To think charity shops are charging too much and are losing their way.

[TheoriginalLEM]

I appreciate that they are wanting to raise as much money as possible for their various causes but they are charging way over the odds for many things now.

Clothes from primark and tesco - £5?? really? probably cheaper to buy it new.

But what made me really sad tonight was walking past a charity shop window and seeing toys being sold at really expensive prices. Some mega block dragon sets £15 £17 for some hotwheels tracks. Both really bashed up boxes, obviously secondhand.

Now charity shops have become trendy, i think they have forgotten, that whilst this isn't their primary aim, they used to be a godsend to parents with little money. They could go to the charity shop and pick up some half decent toys for their children for christmas etc. I'm lucky, i can afford to get my DD new toys, i would have bought the megablocks if they had been reasonable, as an extra but not at £15 - sale lost.

So where do parents with little cash have to go now? poundland? cheap plastic tat that wont last five minutes. When they used to be able to pick up half decent stuff in charity shops.

Like i said, their aim is to raise money but ive seen back rooms of charity shops with bag upon bag of "stuff" ready to be sorted and put on the shelves. I have lost count of the times ive left something on the shelf because ive been unsure of it, but if it were a couple of pounds i would have bought it and taken the chance. I can't afford to shell out a fiver on something that might not fit and i don't always have time to try things on if i ve just popped in. So whereas i might have gone and bought 2 or 3 tops for a £2 each spending £6 on stuff they were GIVEN, i leave with nothing because i think either, no, not taking the chance, or fuck that i can buy it in tesco for that price.

Its the toys that have made me feel sad tonight.

[gamerchick]

It depends on where you go. If you look in the 'big names' shops like BHF then yes you're on a loser. If you go to small independents in affluent areas you'll pick up a bargain.

You have to pick your areas and put an afternoon aside for a good rummage.

For eg dying light (Xbox one) was sold in a small independent in Durham for 9 quid shortly after it was released. You can't even get that in game yet even now.

[Footle]

If you keep your receipt there is usually no problem about returning something if it doesn't fit or doesn't work, as long as you haven't removed the labels.

[wasonthelist]

Had a bargain or two in BHF, but only by going often and being highly selective. If anything, car boots are a bigger disappointment these days.

[Oldraver]

We have a charity shop that supports a local children's hospice and they charge mega bucks for stuff. The furniture is often priced too high but someone must buy this stuff. I've seen basic tall bookcases up for more than you can get in Argos

[BobandKate0]

Its especially annoying when i see job adverts from ofam looking for a regional manager and paying 45k per year.
The straw that broke my patience was in that Mary Portas prog,when the paid manager was turning up in the morning with a starbucks coffee and telling the free staff to re use a tea bag.

Some like Debra seem so overpriced,tatty ex library hardbacks at £4.25 for one - that i suspect the shop is a front for something.

[RueDeWakening]

There are some that cost a fortune for tat, but there are others - one near me for the Children's Trust is great, as is our local hospice shop - where you can get a bargain £6 for a designer winter coat to replace the one DD lost springs to mind

[Dieu]

I live in an affluent area with many charity shops, and the prices are beyond a bloody joke. So YANBU. They're much more affordable in the deprived areas of my city.

[GreenPetal94]

They did use to be a lot cheaper. I bought all my son's first Christmas presents from our local charity shop at £1 each. He was so happy with them all :-)

[oliveoyl72]

They vary massively, the local charity shops seem to be the cheapest and best, but you can't beat a good old car boot sale for mega bargains.

[LavenderRain]

I've seen Ikea glasses selling for £1 each in a local charity shop.
They are 50p each in Ikea

YANBU

[lilyb84]

I wonder though if the problem isn't the charity shops so much as all the other bargain shops - and of course the Internet - where goods can now be bought for so much cheaper. I don't know anything about how the economy works but am guessing charity shops have continued to put up prices in line with inflation etc, only now our expectations of how much things should cost are much lower? Primark, George, cheap books online - all good examples. So they're still trying to cover whatever (probably increasing) overheads are entailed by their business model of physical shops on high streets, and can't compete with the business models of the cheap shops and online businesses that are now so common?

Just a thought really! I rarely shop in charity shops although do often donate and try to do so to the ones whose prices seem most reasonable.

[TheExMotherInLaw]

It's the fault of the area managers - they set minimum prices for things, and woe betide the shop manager who allows things to be sold cheaper! They buy all their stuff in high price shops, so have no idea on real prices. It's dire. I used to manage one. Now I run a Freegle group instead - much more fun!

[ADishBestEatenCold]

Agree, OP. I used to think that Charity Shops presented a 'win, win, win' situation. The people donating goods had a good clear out, the Charity made a profit and the buyer bought goods for a much smaller than original price.

The current trend has coloured the way I now donate. For example, in the nearest small town to me (I'm rural) there are three well known charity shops ... all admirable causes, of the kind that many of us would want to support. Two are now charging fairly hefty prices, in some cases closely comparable with the original retail price. The third still offers goods at prices that allow buyers to pick up every day bargains.

Now, when I have a clear out, I donate everything to the third shop only.

[LetGoOrBeDragged]

I think charity shops are exempt from council rates. If that's true then they really ought to be cheaper. I always thoughtbof charity shopscas having a dual purpose - to raise money for the charity and sell goods cheaply for people who couldn't afford expensive new stuff.

In overpricing they will just lose customers in the end.

[BackforGood]

It's does depend on the shop. On my local High Street, you've got BHF, which is over priced and I don't even bother going in now (I blame Mary Portas and her "styling"), then about 4 other fairly priced ones, and then 2 that have taken to selling everything for £1 - fantastic turn over in both. Whenever I've been in their tills are ringing over and over and there doesn't ever seem to be a shortage of stock.
So, whereas I thing everything for £1 is a bit extreme, it does show that a better price bring in a better turnover.

[whatever22]

Quite often I find it cheaper to by things new in Tesco than buy from some charity shops. I'd much rather give my money to charity (and prefer to reuse stuff for environmental reasons), but I'm not rich enough to pay over the odds for it.

I volunteered in a charity shop for a while, but found the amount of stuff they threw out because they 'couldn't sell it' (at over the top prices) was obscene.

[Oldsu]

LetGoOrBeDragged that's not true my DH runs a charity shop and has volunteered in 3 of the biggest high street shops as well as the one he is working in now as a paid manager, they do pay business rates, albeit cheaper then other shops, he has to pay for the council to take away rubbish if its more then one bag, the charity pays rent on the property, electricity and water has to be paid for, even the TV he has in the shop that broadcasts information on a loop is subject to TV licence fees.

[LoadsaBlusher]

My local charity shop is excellent .
LPs for 50p , kids plastic toys in a bucket to rummage for 10p( great to let kids rummage whilst I'm rummaging!)
My best buys recently have been a pristine Next Boys band tshirt 70p and Peppa Pig train toy set £1.( currently retailing in Toys r us for £14.99)
On the other extreme the Oxfam had books priced at £4/£5 - i can get cheaper brand new online.

I donate loads to my local Salvation Army shop and they always are very appreciative and I have seen many of my donated items out on sale.

[MysticMugBug]

YANBU!
I felt bad initially, because it's important to give to charity.
I looked at a visibly worn, but still decent superdry dress last week and it was priced at £25 in one charity shop!!!

[Bluecarrot]

We have a local charity shop that only sells kids clothes ( plus the odd buggy/baby bath)
It looks like an expensive boutique but I think furniture might be IKEA? Anyway for under age 5 ( haven't looked at older ones pricing), jeans 50p, tshirts 50p, nicer tops £2max coats £3-5. You could pay the same for a pair of next lined jeans as a pair of primark jeans. I love it though, and all my kids clothes go there after mine outgrown ( anything marked etc goes to an orphanage in Romania that that support)

[zen1]

YANBU. I love shopping in charity shops, but in the last few years some of their pricing has been ridiculous. Several on my High St sell toy cars (and I'm not talking Dinky collectables) for £2 each (and they're often play-worn). What's the point when I could go into my local supermarket and buy new for under £1? I used to give my kids £1 to buy a little toy / book when they came charity shopping with me, but now there's hardly anything you can buy for that. And yes, lots of F&F, Primark and Peakocks tops for £4.99. I do still buy / donate a lot to charity shops, but I resent paying OTT prices for second-hand.

[Italiangreyhound]

OK I will go against the flow, you are being (a bit) unreasonable because:

Charity shops aim to raise money for their charity, they need to raise more money now probably because all kind of other costs (fuel/wages etc - not all staff are volunteers - fuel to deliver the services they delvier etc - have also gone up (and probably the rents of some shops too)

Other posters have all pointed out how there are things like Freecycle where people can get stuff for free - so people who need to get stuff cheaply can do so in a lot of ways now that were not available a few years ago

Charity shops are a 'business' in as much as if things cost too much for people to buy they won't buy them and then the price may be reduced.

You said in your op you did not need extra presents as you had bought yours new but then you would have bought the bricks if they were cheaper?! How would that help a person who was on a lower income!

I think it would be productive to give feedback to any charity shop you genuinely feel is pricing things wrongly, if they have their Primark and they Debenhams or whatever at the same price then point it out to them, although this may result in a price hike for the Debenhams stuff and not a price drop for the Primark.

I agree with lilyb84 I think that things are often priced unnaturally low in some shops.

We do not pay the real value for some things, the government may subsidize farmers so we pay less for milk etc than it costs to produce. Is this true? It seems to be what I hear!

We certainly do not pay the real environmental cost for so much of what is produced. So charity shops are asking us to dig deeper for things because they will be using the money for (we hope) charitable causes, but we still are free to use their shops or not. But I also feel that dialogue is useful, if a shop is consistently over-pricing then a word to the shop manager, nicely, could be a useful thing. Maybe they are out of touch with what is going on.

[Feefifofam]

BHF have opened a new shop in our town after the old one closed about six months ago.

The prices are mind blowing. £10-£15 for badly worn boots, coats priced at £15-20. Tops and jumpers £7.

I think the thing that really grates is they've been given these items for nothing.

Only Age UK get my money and donations these days. I bought DP a vintage hat and a Jasper Conran shirt for £2 each last week. Also a couple of LPs, 50p each.

Added a bit on top as a donation but in BHF the hat and shirt would have been £8-10 each, easily.

[stqueen]

I agree entirely, although I've had my fair share of charity shop bargains:

• Isabella Oliver maternity dress - £10.00
  
• Huge bundle of baby clothes for 19p per item - John Lewis dress, NEXT sleepsuits, GAP vest. A quick wash later - fabulous clothes for DD.
  
• Beautiful M&S camel coat, 100% wool (think it's a 1970's one) - £4.00. I've worn it endlessly.
  
• Balmain handbag & Doir kitten heels DM picked up for me haven't come out of the cupboard since
  
  I think the dress and baby clothes were from Barnados - our local one is very reasonable & I love having a mooch in there.
  
  Oxfam, BHF & Sue Ryder are far too expensive actually Oxfam ridiculously so. I've also noticed the odd 'designer' charity shop springing up (we have one in the nearest city). A nice idea, but an excuse to demand sky high prices.
  
  YANBU.