To think charity shops refusal to reduce is sometimes unreasonable.

[roseforarose]

I realise that some charity shops aren't allowed to but i think some shops must lose quite a bit of business by their outright refusal to accept a "knock down", usually saying "we aren't allowed, it's a set price" sort of thing.

I wonder if that's always true, because recently i asked if they'd take a bit less on some walking boots which i thought were a bit dear, got told "no we can't" then i noticed the brand new price underneath theirs and it was only about £2 less brand new. When i pointed it out she said "well if that's the case I will reduce them for you" . So she did have the power to reduce after all.
So when they say they can't reduce, maybe in a lot of shops they can if they want to?

It's not called a Performing Arts licence...but it's the one you need to play recorded music in a shop or cafe. Think it's about £140 a year. We don't pay for the CDs we play, we use donated CDs in the shop. Anything from Susan Boyle (big favourite of the oldies) through to my choices which are usually Take That, Adele or Taylor Swift. Has to be something middle of the road that people can't object too.

Not all charity shops play music in the shops though so not all will have that cost.

BHF is a rip off, so overpriced. Most of them are now, it's really hard to get a bargain. It's cheaper to shop in the supermarket or Primark rather than charity shops........Lots of them have caught on to 'vintage items' I've recently been looking for a sheepskin coat, most of the charity shops wanted £30 -£40 for similar, found one on a vintage market stall for £25 instead

It was me who used the term skinflint to describe customers like the OP... no one else!

where I am, many charity shops are church based, so i assume the premises are owned by the church, and as such, the shop would operate rent free That is rarely the case for most charities. None of the local charities in the town I live in are church affiliated: cats, dogs, hospices, care homes... but not churches.

and presumably enjoy some tax releif, not only through the charity itself but also through their church affliation. All charities shops have to pay business rates, commercial waste removal fees etc. - even churches pay some of those fees! I know we do in the church based food bank I also volunteer in.

i guess that is why I am surprised at some the high overheads figure, compared with say, a privately run second hand goods shop of the same size. The overheads would be much the same. Charities don't get as much of a financial break for high street shops as people may think.

And we too drive our moving stock around as and when one of us is going passed somewhere. No petrol or time is wasted, even the moving n of our prime goods to the 'Platinum Shop' is done by the local voluntary minubus scheme, as he passes, as a favour! If he doesn't go in any given week nor does the stock!

..Lots of them have caught on to 'vintage items' Yup! We volunteers do live in the real world, have regualr access to 'hipsters' of all ages

Well i don't think the money is always for "charity" is it, i think a lot of them now are called charity shops but are actually business's making someone a lot of money.

roseforarose who do you think is making a lot of money? Me, I'm totally fine with Oxfam making a lot of money.

Actually, I'm fine with private citizens making "a lot of money" (yeah, sure) for selling secondhand goods if they want to, too. They presumably have to buy their stock like anyone else, not get it donated like charity shops do.

I cringe when I hear about people haggling in charity shops.

Do charities pay business rates? I thought they were exempt unless they were buying in new stuff wholesale?

I dont mind haggling, charity or not. I believe in charity starts at home, so if it saves someone some pennies, good for them. I always check to see what kind of discount i can get when buying goods, be it a voucher/code/student discount etc.

YABVU OP The money is for Charity - either pay the "extra" to benefit the Charity, or don't buy items if you think they are too much.

Well i don't think the money is always for "charity" is it, i think a lot of them now are called charity shops but are actually business's making someone a lot of money.

Let's hear a few concrete examples?

They get 80% mandatory relief, but the other 20% is at the council's discretion. So although it isn't a lot, they still have to pay it, often. Things like waste removal there is often no relief.

But many local council feeling the squeeze are looking at charitable organisations and the "wholly or mainly for charitable purposes" ruling... one of our shops moved as they technically shared a building and, after 20 years, the council changed its mind about the relief being applicable. So the charity shop moved!

Many people belief that charity shops have non of the usual business overheads an dthat utility companies happily give away their services for free, or heavily discounted. You'd be surprised what insults get thrown at you by disgruntled bods!

my choices which are usually Take That, Adele or Taylor Swift. Has to be something middle of the road that people can't object too.

I strongly object to Take That, Adele, Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle. Thankfully all of the charity shops I go to are free of such noise pollution.

It;s the charity shop's policy to play music in the stores. Volunteers choose the CDs to put on. We wouldn't ever play something with a "parental advisory" label for language, or heavy metal, punk, anything too alternative. So we stick to middle of the road pop which is Neil Diamond or Dusty Springfield for the older volunteers and more up to date stuff like Adele and Taylor Swift. Everyone loves a bit of Adele.

I volunteer in a charity shop and we often get people asking for a reduction for no good reason other than they want an even better bargain that they already have.

I always say that I'm not allowed to give discounts and refer them to the manager. Strictly speaking, that is true, but if something is obviously overpriced and the manager not available I will use my own discretion.

Sometimes people say they have seen items priced £x lower elsewhere but are just trying it on. I know because it has happened with items I've donated to the shop so I knew damn well how much they cost originally.
If the item has an original price label on, that's different and OP was right to point it out.
Our written policy is to charge half marked price if new with tags are still on. Our
unofficial policy is to ignore the written policy and charge what we think the customers will pay - more like a quarter.

I don't know if it's the same everywhere but here we get a lot of fake designer gear. Obviously we are not allowed to sell it, but when we do get genuine designer gear donated we try to price it fairly. Three of the staff have donated such items recently and in every case the customer has wanted a discount. e.g. £300 item priced at £50 - wanted to pay £25. ("Because it's a charity shop").

Genuine overpricing mistakes - fine to haggle, but some people are either just greedy or ignorant of what is the main aim of a charity shop.

Why would you haggle in a charity shop? Their purpose is to raise as much money as possible for a cause not to provide bargains for people. Some people are so bloody tight. If you think something is too expensive then don't buy it- it either won't get sold or be reduced for a sale (when they choose to) or someone else might see the value and buy it for the price they're asking.

Some of these responses are really making me cringe- all this "charity begins at home" stuff- well no actually as these charities have been set up for specific causes. Go to a jumble sale or a car boot if you're too tight to buy from a charity.

I regularly shop at an Emmaus charity shop which stocks everything from clothes to books to furniture to bikes. Haggling is pretty much expected. There are no prices on anything so you have to ask, at which point the guy who runs it (who I've nicknamed Arthur Daley) says something like "should be 20 but 15 to you" and from thence the haggling ensues. It wouldn't be the same without a bit of haggling.

Made me laugh one time when I bought a broadband router. He gave me the obligatory "should be" and "for you" price, we haggled and agreed on a price. Then he asked me "what is it?"

MissStein: "charity begins at home"

I've heard of misappropriating phrases before, but that one takes the

I'm also wondering if part of the problem is telly programmes like Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip and the rest - they NEVER pay the ticket price of anything, and regularly get something ticketed at £50 for 25p.

You can go on all day saying you're shocked and it's all 'self righteousness' but no i have never heard of haggling in a charity shop.
I didn't work for over a year so i know about struggling, but no i would still never do it.
Just be honest, you've flounced because people have said yabu not because you can't be bothered.

Also, although they have the power to choose to lower a price or make it higher, if a customer who had an entitlement complex and intended to undermine the staff member, (Which I have seen and experienced many times when I used to be a voluntary charity shop worker) I wouldn't be surprised if the staff member didnt feel like going the extra mile for that customer.
Kindness goes a long way!