To wonder why charity shops are so dear.

[InisSunset]

I went in about six charity shops today and really couldn't get over some of their prices. I understand that they have overheads and some of them have to pay some of the staff, but some of the prices are ridiculous. A worn looking t shirt £5, some scuffed shoes were £5, a tatty old dressing gown £6.

They won't take any less than what's on the ticket either. Surely if they brought their prices down they'd sell more. Some of the stuff you can buy cheaper brand new.

I love chairty shops. We are not rich, could afford to dress the kids in new clothes but would have to cut down on days out and not go on our one holiday a year (visiting family so free board, chip in with food and days out).

We have two very good chairty shops near us, one sells books for books for 10p and has a huge turn over the other is rammed full of lovely childrens clothes 10p-£1 and very nice woman's clothes. I got 7 jumpers (for me) at the start of winter, a snowsuit (good one), some dresses, cardigans and jeans and jumpers for DC for £8! Also a few books.

This week I bought a lovely long summer dress from Per Una in a charity shop for just £5.75. I was chuffed to bits.

It was televised the other week that surplus charity shop clothing is bagged up and sold to various countries in the developing world who sell it at their local markets.

I spent 8£290* all at once in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago! Yup you read it right. I got this in very good condition and it included delivery and reassembly in my bedroom. I'm happy. No way would I have paid the new price

People are still aghast when they hear how much I spent on a charity shop bit of furniture though

oh dear dont know where the 8 came from! Just £290

Christ ! I got stung in my local cancer research shop once.. I delivered a bag of clothes and shoes, etc., did some more shopping at the next door veg. Shop, and went home. It was only when I went into my bedroom that I realised I'd packed a frock into the charity bag rather than the dry cleaning one. Drove back to the shop, so about an hour or less later?

They refused to give it back to me, told me it was already ticketed andI had to buy it. But I didn't have the 15.50 or whatever they'd priced it at and they refused to reserve it for me. Told me that it was a 'bargain' cos it was high value X brand and I might not come back?

Never left anything else with them. The kiddies hospice shop over the road gets it all.

Specially irked cos I'm a cancer survivor and really wanted to donate. Sods.

momamum thats really bad! I've accidentally donate the wrong thing and the shop have been really good about it.

lists you should see the vintage Items I've picked up! I've spent more than people think I should on them but the value of them is in the thousands.

Vintage 1960's cornishware, some fabulous 70's ceramics, a couple of mind century Items one turned out to be a very very good piece by a popular designer - I sold that and made a grand. I have another furniture item thats worth a £800-£1k but I love that so much I've kept it. Paid £80 with delivery for that one and it will cost me £150-200 for restoration and repair. Not a bad investment.

momamum that's just nasty, how grabby.

InisSunset - that Hospice shop with items for £1 - wasn't by any chance a CLEARANCE charity shop like I mentioned up thread. My mum lives in the South West and the local hospice shops are well known for steep prices, they've recently (well I've only noticed it on a recent trip to my mums) opened a Clearance charity shop where I'm pretty sure everything they can't sell at their other steeply priced shops, ends up in there being flogged for a quid a go!!
Clearance charity shops are perhaps a thing of the future

I don't know fridge I'll check it out next time I go.

momamum that may be head office policy, My DH manages a charity shop and its written in his policies and procedures that EVERYTHING that's donated belongs to the charity as soon as its donated and the customer must buy it back if they donate in error.

And I am glad they have this policy in writing, last year while sorting a donation he found an envelope containing £200, fearing it may have been a mistake he put it in the safe for a week, after a week he contacted his HO for advice, he was told to put it through the till as a donation, he did this and kept the till receipt with his paperwork.

2 days later the customer returned and asked for her money DH explained the situation but was willing to contact his HO again for guidance, the customer demanded the money from the till, when DH said he couldn't do that she accused him PERSONALLY of theft in front of a shop full of customers and stormed out.

Next thing that happened is that 2 coppers came to the shop as she had made an allegation of theft.

Luckily DH had the email from his HO plus the copy of the receipt to prove he personally hadn't stolen anything.

Police came round the next day and told him there would be no action against him and that they had advised the customer to contact the charity to ask for her money back, not sure if she ever got it back but DH didn't hear anything more about it.

I worked in one for over a year, was a total eye opener. A lot of money is wasted on middle management who serve no purpose other than to get in the way of actual work getting done.

I found them very unsupportive of the staff and unappriciative towards the volunteers.

Charity shops used to be there to help the charity and the more vulnerable in society with cheap clothing but not anymore It's big business and if the management were that concerned and caring i think they'd take a wage cut.

Yanbu

Moma That is shocking, I volunteer in a shop and have had similar happen, of course I gave the item straight back to the customer (in fact she did offer to 'buy' it but I wouldn't allow her to - although she did go and buy something else).

I don't care if it is against head office policy, where has common sense and decency gone to?

Yes it's a charity shop love but funnily enough the charity isn't you.

Love this

I worked in one for over a year, was a total eye opener. A lot of money is wasted on middle management who serve no purpose other than to get in the way of actual work getting done.

When I volunteered for the well known national charity we had a (well paid) relief manager who used to come to the shop and do absolutely bugger all. I was in a posh shop in a posh neighbourhood so the donations were high quality and she spent most of her time trying on clothes - she'd go through that shop with a fine tooth comb trying on everything - hogging the one tiny changing room that we had - and coming out saying 'does this suit me?' , 'what do you think of this?'. It was embarrassing. When she wasn't doing that she was sat on her arse in the office eating or outside smoking a fag. Why she was there I don't know - she never did any work, never gave me a hand even though I was in the shop on my own. She did the cashing up at then end which used to annoy me, because if the till was out - she could have said anything if you get my drift. Once the shop was closed she would suddenly become all brisk and businesslike and send me off home with a 'thank you for all your help' in this simpering voice.

Grrrr, even my offer of coat hangers, those trouser ones?, wasn't good enough for another local charity, rejected out of hand because their Head Office sent matching 'designer' ones? WTF!

I'm genuinely sorry to read about Sue Ryder reports here I've had personal experience about how good their hospice was and how it helped us years ago. And so I've always donated to their cause via clothes donations, etc But that was then and obviously things change..

At risk of completely outing myself, the Sue Ryder thing is bollocks. My hospice depends on its income from the Sue Ryder shops.

Am not sure how Corygal can work for so many charities and know all the details of all of their shops

I've also worked in the charity shop sector, quite an eye opener!Increasingly shops are located in expensive sites resulting in shops being set high targets to reach, so the shop managers are inclined to overprice stock.Many of the shop managers I've worked with lack integrity and have little interest in pricing goods for sale appropriately;too many are happy to allow poor quality overpriced tat go out on the shop floor, few seem to understand that most people really are not interested in buying old worn clothing when they can simply go to Primark etc and buy new for cheaper. The stuff that is donated by the public in many cases is pretty unbelievable too,in the worst case scribbled books, dirty knickers, chipped China, filthy shoes etc etc,only fit for the tip;but other people are incredibly generous donating amazingly good quality unused items.I also had no time for managers who allowed people helping in the shops to have the pick of the stuff coming in, as surely the main task of the manager should be to ensure the shop is stocked with as good a quality as possible.

Momamum not designer ones but ones that reflect how the shop looks in other words professional and tidy, that's the policy of my DHs Charity, no miss matched hangers it looks tacky.

And people rarely buy them, not when you can get new ones in the £1 shop, so they get thrown away, which costs the charity money, my Husband can only put out 2 bags of rubbish out for free per week anything extra incurs a cost and that's less money for the charity.

There's something really distasteful about people who brag about the "bargains" they got in charity shops. As if they've got one over on the hospice or the cancer sufferers.

What a strange notion iceroadtrucker

How are people getting one over on the charity shop? Surely what's happened is that someone is chuffed to have got something cheaper second hand than they would have paid new? Oh and 100% of the cheaper price goes to charity so it's hardly like they're being scammed is it?!

My DH is a trustee of a local charity who have a number of charity shops across the area.

A few years ago they decided to go a bit more upmarket with their shops and branding - refitted the shops, etc. they rebranded their furniture shop as vintage/shabby chic and pretty much doubled their prices.

In that time profits have significantly decreased year on year, the shops have much lower footfall and they're now looking to close some of the shops as they're just not paying their way. Before all the refits and rebranding they were doing well. DH says its like banging his head against a brick wall - yes, they have to maximise their profits but he can't see the sense of high priced stock hanging around for months rather than having lower priced stock selling quickly

On asking locals, everyone says the prices are way too high, they don't want fancy shops with matching coat hangers, they want good quality, second hand goods at reasonable prices. Stock hangs around (because it's too expensive so people aren't buying it) so people don't bother to go in very often as it's the same stuff for sale. Donations have dropped as well

Looking at the Oxfam, BHF, etc shops around here and they all seem to be suffering the same way

On the other hand, a friend is involved in an animal shelter charity with a couple of shops who have stuck to their tried and tested formula of cheap as possible over the years and the place is packed, profits are increasing, donations are up and they're looking to expand

It obviously depends on the area, but here, yes, the bigger names who charge the higher prices all seem to be losing out to the little independents with their lower prices

wolpertinger thanks so much for the Sue Ryder thumbs up.

Thanks - Sue Ryder is very far from a wealthy charity, not in the league of Cancer Research/Macmillan/BHF at all.