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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think charity shops refusal to reduce is sometimes unreasonable.

246 replies

roseforarose · 26/01/2017 09:08

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?

OP posts:
TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 12:07

Isn't haggle a funny word, once you've seen it written a few dozen times?

I get faintly depressed when I walk into a charity shop and see 200 pristine recent bestsellers at £2.50 each. Boring as fuck. I understand why they do it, because it makes more money for them that way, but I don't even bother looking at them because there's a massive selection of used books available on Amazon for £2.81 delivered (£2.80 "postage", 1p book), and for me, a book I actually want, in 3 days' time, massively trumps a 30p cheaper recent bestseller, uncreased though it may be. I'll pay up to £1 for an impulse buy; possibly a little more if it's an emergency e.g. nipping out from the hospital to buy something to read Grin I look at those shelves with 10 unread 50 Shades books, shrink-wrapped book sets from The Works for £15, 30 shiny chick-lits, 30 shiny crime novels, and half a dozen Richard and Judy/Booker shortlist/whatever picks that were bought with good intentions but never cracked open, and I think of all the interesting but slightly worn books they probably just dumped straight in the bin.

OverTheGardenGate · 27/01/2017 12:10

In our shop it is rotated by a volunteer and taken by someone who is going to another shop anyway - so it costs bugger all

Same here.

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 12:13

Maybe £1.50 if it's something I really like the look of.

kelpeed · 27/01/2017 12:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 12:15

You know the shop workers will think you are a dick for trying to get the price reduced? I'm assuming you don't care and that's fine but it's pretty low to refuse to pay full price for something in a charity shop. If you don't like the price, don't buy it!

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 12:16

I've gone into charity shops and happily spent £5-10 on books on a regular basis, in the past (don't have time any more). Wouldn't happen at £2.50 a book. And I've happily returned them. I laugh at being asked to pay £2.50 for a book that has an unremovable sticker on the front saying "buy me, read me, bring me back!" Fuck off.

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2017 12:27

And I've happily returned them. I laugh at being asked to pay £2.50 for a book that has an unremovable sticker on the front saying "buy me, read me, bring me back!" Fuck off

kelpeed · 27/01/2017 12:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 12:35

What? Why so aggressive, no one is forcing you to bring it back, but lots of people don't want old books filling up their homes and returning it when done is a good way to boost profits.

Aggressive? I think you're inferring that. In this context, it means "yor avin a larf, intcha?"

If I'm inclined to give it back, if anyone's inclined to give it back, for reasons of space or anything else, they'll do so. You think they're too thick to work that out for themselves unless you deface the book (reducing its value)?

At £2.50, if I've bought it I've likely decided that I really want that book, and am more likely to want to keep it, so I really don't appreciate an annoying sticker on the front demanding I treat it like a library book.

TBH I'd give it back to a different shop 😂

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 12:40

I have never used the word 'skinflint' in my life Confused and I'm not sneering at poor people FFS.

IMO It is a dickish thing to do - don't want to pay the price then let someone else buy it.

And as a PP said, you sound very aggressive.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 12:41

And you know that a sticker in the book doesn't mean you HAVE to return it...

Nux · 27/01/2017 12:42

Our local Cancer Research shop has adopted a 'nothing costs more than £3' policy. I asked how it was working out and they said it was brilliant, they were making loads more money as stuff just sells. I live in a fairly deprived part of London so the local community get cheap clothes, the shop makes more money and it's all a win win. Other local shops have much higher prices and I now avoid them. I wouldn't ever haggle but I would walk away!

LunaLoveg00d · 27/01/2017 12:43

Every shop is different - a small independent charity shop with no head office is going to have lower overheads than a massive charity with warehousing and dozens of head office staff.

Just off the top of my head the overheads for our shop include: rent, rates, water, insurance, manager's salary, % fee for using credit card machine, waste disposal, heating, lighting, teabags for the kitchen, the cost of buying and replacing all of the posters, leaflets, coathangers, rails, shelves etc in the shop, telephone bill, internet connection, window cleaning - and probably a lot more. Then head office salaries too. We even have to pay a performing rights licence to play CDs in the shop.

Nux · 27/01/2017 12:43

They also do 3 books for a pound! 😀

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 12:45

Someone brought in an item which ended up going to auction and making a lot of money for the charity - I don't see the £3 policy working for a lot of places.

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 12:48

And you know that a sticker in the book doesn't mean you HAVE to return it...

Yes, I am aware of that. Are you aware that a nice request that doesn't damage the property you're expecting someone to buy, perhaps on a slip of paper between the pages, might be less irritating than a command glued to the front cover? As I've said before, I'm aware that they have to do what works. If that works on other customers, fair play to them. I'm just pointing out that personally, it doesn't give me warm fuzzy feelings being told (it's usually phrased as a command, rather than a request) what to do with my property, and am less likely to buy something that's been defaced :)

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 13:04

And genuinely not getting the "aggressive" comments Confused Do you people not ever hear people using "fuck off" as a jocular phrase meaning "you're kidding, right"? Perhaps it's a tone of voice thing. In which case, it's definitely an inference - you're choosing to interpret it in an aggressive way rather than a jokey way. Perhaps it's to do with your state of mind. I haven't the mental energy or inclination to do "aggressive" on a Friday afternoon Grin

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2017 13:08

I guess people aren't seeing the issue with a sticker on a 2.50 second hand book that would cause a "fuck off " type reaction. I'm not sure how much you feel it devalues it by,,,but maybe ask for a reduction in price..,haggle maybe😃

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 13:10

Yea people say it in that way but as I don't know you, how would I know to interpret it that way? Two people at least thought you were aggressive 🙄

Anyway I will leave you all to it because my psychic abilities aren't up to scratch and at least people asking for discount gives the staff someone to take the piss out of ^^

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 13:17

I don't haggle in charity shops Hmm

I guess I'm not seeing the issue with a slang term meaning "don't be silly, I'm not going to do that" Confused

Their issue seems to be the precise wording I used, rather than the fact that I don't feel that a book with an unremovable sticker on the front telling me to give it back to the charity shop is worth less than one without, and that my response, when I see a shop wanting a high price for a secondhand book that they've deliberately made slightly less desirable, is to not buy the book.

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 13:19

The fact that you're not psychic perhaps means that you shouldn't assume a meaning for something that can be taken several ways, then. It's odd that you immediately jump to the most negative interpretation :)

Why on earth would I ask for a discount? I simply don't buy. So there's nothing for you to take the piss out of Grin

TheOtherSock · 27/01/2017 13:21

I don't feel that a book with an unremovable sticker on the front telling me to give it back to the charity shop is worth less than one without

Worth as much, that is.

kelpeed · 27/01/2017 13:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Somerville · 27/01/2017 13:25

Our local Cancer Research shop has adopted a 'nothing costs more than £3' policy. I asked how it was working out and they said it was brilliant, they were making loads more money as stuff just sells.

Large chains like CR all do this to some extent. They have warehouses where they sort donations. All the lowest value items go to their lowest tier shops. Those same shops will also get lower value items as donations, but when they get a brand new leather handbag it will be sent to one of their 'platinum' stores. The customers in the latter, where premium stock goes, aren't there for primarily a bargain. They're there to find interesting/vintage items and/or to support the charity.

SpartacusWoman · 27/01/2017 13:25

The main point in your OP seemed to be annoyance at being told told the first time you asked, at being lied to when the staff said they can't do discounts, because they actually can, and did so when you asked for a reduction the second time.

It seemed you were more annoyed at being told no, when they could have said yes. If you'd left the asking twice for a reduction and posted about why charity shops charging close to, if not more that the original retail price, you'd be having different responses.

You asked for the initial reduction because you didn't want to pay the asking price. That's what's getting you negative responses.

Fwiw I live in what's probably classed as a deprived area, I've never seen anyone haggling in the shops, but I'm not shocked it happens. Friend said its mostly people who can pay who haggle, rather than people who are skint who ask for prices to be reduced, the charity shops here are really really low as it is. Books are 20p, clothing no more than £2 per item, bits of furniture £4 and people still try to get reductions and get snotty when told no.

They put stuff aside for some locals they know are struggling, for the people they know shop in their charity shop through need which I think is nice.