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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hate colour blocked charity shops

88 replies

Sunny525 · 23/03/2019 17:01

I know it looks pretty but who has ever gone into a shop to buy a 'green' not bothered of it's a jumper, t-shirt, cardigan, thick or thin as long as it's green?
AND I have to sort through every colour section in the shop to find a cardigan (for example) and the sizes are all over the place.

I'm sure they think it's a good marketing idea as you have to look through the whole shop but I just give up and don't bother!

AIBU to just want to go in, find the jumper/cardigan section and look through the bit that has my size?

It also makes me furious that they don't apply this ridiculous system to the men's clothing - they can go straight to the shirt section and look at the collar size section that suits them.... do they think lady brains can only shop in pretty colour sections, while men get a sensible system for sorting their clothing

OP posts:

keepingbees · 23/03/2019 17:03

Yanbu it's ridiculous. I've never bought clothes from our local charity shop that does this, it's too much hassle.

IAmRubbishAtDIY · 23/03/2019 17:03

Drives me nuts. What use is a stunning green cardy that I love and is priced at 20p if it's size 12 and I'm size 18?

JUST SORT BY SIZE PLEASE.

PatchworkGirl · 23/03/2019 17:05

Yes. I love charity shops and use them a lot but I really, really hate this way of arranging them.

ILoveBray · 23/03/2019 17:06

Ahh I think I'll be alone in this, but I prefer it! I only wear a few colours so I prefer going through the colour sections and ignoring the black, red, purple etc.

I get why you don't like it though, I think most people don't.

Original poster

Sunny525 · 23/03/2019 17:07

Hurrah! I thought I was just being miserable!

How do we let them know on mass? I went to my favourite charity shop today and they were mid change to colour blocking, I was so enraged I asked the manager if that's what they were doing, when she said yes I may have ranted slightly and begged her not to ruin my favourite charity shop!

OP posts:

Witchend · 23/03/2019 17:07

I've gone in to buy "something green" but that's unusual (theatre costumes)

FuchsiaG · 23/03/2019 17:08

Yes! Nothing stands out anymore and it takes too long to look through everything.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 23/03/2019 17:08

YES this bugs me all the time!

TeenTimesTwo · 23/03/2019 17:08

I know it looks pretty but who has ever gone into a shop to buy a 'green' not bothered of it's a jumper, t-shirt, cardigan, thick or thin as long as it's green?

I used to do this regularly for dress up days for primary school.

Apart from that YANBU, I'd much rather look through all the 18s 16s and pick out the things I like than go round all the colour blocks.

FusionChefGeoff · 23/03/2019 17:10

It makes perfect sense in a normal shop where YOU HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT SIZES AVAILABLE.

It makes absolutely no fucking sense in a charity shop and I hate it.

I can only buy things that fit so for the love if God just put all the same sized stuff together.

JeNeBaguetteRien · 23/03/2019 17:12

It doesn't bother me... It's not like in a regular shop where you'd hope the size 14s will be bigger than the siz 12s. They're different brands so I don't mind having a rummage, and it's not like they will have an identical product in several colours so the arranging by colour is fine by me.

RandomMess · 23/03/2019 17:14

Completely bugs me I only want to look at dresses in sizes 10-14...

Azzizam · 23/03/2019 17:14

I used to work in one and the management wanted to present boutique style.
In reality it is second hand clothing, often over priced and tatty. I rather shop the Tu range at Sainsburys.

Bibijayne · 23/03/2019 17:16

I'm totally with you! Size and type please!

Leftoverdessert · 23/03/2019 17:18

This really bothers me too! I have some really good charity shops near me and most sort by item type but there is one which does it by colour and I never go in there, too much bother. I don't see the point in it at all.

LilQueenie · 23/03/2019 17:18

I agree but its not as bad as working there and having to sort it. One woman I worked with had her own 'system'. Basically she hated help and would redo it all anyway. First of all it was colour co-ordinated. Then each colour went in size sequence on the rail BUT the most annoying thing was short sleeve seperated from long sleeve. Evening dresses seperate from day dresses, casual coats separate from dressy ones. It went on and on. blouse and shirts. is there even a difference? It had me cracking up. It even broke out arguments!

SarahAndQuack · 23/03/2019 17:20

Oh, god yes.

Many years ago I used to volunteer in a charity shop (and I'd have given up on it long before I did if I hadn't been desperate for any kind of experience to put on my CV!). The manager made us do this, but then he'd come along and 'correct' your shelf, explaining patronising that this is lime green and that is darker than mint green.

Total wanker.

It looks shit, too. Colours that are roughly the same but not the same hurt my eyes.

CrazyOldBagLady · 23/03/2019 17:21

I'm with everyone else on this, makes no sense and is too much hassle. I just don't bother looking through the clothes as I can't be bothered

prettybird · 23/03/2019 17:28

I was thinking just this when I was looking through the prettily arranged by colour clothes in a couple of Retro/2nd hand shops I was looking in this week. I'm sure there are some lovely dresses in them but I'll never find them as it's too much hassle.

To be fair, I tend to only go in to see what cashmere jumpers they have (a great way to get them without paying cashmere prices), but I was musing that there are surely good value dresses if I were prepared to go through them.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 23/03/2019 17:29

I'm with you on this one, it drives me mad.

TapasForTwo · 23/03/2019 17:29

"Ahh I think I'll be alone in this, but I prefer it! I only wear a few colours so I prefer going through the colour sections and ignoring the black, red, purple etc."

I prefer it as well. Since having my colours done I don't want to spend ages rummaging through clothes in colours I am not interested in.

SeventhWave · 23/03/2019 17:29

You think that's bad - there's a charity shop near me that sorts their CDs by spine colour. Hundreds and hundreds of them - Daniel O'Donnell rubbing shoulders with Black Sabbath, the Spice Girls and Beethoven.

labazsisgoingmad · 23/03/2019 17:36

in the shop i run two rails are trousers two are skirts two are dresses and a nice big double rail of tops knitwear and blouses oh and one of lingerie and night wear no colour blocking i dont put in size for simple reason it gets mixed up and also a lot of clothes dont have sizes in often have been cut out of them. however if there is a size it will be clearly written on the label i put on it and on coat hanger with be a size tag its a 2nd hand charity shop not marks and spencers so people like to have a look see what they can find as everyone loves a bargain. oh yes prettybird we have cashmere lambswool all sorts of designer labels and budget specials plus a bargain pound rail when things have been in the shop too long

SileneOliveira · 23/03/2019 17:36

I volunteer in a charity shop and although I see where you're coming from on the colour thing the other way would be a nightmare too.

We are not normal shops with normal levels of stock. Case in point - I sorted three full bin bags of amazing donations, all in size 6 or size 8. I don;t think I found anything bigger than a size 14 all day. Next shift, it might be all size 18 or 20. If we arranged by size, we'd be constantly arranging and rearranging and depending on the donations we've had that day one section would be empty and the other sections full. It's much easier to lift a dozen pink things to stick with the purples, or condense the yellows into the beiges to account for stock levels.

Also, we all know how much sizes can very between brands. If we sorted by size we'd be getting constant complaints that the size 14 marks and spencer skirt was twice the size of the size 14 one from topshop. Vintage clothing is considerably smaller than 2019 clothing. We don't have the resources to measure everything by waist or chest size.

And from a marketing point of view, it looks much nicer and less like a jumble sale.

We do have little plastic cubes on the hangers to let people see the number.

americandream · 23/03/2019 17:40

Agree. Very annoying.

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