AIBU to think charity shops are there to make money, not provide cheap stuff?

[TinfoilHattie]

Cards on the table - I'm a volunteer at a charity shop. One of the large ones which has branches nationwide.

We have one regular "customer" who is nicknamed the Smiling Assassin by the volunteers because she comes in a lot (3 or 4 times a week), smiles and says hello to everyone, then spends the next 5 minutes bitching about the prices. She rarely buys anything. She is of the opinion that our shop is there to provide her with cheap stuff. Cheap as in 50p for practically everything. She is horrified when volunteers explain that we're trying to raise as much as we can for the charity, and the best way of doing that is by pricing realistically - not giving away Jaeger suits or "mother of the bride" type outfits for £1.

She was particularly horrified and commented loudly on a bracelet we have in the cabinet priced at £170 - it's antique, 18 ct gold, emerald and sapphire, and has been valued by a jeweller. We would be daft pricing it at £19.99, even if it is the most expensive item in the shop by a long way

So anyway, what do you think charity shops are there for - raising money or providing cheap things?

(Disclaimer before everyone starts about their local charity shop which prices bobbled Primark tops at £29.99 - mistakes happen, stuff slips through the net. Even if the manager has a "price to sell" policy, she/he isn't going to check each and every item and some items will be priced too high or too low by well-meaning volunteers.).

The busiest charity shop in our town (and we have many) prices everything at £1, apart from children's clothes which are 5 for £1. They are always full of people, always asking for more stock. It's a lovely shop and there are some absolute bargains to be had. The odd item is priced at a few quid with 'Manager's Special' on it, but not many.

I think selling a 'new' top priced at £9.99 new for £8.99 is a bit much though. £1 off isn't much of a bargain for a charity shop.

Instasista - it's often more the case that hard to fill units are offered at peppercorn rent on very short term leases. I've seen a couple of shops move around a few times to allow bigger, more profitable names to take up double units or whatever. All the shops in Durham, bar a few, are on one particularly scruffy street, which is handy as they're all close to the bus station. One is actually in the bus station, which is great because, when I'm doing a clearout, I can get a day ticket, take a few bags in, drop them off, run back home on the same bus which has a 5 minute layover then go back in with some more bags and hit a different shop, nearby, before going off and doing some other shopping.

If it's been there for 3 weeks without selling, then it's priced too highly Shirley?

Who's Shirley?

Sometimes it's not price which is the factor. An item of clothing which is size 4 or size 34 and not particularly fashionable is very niche - you're not going to buy something which doesn't fit however cheap it is. Similarly with some of the bric a brac - last time I was in I parcelled up a whole lot of plates with cat pictures on them which we'd had on the shelves and hadn't shifted. Price them at 25p each and they still won't sell (as they''re fecking hideous). Send them to another shop and they may fly out the door.

Both. They should provide goods at an affordable price to benefit the local community as well as raising funds for the charity. They can't do either if they're charging the same price for say a second hand top as an equally nice new one would cost in Asda, because no one will buy it.

OK, so not rent, but rates - though rates can be more than rent, in some areas!

I refuse to go in them now, we have one opposite where I work and whenever I've gone in there In the past I always overheard someone commenting on how items over priced, the sales assistants would always reply patronisingly that they were a charity you know and make the person feel like shit. Thay are taking over the high streets along with estate agents.

They recently had a kids jewellery making set in the window for £7 which was available to buy brand new at The Works for £5

Yes they are to raise money for charity but also to offer cheaper items to those on lower incomes, £5 for a top second hand is a lot when you can get one new for a tenna.

Hate charity shops - rant over

we have in the cabinet priced at £170 - it's antique, 18 ct gold, emerald and sapphire, and has been valued by a jeweller

I would not expect to pay full price for a second hand piece.

LOLOL. It's antique, not a second hand mass produced item from Argos.

Our Age Concern shop shifts plates and stuff really quickly - that's the one in the bus station and the display is in the window, on the bus station side of the shop. I often stand there looking intently, if I have a few minutes wait for a bus!

I was a wee bit peed off because I wanted a new, smaller, fruit bowl than I had and after weeks still hadn't seen one, so bought a (lovely, heirloom item) one new. The next week, there were several in the window - along with the too big one that I'd donated!

Sorry, but if you work for one of the major companies, it isn't the charity you are making money for.

Charity shops in town centres still have costs to cover - rates to pay etc. The one I volunteer in has a target to reach of £360 turnover per day every day. That can be quite a tough call with items priced at 50p

Our local charity shop has been there for years, sells things at a high price, and every year makes over a million pounds profit.

Where is that brasty - Knightsbridge?

I used to source about 90% of my clothes from Charity shops they were always full and had a colour coded price system that dropped prices each week on last weeks stock and everything was priced to move. The place was buzzing and made an absolute fortune with a massive turnover.
Since moving back to UK I have given up charity shops for clothes I can buy new in Primark for similar prices as the ones round us.
We do shop a local charity for furniture sometimes and that about it. We donate to two very nice shops who help people locally and are more reasonably priced but small with little stock.
I know Charity shops are making money for their respective charities, I think they would make more money, bring in more people, and turn over the stock much faster if they had better pricing systems that dropped prices each week as stock becomes stale.
Better to sell 100 items making 10p on each than one item that only makes you 50p

Wow - a million profit, that's amazing. I thought we were doing well turning over around £3000 a week and clearing £100k a year after all costs.

And that doesn't happen as we get SO much stock it stays on the shelves for 3 weeks tops and then it's sent somewhere else.

What about the stuff that is sold on, i.e."Sent somewhere else", a charity shop near us has a van every week taking away a huge amount of bags of clothes. I know for a fact that bundles of clothes find their way abroad and are sold over there. A lot of it here is sold for rags. I'm sure if prices were dropped that would happen less.

I'm calling bullshit on £1M profit

If I get a brand new jacket which I can see was bought for £30, I'm going to price it for at least £20 - still a third off the new price, but more expensive than second hand.

If I went to a charity shop and saw what is essentially a secondhand item (even with tags) priced at £20, I'd decide not to shop there again, because it seems meanspirited to me. Charity shops are supposed to be about a) raising funds and b) helping those on low incomes. I do understand there's a balance to be found, but I wouldn't buy clothing brand new from a shop for £20. I certainly wouldn't from a charity shop!

I can buy new in Primark for similar prices as the ones round us.

Depends what you're looking for though - I recently bought a charity shop Cos top for £7, could have bought one new in Primark/H&M for hte same price but would it have been as nice quality fabric and as well made?

Chatting to a lot of our customers many of them shop in charity shops because they don't want to look high street - they want something different, unusual, something which not everyone else is wearing or has in their house. It's not purely looking for cheapness.

One thing I've noticed is you can never buy leather handbags in them anymore. They are all chock full of cheap horrible plastic ones in a variety of colours. They make the shop look nice, but I wouldn't use any of them, I used to like finding a pre-used but bargain bag, I guess they are all siphoned off now for ebaying or elsewhere.

I am less keen than I used to be as it's hard work finding something now that is good value, much of the stock is really cheap goods in the first place and obviously no variety of sizes so you have to sort through to find something. I also used to take more chances if the item was cheap, it's now too expensive to do that. There are cheaper shops still around and I do go in them, if I have to spend ages sorting through unwashed stuff for my size, I want to get a bargain at the end of it.

Where do they think people have bought the charity shop items from?!

The city I live in has loads of charity shops and the variety in prices is crazy.

They were a god send when I started out in my first 'proper' job and didn't have much cash for workwear- I could pick up decent, good quality work trousers for less than £5 and I got a few shirts for £3-5, I remember being overjoyed when I found some stylish Phase Eight trousers in my size for £1.99!

Now what I resent is how so many shops see a brand and charge a silly price for it, despite the item clearly being well worn. I know shops have targets to meet and face lots of pressure, but surely this isn't the best way to go about meeting them?

I love charity shops and there are a handful left locally that I frequent and usually buy something/ drop my own stuff off at. The rest I avoid as I know they will be overpriced and underwhelming!

I didn't say charities get reduced rents. They don't usually. They just move into shitty areas where the council are desperate for commercial tenants

In my area, the high street is being redeveloped and developers are gradually buying up the leases but some shops are on 50 -70 year leases. What do the developers do whilst they wait the long terms leases out? Rent out short term to charity shops or pound shops

A lot of it here is sold for rags.

We rag A LOT of stuff. But nearly everything we send for rags is unsaleable - stained, ripped, bobbled, missing buttons, broken zips. Nobody is going to buy odd socks or stained jumpers, however cheaply you price them, and by having that sort of stock the shop rapidly becomes very unattractive.

They exist as a halfway house between people's homes and landfill - most of the ornaments and much of the clothes in our local one are utter crap yet they still slap ridiculous price tags on the stuff. In fact charity shops massively depress me because they illustrate how completely obsessed with possessions our society is Tonnes of shite