu Smile hopefully the table for me is out there somewhere Sad

OP posts:
SistersOfPercy · 17/07/2014 20:11

I was in a charity shop - big name - a few years ago - children's books 3 for £1.

This was DD and I a few months ago, we'd got 2 books, couldn't find a 3rd we wanted. Sign said "3 for a pound". Handed 2 to the lady at the till. The conversation went like this..

Her "These are 3 for a pound you know"
Me "yes, thanks but there isn't any other we wanted"
Her "Ok, thats 50p please"

Still trying to work that one out Grin

unlucky83 · 17/07/2014 23:53

You were lucky sisters ...didn't know you could still get deals like that...
A week or two ago we were in an affluent area with lots of charity shops -
In one DD1 chose 3 children's paperbacks - I didn't look at the price - just gave her a £5 note to pay thinking that was plenty and was leaving the shop when she came chasing after me - blushing - she needed another £2! Yep £7 for 3 children's paperbacks!
And sadly most of the other shops were charging a similar amount...eg an oldish (2004?) battered Bash street kids annual was £2.50...Shock

Happy36 · 17/07/2014 23:57

Yes, they were unreasonable. Did you raise the issue with them? I'm sure charity shops must have pricing protocol and this wouls transgress it - if no one knew how to price it accurately but they still had to display (space reasons) they should have left it unpriced and explained that situation to anyone who enquired.

It's a shame because the person who donated it would probably be sad if they knew what had happened.

CheshireSplat · 18/07/2014 06:51

Do you think that rather than a deliberate lie, it was a mistake in that you and your husband asked about "the £45 table" and if the price had been changed already as they couldn't see a £45 table they assumed it had been sold? Doesn't explain why the price was changed , though.

WanderingAway · 18/07/2014 08:33

I used to volunteer in a well known charity shop. It always amazed me the prices the manager put on things. Over three pound for a book that was selling next door, brand new for a pound. No the three pound book didn't sell.

My feelings are that any sale is better than no sale. My manager didnt have a clue about pricing. She thought that people would buy a pair of twelve pound (still had the label on) second hand pair of plain non branded boots for eleven pounds.

CuttingOutTheCrap · 18/07/2014 08:51

Noticed a book in a charity shop window recently, clearly well used, marked at £5. It still had the original shop's price sticker on it, which read £2.99. Have noticed primark and similar tops priced at more than they sell for new several times, can't possibly be good for sales!

Original poster
iamdivergent · 18/07/2014 17:32

The mark up is terrible. I'd rather go further away to a charity shop which is more reasonably priced then pay the prices in some of the bigger named ones.

Table still sitting at £75 this morning; didn't go in. I'm not going to challenge them on it, I don't see them backing down plus I don't want their table now as I have found a better one on a Facebook selling site Grin

OP posts:
HatieKokpins · 18/07/2014 17:44

Charity shops do not make 100% profit on sales. Yes, they don't have to buy stock, but they do have to pay rent, utilities and insurance etc, even being staffed by volunteers incurs costs. You'll find that's why shops in so-called "affluent" areas tend to be more expensive, as they are more expensive to run.

It is incredibly expensive for charities to run shops, which is why very many don't do it, and the ones that do tend to be the bigger ones. Administration and legal costs ("hidden" costs) can be huge, and all this has to be taken into account.

That said, the shop in the OP was BU.

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 18/07/2014 18:04

Fair enough, I worded that clumsily. What I meant was they get their stock for free, so don't have to pay suppliers for it, and therefore get more profit than had they to buy it in.
I am not disputing that they have overheads to deduct from their sales. I didn't say otherwise.
I was trying to explain that they are unreasonable to over price items.
We have a charity shop that no one seems to go in, and they seem to get a very slow turn over of items. The reason being they try to charge more than the items are worth (for example the Primark T-shirt that was £3 in there, but was £1.50 new). I understand they feel they need to get as much for items as they can to cover the over heads, but I feel they may be shooting themselves in the foot as it were.
I think they would get more customers and donations if they were to reasonably price items, that would lead to more sales and eventually more money through the tills.
An over priced t-shirt sat on a hanger for years does nothing to help, where as a suitably priced t-shirt being bought does. Better £1 in the till than an item sitting there for years.

Jinty64 · 18/07/2014 18:51

We have some that charge ridiculous prices but a couple that are really good. One does childrens books at 10 or £1. I often go in for books for ds3 and come out with other things as well. I also often donate there as I am going in anyway. The other one has good children's clothes at reasonable prices and again I often buy other things.

Lauren83 · 18/07/2014 18:54

I find charity shops so dear, although there's an age concern in the little village I live in that's so cheap, I bought a load of Next and Gap kids clothes for 25p each today, and have bought ladies tops for £1, I always donate stuff myself there too

Lauren83 · 18/07/2014 18:54

Oh sorry also yanbu