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.).

Last weeks programme of Rich house Poor house was featuring a CEO of a charity (didn't say which one) and he was in one of the top 10% of the countries earners.... I sat there because I personally have worked as a volunteer for a charity and got no pay and no expenses paid either.

I donate most of my stuff to s local charity shop with fair prices. Most kids items £1.00 Although even they make mistakes with pricing. They were selling a pack of Christmas wrap for £1.50 which price marked £1.00.
Another had a single second hand white poppered vest unbranded for £1.99. I paid £3.00 for 3 New.
I firmly believe that the purpose of a charity shop is two fold. Yes there are there to make money but should also provide affordable items for people who can't afford to buy new after all they have an advantage over regular stores as they don't pay for stock and labour costs ate Aldo low.

Sorry last bit garbled by auto-correct.

I buy most of my clothes from charity shops. To be perfectly honest, the charity element is a positive side effect for me, I shop there for environmental reasons (better to reuse than buy new), cost (I can't afford many new clothes shops), ethics (buying cheaply in high street stores can mean buying from ethically questionable traders)

There are a lot of charity shops where I live and I regularly go in three of them because I know their prices aren't too high. I never go in Oxfam, for example, as I generally can't afford to shop there!

I agree about Oxfam. I don't even bother to look in the window.
We have just moved house and have donated a lot to charity shops (and to the local tip if not good enough to sell). I must admit I donate to the one with the friendliest volunteers. It always seems to have plenty of customers too, but I haven't really looked at their prices.

I do think there's a perception that some charity shops are quite happy pricing things artificially high and delighted when they have stock sitting around for months.

That may well be the case for smaller, "one man band" shops where one person is in charge of everything. In the larger chains there is so much information available to the the manager and regional manager about sales, how much you're selling by category, how you're performing against last year or other shops in your area. It's run in the same way as any other retail chain. Managers are head office staff are not stupid. They have devised their pricing policies over time and know what their customers will pay. If a large, national chain is selling a dress for £10 or a top for £8, that's because it's sold in the past and they know that price is realistic.

As for the £170 bracelet - yes, unlikely that someone will appear off the street and decide to have it on impulse. But we regularly get traders mooching around in the hope we've missed a silver/gold item who buy that sort of stock to resell. Or people who come in, see an expensive item, go home to think about it, and come back a few days later to see if we still have it. Or someone who has seen us tweeting or facebooking about it and will make a special journey.

In my charity shop (volunteer not manager) anything from the Primark sleeping range goes to another branch where everything is a pound .

We have an ebay shop (I don't have nothing to do with that side) where various items go on .

Op you sold a damaged handbagfor £20?

donations are cleaned before sale?

Depends what you mean by cleaned. Can't speak for other places but we steam clothing/textiles to get creases out. We have no resource for washing/drying/ironing. Bric a brac, china or glass either gets washed in the sink with some fairy liquid or wiped with a baby wipe if it looks grubby.

Nothing to add because MerchantofVenice has covered it all so cogently and persuasively.

Charity shops have not moved with the times and are often pricing more expensive than new items. I have been put off by prices and don't go in them as much as I once did. I think they would sell more if the prices were lower as more people would come into the shop.

I get that they are trying to raise as much as possible, but lower prices are the way

Charity shops are ghee to fufill units with cheap rent and often destroy what could be decent town centres plus sell a load of crap at over priced prices. I never realised how much I disliked them grin they bring a town centre down awfully.

^This

Personally I think charity shops should be limited to a certain number my local town centre has been taken over by them. Thing is no one even shops in them as they are over priced. New look sale is often cheap enough to get a couple of tops trousers and coats,there's no need to go in them and buy second hand now. Charity shops did help those on low incomes whilst also putting back into charity. They become very much money oriented and pricing far to high.

I would never pay 20quid for a second coat or handbag and I certainly wouldn't spend 10-8 quid on a second hand top either can go to Primark, Matalan Newlook, Tesco, Asda etc and buy new

(Sorry, hit post too soon.)

... But I think charity shops are, as the OP said, to make money for charity. I donate a lot of things I could sell because I want the charity to make money from them - not so bargain shoppers can get a deal.

The one exception is Emmaus which is specifically for selling items cheaply to people on low incomes. They get all my brand new stuff. (Like bed linen delivered in error that stupid Yodel couldn't organise to collect in a month.)

Oh bugger. Now it's deleted the first part of my post! That was about how shops like Primark make charity shops look expensive in comparison but that Primatk isn't very ethical -although some people can't afford to be picky.

The charity I work for has a small shop attached. We get given so many textiles and accessories, and are very popular. We sell on a standard pricing list, ranging from baby clothes at 20p an item to £5 for an adults coat. Housewear stuff, curtains etc at under a fiver. Anything brand new is priced individually, but I've rarely seen anything for more than a fiver. We also give stuff away, if someone comes to us with nothing, or we get a phone call from an an agency asking us to help them.

Thing is no one even shops in them as they are over priced

Well they won't be around for long, will they? Because it makes no economic sense whatsoever to have shops sitting full of stock which isn't selling. That's s actually costing the charity money, isn't it? Charity shops will know if they are covering their costs or not - they're not stupid.

As for buying cheap in Primark etc - obviously an option. But there are lots of people out there who aren't particularly keen on the fast fashion, disposable ethos and who would prefer to buy good quality, second hand instead. Yes you can probably spend £20 on a new coat from Primark at the start of each winter, but spme people would prefer to buy a not particularly high fashion 100% wool one for the same price from their local charity shop and keep it for several years.

It's not all about clothes either, things like crockery, glassware and decorative items like pictures and glasses sell very well, especially to people who don't want their homes to look like everyone else's with stuff from Ikea/Next. 1970s brown plates and coffee cups hugely popular. Pictures - we have a massive range of framed prints for less than £5 to large original artwork for under £20.

Charity shops are getting expensive, at the end of the day ifyou can buy a new top for £5 why buy one out the charity shop for £6? the lady is right.

Oddly enough was saying to someone only last week how I can't remember the last time I ever saw a notice for a jumble sale. Yet when I was younger, there was one almost every other weekend in our (relatively small) town. Between the ages of 2 and 9 I was almost exclusively dressed in jumble sales clothes because our family was really skint.

Charity shops have taken over this "market" but I'm afraid in many cases they are pricing themselves out. I agree, you shouldn't be flogging something decent for £1 but why would anyone buy a second hand tshirt for £6 when you can buy one brand new for that at Matalan or Primark or not much more at M&S? Yes, the charity is there to make money but not just for the charity but to cover the costs of shop rents and staff (yes, some have paid staff not just volunteers).

I went into a charity shop to buy a bag the other day. Most were £4, but the one I liked was from animal and they wanted £10 for it. £10 for a slightly tatty, small, used Animal canvas bag - they were having a laugh. I didn't buy it.

Did buy some denim shorts for 50p from another charity shop though.

All the furniture I see in charity shops is really overpriced.

The one I frequent most sells everything for £1.99, even if it' brand new, I've even had a brand new leather coat for £1.99 from there. As it's so cheap I never try anything on and even if I'm unsure of a purchase I'll buy anyway thinking I can donate it back if it doesn't fit. My wardrobe is a neverending cycle - I buy from the charity shop and donate too - OFTEN! I like that if I donate my clothes there then someone else will benefit and have a bargain too. Oh the store is Banardos for anyone wondering.

I avoid Oxfam (across the road) like the plague, they absolutely disgust me with their prices and I've seen some items going for more than the original price .... how the hell can they justify that? They also have an Oxfam bookshop in the town, how that survives I have no idea as there are other charity sops selling tons of books - cheapest I've found is any 3 books for £1 with many others £1 per book.

I appreciate charity shops have overheads (less than any other store though) and they do need to make money but there's a balance and they need to remember people do not want to pay more than £1 for a plain T Shirt they could pick up brand new at Primark or similar for the same price in the sale.

I think charity shops aren't doing themselves any favours at the moment. By their nature, most of the shoppers in them are struggling financially, but most charity shops just aren't that cheap anymore, so the shoppers are going elsewhere. For example I have a funeral to go to and very little funds to buy something suitable. I went on ebay and got a Next black jacket for £1.04 and a pair of smart suit trousers from Monsoon for 99p. Even including P&P charges there was nothing anywhere near as good value as that in the charity shops.

(I would have bought the bag for £4 btw - it was actually in worse condition than the ones that were £4 so no way was I paying £10 -and I wasn't looking for the name, I just wanted a small canvas bag.). I can't imagine they've sold it at that price.

Oh and of course there's no many places selling cheap new clothing (Primark being a good example), that for a lot of people they can buy cheap without having to buy second hand now.

I agree with OP but I think it's a mindset thing.

Every couple of months I head off to the nicer part of town. The charity shops are full of designer gear at less than high street prices. Mainly men's shirts for under a tenner. Children's toys, Thomas track £30 for a trunkful.

On the other hand there's a 99p warehouse nearby which is for load of stuff that won't shift.

The kinda absolute very cheap people are looking for are available online from china, charities can't compete with that.