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.).

Love charity shopping, and will generally also donate extra if I and prepared to pay more.
However if charity shops under price what's to stop people going in to buy stock and selling to make a profit on eBay?
I'd rather buy second hand good quality then Primark too.
Last week I picked up two hand made dresses for toddler, would love to thank whoever donated them, they are unique and beautiful

Charity shops are not there to provide cheap clothes any more than Primark is. They are there to make money for the charity, just as Primark is there to make money for its shareholders.

Shop in them if you like the things you buy and like the prices. Donate to them if you support the charity and approve of what they will do with your donated items. Otherwise, just don't.

The days of making a profit on eBay selling regular second hand stuff have gone.

Agree - we used to sell a lot of stuff on Ebay but it's just not worth the hassle any more. Listing fees, seller fees and having to schlepp to the Post Office to post stuff. IMHO the rot set in when paypal changed their policy to always side with the buyer whenever there was a dispute, whatever the facts of the case.

Any larger items we now stick on Gumtree.

I don't know of one single charity shop that doesn't have a vaguely unpleasant smell

I take it you've never been into Primark or into a cheap shoe shop? The smell of chemical finishes evaporating into the air from their cheaply-produced products is overwhelming.

Give me slightly musty any time!

I bought a coat from Debenhams designer for 25pounds in the sale, il wear it for several years, I have many decent coats bought for similar prices. A lot of people shop in the sales I have got gorgeous dresses from Debenhams in the sales and paid a fraction of the price. Charity shops doesn't seem to understand that especially now people can obtain good quality items for reasonable prices new. They simply see the name tag of clothing and up the price regardless if the item was actually bought in the sale or last seasons stock which had be reduced.

I donate to charity but never shop in charity shops.

And some posters don't seem to understand that that for many people, myself included, buying from charity shops is preferable to buying new because it's better for the environment to recycle than to always buy new.

Charity shops doesn't seem to understand that especially now people can obtain good quality items for reasonable prices new.

What kind of people do you think are working in charity shops? By and large, they're just like you and me. (A lot like me, in fact). Or like your mum or your next door neighbour. Ordinary people who have to buy clothes like everyone else. Most volunteers will have a decent idea of what stuff costs because they are also customers oof other shops. Even if a volunteer isn't familiar with a particular brand chances are that someone else in that day will know for example that "Nutmeg" is Morrisons and a dress from Hobbs is worth more than one from George at Asda.

What is impossible to know is the original selling price of each and every item which comes in, unless new with the original tags on. There is no way of knowing what's current season, what's last season. Older than that and it's easier - pretty easy to spot styles from the 70s/80s. We have no idea whether your Debenhams dress was bought £60 full price or reduced in the sale for £6. Chances are that the donor wouldn't always remember either.

When pricing all you can do is adhere to the general pricing policy which the charity sets - whether than be a blanket policy of pricing every top at £3 and every pair of trousers for £2, or differentiating by pricing Boden more than Florence and Fred.

Seriously you never sell that necklase for that price in a charity shop. Better sent to an auction. At item is only worth what someone will pay for it. Bit of both really, people pop into charity shops hoping for a bargain. You wouldnt pay the say price for a second hand item than a new one. If everything is priced new or close to new in a charity shop theres no point ever popping in (hence why i never go into a few including oxfam and bhf now). Charity shops arent what they used to be sadly.

We have a number of charity shops near me. I have to say I much prefer the gentrified ones where the clothes have been steam cleaned so they don't smell and they arrange the garments by colour and size.
Some of the items are priced a bit steeply for second hand and they all seem to think that Marks and Spencers, Next and TU are on a par with Phase Eight and Monsoon but I get a lot of evening wear or one off dresses to wear to weddings.
Most I have paid recently was £30 for a Jaeger dress with labels still on. Said it was £169 originally but i doubt the previous owner paid that much. However I love it and have had loads of compliments when I wear it.

In my case I shop ar charity shops because a) it's closer than going into town so i can have a weekly browse b) i get overwhelmed by too much choice so charity shop good as only one or two items that i like usually c) I'm tight and although i could afford £150 for a dress to wear to a wedding I'd much rather spend £20 for something just as nice and feel worthy about myself.

So I think there is a market both for the cheap as chips charity shops and the more expensive ones. Like all shops if they don't make money they will either need to change strategy or shut.

sinisterbumface isn't being obtuse but merchant it reads like you have a masters in patronising.

MerchantofVenice you'll never change people's minds by being so sneering and unpleasant.

My town is packed with charity shops and is in a very poor area. The charity shops are seeing less and less footfall in favour of 'Peacocks', 'Home Bargains' and the like. The odd middle class environmentalist popping in to buy an £8 top so they can feel better about themselves does not keep the shops afloat. The shops are gradually closing and being replaced by more cheap shops, and in the end it's the charity that loses out because they haven't got the sense to price their goods at a price their core of customers can afford.

it really depends on where the charity shop is surely, i live in a deprived area the charity shops near me dont overprice stuff and price things cheaply otherwise they would never get any customers, my town is also full of B&M Bargains poundland/world etc in a more affluent area i imagine prices would be far more expensive.

YANBU.

Hospices are not funded by NHS and usually are dependent on charitable donations. Their shops provide a valuable source of income to support the very necessary work they do.
Charity shops aways seem to me to offer win win solutions. They allow people to dispose of unwanted items ethically, they are good for the environment,they fund incredibly important work and offer the opportunity to rummage for bargains.
I agree with you merchant. They are not the equivalent of food banks and if some people prefer to shop at places like Primark it is up to them.
However, the huge growth in charity shops shows how popular they are with many people. I have over paid more than the price tag for an item in a charity shop if its under valued because the charitable cause is so worthwhile.Lots of us will benefit from the research carried out by Cancer Research UK so how can anyone resent paying a fair price for their shop items?

JayneAusten

Well, of course I won't change your mind. Not sure I'm trying to. Your views are ironclad and (in my opinion) quite sneery in themselves.

I won't apologise for being a bit 'all guns blazing' on a topic like this. Those of you like Jayne who want to have a quick, polite-sounding dig at charity shops, because they smell a bit and dare to try to make a profit, are just scratching about on the surface of the issue.

The real issue is about people not really giving a shit about the charities behind the shops. Treating the whole enterprise with contempt because they suddenly discovered they couldn't waltz into this 'musty-smelling' shop and afford everything instantly.

I dare say you won't believe me or recognise that attitude. But it's there in some of these posts.

The prices do vary. We have 3 nearby in a nice suburb but I tend to support the one which is the local one to our area and donate stuff to them. Their prices are lower.

The Victorian philanthropist shop with a medical title is too expensive imo.

Also tend to buy books when the paperbacks are reasonably priced.

Bit of both, I won't pay prices that I could get new. I do expect things to be slightly cheaper but I know you need to make money at same time

And now I can guess that Jayne is going to complain about my tone again, as if that's the issue in hand. Perhaps call me holier than thou...

I don't claim to be better or always to do the right thing, but at least I recognise that in this discussion, the preferable side to be on is that of the shops trying to help charities...

If you look at the history of charity shops... a quick google will help, theres been a shift in their purpose and ethos. The move away from cheap second hand clothing for urban poor to a money making venture for the charity that runs it. Recycling has become more popular, dare I say trendy and as people make choices to shop more ethically, buying second hand rather than new; so those kind of charities have capitalised on the resurgence of interest and added pounds to their prices. Its basic economics. Ebay and online selling doesnt have the overheads, and so despite the shocking postal prices you can sell from your own home, profit for yourself and the auction model automatically gets the 'market' price (what people are willing to pay for an item) plus opens the sale to a wider audience. We already have clothing bank drop offs in supermarket carparks...I can see this increasing over the coming years as LAs put rents up and rates et al as well as cutting benefits and charity operations will move more online - especislly the larger ones like Oxfam. Renting storage space rather than shop front bricks and mortar

Merchant actually your obsession with the letter of what charity shops are 'for' is just pedantry. Ultimately, they run on donations from the public, so like it or not, the public effectively gets a say, as they can vote with their feet in terms of where they donate. Personally I do think that charity shops should have a dual purpose, so I will only donate to charities shops that I think price fairly. I'm clearly not the only one. All charity shops clearly make money, as they get free stuff and low business rates. I question whether some of them (oxfam I'm looking at you) might actually make more money if they rethought their ridiculous pricing policies. Our best quality and busiest charity shop locally is also the cheapest by a country mile.

We've actually had a few charity shops close. It will come as no surprise that one of them was a certain charity's furniture shop. Who on earth do they think is going to spend £200 on a grubby secondhand sofa when you can buy new for not much more? Or £40 on a chipped side table that can be bought brand new for less?

The local charities seem to be doing better. Possibly because they know their market and aren't as restricted by head office policies on pricing?

Charity shops, in my opinion, are there to raise profits for the charity AND help those on a low income. It's charity two fold.

You've tried throughout this thread to justify the pricing structures, and as an ex volunteer i do understand, but I do think that things now can be over priced and off putting.

It's not about knowing the price and season of every single item that gets brought it. It's about having a rough working knowledge of the store/brand the clothes came from and their sales policies.

E.G - an item from marks and spencers or debenhams or john lewis. New with tags. RRP £45 ... It's not about knowing when that was sold etc. But you do need to think right, well I know that their sales are generally a mark down of 30% ... So if it was still available in the sale in the store today it'd be selling for say £31.50 ... Therefore if you retail it for £22.50 the customer has an incentive to shop with you and your still making a decent amount (50% of the original value).

I don't agree that new with tags isn't second hand. It's like when you buy a new car - as soon as it is off the for court it reduces significantly in value!

The odd middle class environmentalist popping in to buy an £8 top so they can feel better about themselves

You sound rather resentful that some people might have other priorities than buying cheap sweatshop produced tat from Primark.