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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Bartering in charity shops

61 replies

Kingoftheroad · 22/09/2015 21:58

Would you find it acceptable to barter with charity shop (salaried) manager for highly priced item (which in your opinion was way overpriced

OP posts:
pebbletime · 22/09/2015 23:16

I once asked to reserve a child's bed in a charity shop.
It was an Ikea bed, no mattress.
I got home, realised I didn't have the measurements (which are non standard with Ikea) so looked it up on the current Ikea website.
I discovered their standard price, with mattress, was £18 less than the shop was asking.
I decided to get the frame and mattress from Ikea (I'd have to have gone there anyway for the new mattress).
I called the shop and apologised (I'd only reserved it the hour before).
They asked why and I told them it was priced £18 higher than brand new, (and that included a fresh mattress too).
Guess what the manager said: 'well, some silly sod will buy it' Shock
Maybe, but not me :(
I wouldn't haggle though.

hollieberrie · 22/09/2015 23:16

Provisionally - Gosh i hope not too, that'd be heartbreaking! I think Oxfam are more specialised in books than other charity shops - they have specialist book stores and also sell antique books online so hopefully not many get pulped.

At the charity shop where i work, books that are not in saleable condition or that we don't have room for are bought from us in bulk by a book company. So money is still being made for the charity and better than pulping i guess!

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 22/09/2015 23:27

No. I always give extra. You can't barter. charities. That's corrupt.

BikeRunSki · 22/09/2015 23:39

I had to convince a charity shop to take extra today. Village church charity shop. Been popping in and out for years, DS goes to the church school. Went in today and saw a lovely music stand (ds had just started music lessons), £2, seems good as new. The lady told me they were having a half price sale on clothes, so I rummaged around and found 3 pairs of shorts for the DC for next summer. 75p or 50p each then half price! I had to persuade the volunteer not to give me change from £5!

TurnOffTheTv · 22/09/2015 23:40

That just seems really tacky to barter.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 22/09/2015 23:45

If some thing is over priced I think it's fine to point that out and say what you would pay for it.

I think it would be unreasonable to demand they sell for the lower price.

Offering 50p or a fiver less than an advertised fair price is gauche.

Pennybun4 · 22/09/2015 23:50

In my RL I am a mystery shopper and some of the assignments are charity shops and you've guessed it, the shopper has to ask for a reduction on the price of their purchase.

I do the jobs and am happy to do them, money for the charity, I redonate the goods, good all round.

limitedperiodonly · 23/09/2015 01:08

It's retail.

I don't understand why people object to haggling - or negotiating a price - just because it's for charity. If it doesn't sell and the shop can't turn over new stock, it isn't helping anyone.

Though they are nominally a chain, they are individual shops, which isn't the same as being Debenhams.

Therefore the manager should be able to negotiate in order to secure the best price for an item and to shift it to secure space for new stock. If she can't, management is tying her hands. If she won't, then she's not a good small retailer, which is what charity shops are.

The most important thing is a manager who can price things at the optimum level. That is a rare skill.

If she thinks she can sell it at a higher price than you're offering, then she should. If not, she should come down a bit.

No one gets any prizes in retail for doggedly sticking to the price and getting lumbered with a load of old, tired stock and no room for new stuff so customers get bored and stop coming in.

PerspicaciaTick · 23/09/2015 01:44

I think it is fair to ask any shop what their best price is on expensive items, they can always refuse. So if I was looking at something over £100, then I might ask if there was any flexibility in the price. But I wouldn't haggle over a £2 T-shirt IYSWIM

TheExMotherInLaw · 23/09/2015 02:11

if you want the item, buy it - if you don't - walk away.
I used to manage a charity shop, and would have been sacked on the spot if I had haggled.

triathlon · 23/09/2015 11:36

I don't want there to be a culture of haggling in this country. If it happens more and more, shopkeepers and traders will simply raise their starting prices for all items. And the people who are best at haggling will just get the prices back down to what they would have been anyway in a no-haggle culture.

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