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?

[choccywoccywoowah]

I didn't say the shop has to refund your money. Most of the charity shops I go in have the same refunds policy as a normal shop, so I don't see why there should be a shame in using it if something doesnt fit. I regularly volunteer for a charity so I am certainly not tight or cheeky.

[roseforarose]

You actually haggle in a charity shop? hmm

I think that says a lot more about you than them refusing says about themto be honest.
How strange that that shocks you. I have a friend who's worked in various charity shops for years and she tells me it's quite the norm for people to sometimes make an offer for less than they're asking. But apart from that, where is it acceptable to "haggle" to you?

[lovelyupnorth]

It all depends how long stuff is on display. New stuff out I can understand. If it's been stood around for a few weeks then discount. at the end of the day they are there to raise money for the charity.

[OverTheGardenGate]

They'd clearly been overpriced hence the immediate offer of a reduction when i pointed it out to her

Well exactly. A mistake was made, but it was rectified immediately.
None of the unpaid volunteers in the shop would mind an obvious overestimate being pointed out.
It's people who haggle over what is already a bargain which irritates.

[BarbarianMum]

Pretty easy to tell that by the sign over the door. If it says the Hospice Shop, or British Heart Foundation, or Imperial Cancer Research Fund, or Oxfam, or Red Cross etc etc it is for charity (and that charity isn't you).

[roseforarose]

pickled How would i know which ones actually donate to charity.

[PinguForPresident]

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...

Could you clarify what you mean by this, OP?

Charity shops raise money for charity. That's waht they do. If they are in faact money making businesses for someone other than charities, they are not allowed to call themselves charity shops. Are you perhaps mistaking shops for the "charity" bags that people put through the door, where a business colect unwated goods and give a small % to charity? Those are quite ethically iffy, but charity shops are exactly what it says on the tin.

In answer to your original question: it's incredibly crass and rude to haggle in a charity shop. "Lots" of people doing it doesn;t make it any less so.

[roseforarose]

iverthegardengate they aren't always unpaid, my friend gets paid in her present job. She only wanted to rectify because i'd pointed it out to her. But the thing was she'd earlier implied they weren't allowed to lower the price, but obviously they could if they wanted to.

[pictish]

What you find more in charity shops is an ASDA t-shirt for £3 when you can nip along the road to ASDA and buy a new one for £4.

[lalalalyra]

Some charity shop pricing is a joke. The BHF shop locally has books that are years old, and properly tatty and they're surprised that people don't want to pay £6/7/8 for them. Someone did a name and shame on Facebook recently because they priced a book that had £7.99 on the back for £8 - no-one is going to pay a penny more for a second hand copy of a book!

We have a charity shop in town that has done away with pricing. They've got an offers/haggle system going. Apparently they are making way more money because people are starting higher than expected. They've also got a referral system going so that people (HV's/schools/even people like us with the playscheme) can refer folks who are in a bit of bother atm and then they are giving very favourable pricing to those people. It seems to be working really well, although the other charity shops in close proximity are kicking up a bit of a fuss about it.

[BarbarianMum]

Most shops will have a paid manager to oversee things and make sure everythings done correctly, legally etc (deal with all the shit, basically) but the actual people sorting, pricing, selling etc are volunteers

[Onthecouchagain]

It's a charity shop! How tight have you got to be to haggle??

[PinguForPresident]

OP: can you give us an example of these charity shops that aren't actually charity shops? The ones you claim don't actually donate to charity?

[OverTheGardenGate]

Most of them are unpaid. They mostly have one paid manager and
maybe a paid assistant manager. The rest of us do it for nothing.

The unpaid staff are not allowed to make reductions.
Otherwise we might be tempted to reduce things for our friends.

they aren't always unpaid, my friend gets paid in her present job. She only wanted to rectify because i'd pointed it out to her

[roseforarose]

In answer to your original question: it's incredibly crass and rude to haggle in a charity shop. "Lots" of people doing it doesn;t make it any less so.
I don't agree with you at all, if a charity shop is clearly overcharging (as they're often prone to do) it's absolutely acceptable to point it out and offer less. They'd be soon out of business if they were that unreasonable not to accept. That's probably why so many are shutting down, they're pricing themselves out of business.

[roseforarose]

It's a charity shop! How tight have you got to be to haggle??
Try not to mistake tightness for being a mug. There's a difference.

[BarbarianMum]

Actually a lot are closing because clothing is so cheap now. It's hard to make emds meet selling £3 shirts for 80p

[Frouby]

We have a charity shop across the road. Ds (3) loves it. However some of the things we have bought have been overpriced. £1.99 for a dinosaur that was only £1 from wilkoa for instance.

But I find it balances out. I paid £3.99 for an almost brand new scooter for him. £2.99 for a john rocha coat and the same for a next coat. Both immaculate. Both probably £40+ to buy new.

Some of the toys they have out would be better of in the bin though.

[glitterazi]

It's a charity shop! How tight have you got to be to haggle??

This! I can be tight sometimes lol, but good grief - even I'm making a [shocked] face at the thought of people arguing over prices in charity shops!
Would you do that in Next or Marks and Sparks? I'm guessing not, so why is it fair game in charity ones? Do you not see them as proper shops or something?!
You just pay the price, and if it's too expensive (which some of them are) or you can't afford it, then you walk away!

[Invictus74]

I just would't have the neck to ask them to reduce something in a charity shop :(

[WhiskyChick]

I worked and was paid in charity for years. The people that haggled 9 out of 10 times were the people who had plenty of cash. I didn't mind that. It did make a lot of volunteers uncomfortable. Where you think pricing is excessive then you will find these shops don't sell enough and will close, if they don't then they have the pricing right. Most of the large charities will have a pricing structure.

Take an example of a book. Oftenwise a shop will sell these at around a third of the new price which will depend on condition. However some books will also rise in value, for example first editions or out of print. These would never be priced with that structure and would likely be priced more than new.

Clothing is different. The charities receive huge stocks of cheap stuff, the vast majority will never make the rails. The stuff that does should be priced accordingly however you'll often find head offices set a minimum pricing to prevent people taking the piss.

At the end of the day the shop has a duty to maximise its profits as this is what goes to the charity at the end of the day. They have no responsibility to provide anyone with bargains. Don't forget these shops often have the same overheads as high street chains, and no the stock (or at least the majority) isn't free. There are collection costs etc.

[TENSHI]

Why would you want to offer less than priced at a charity shop???????

The money they raise could be anything from cancer research, hospice care or for refugees and other good causes!!!!

How utterly selfish and thoughtless to try and con them out of the amount they want

[fleuricle]

I had a local charity shop with a childs Ikea bed in the window.
I liked it (it seemed immaculate).
I live 40 miles from Ikea and no transport so the idea of the bed (plus £15 delivery charge from the charity shop) was quite appealing.
I discovered the bed was £20 MORE than new on the Ikea website.
(so, with delivery would be £35 more than shop price, though obv I'd have to have paid delivery from Ikea too)

I went back to the charity shop and politely informed them and asked them if they would reduce it.
NO was the answer - we reckon someone without transport will pay that.
Not me, said I.
It sat there for a long time then disappeared.

I see lots of really old t shirts, bobbly and stretched/shrunk/faded, for £3.99. Yet you can buy new for around that. Strange. And lots of shops saying; 'no more stock'.

[ppeatfruit]

Not quite on the subject . I don't haggle in Charity Shops. But I had to laugh thinking about all the people in jeans that are totally trashed (slashed across the knee) DELIBERATELY!!!! It's cool right ????

How will the charity shops sell those?

[Willow2016]

Am curious as to how a 'charity shop' isnt a 'charity shop'?

If it says Red Cross, BHF, etc on the shop front then its raising money for that charity or am I missing something?

Ours are pretty decent when it comes to pricing, we are in our BHF and Red Cross ones pretty regularly for books and kids love a rummage. Never paid more than couple of pounds for a book, always in very good condition. Kids get dvds, toys etc. Occaisionally get clothes, all reasonable prices £2 -£4 for nice jumpers etc.

If they are over pricing then they are doing themselves out of sales surely. Its basic economics, nobody wants to pay 'new' prices never mind more than 'new' prices for 2nd hand stuff and it puts people off going into the shop so potentially losing more sales in the future.

Pointing out in a nice friendly way that they are charging more than something cost originially in the shop and saying you are not buying it because of that is ok. You dont have to buy it and they dont have to discount it but at least they are aware that they are losing business because of their pricing and may change things. I would imagin that they are looking to shift stock asap and selling more things at a slightly less price is far better than keeping things for months that they cant sell due to overpricing.