To think charity shops have got just too expensive?

[Arnoldthecat]

The high streets of even the fairly affluent towns now often have a selection of charity shops because no one else wants the retail space. Inevitably i often browse them and i dont think im alone in thinking that they have just got way too expensive.

I tend to look for factual books but as a matter of interest, i look at other stuff and prices. Example,used mens shirt £8 ! It was nothing special either.

I spotted a woman looking at a teapot. The label was partly obscured nd she thought it was £1.99 when it was actually £19...oh i dont think so,she said,as she put it back on the shelf.

No one is buying anything. They get it all for free,why not just keep prices reasonable,shift volume,get the money in and get new stock on the shelves/hangers?

Cats protection league here really amazed me today. I thought they were at the higher end of normal pricing but three items I saw today were ridiculous. £6 each for three Christmas print dresses, one that was only fit for the rag bag really as it was badly faded green and full of bobbles. I have the other two already (I have far too many christmas clothes 🤗) and they only cost me £9 new!

Oxfam was really good, they often have special days where particular things are reduced. Today was ladies trousers for 50p a pair

It depends on the charity, some are still cheap, some are ridiculous. I go to one for kids sometimes but I find the prices unrealistic (last time I went, there were leggings for £1 with a hole on it. Ok...£1 is cheap but they are leggings and they've got a hole!!). I only buy from them when they have further reductions as if they don't sell an item in a few weeks, they reduce the price.

I don't think I agree with the theory that a charity should try to sell the items for higher prices if they can...for example, one consecuence is that I used to take my DD clothes to this shop once they didn't fit her, but now that I see more and more ridiculous prices, I am not giving them the clothes anymore, I prefer to give them for free to other mums, even if it is a friend of a friend that I don't know.

I also think that a charity mainly raises money for a cause but for me it is also important that someone with little income can benefit from it, if not I'll give my stuff for free, it is important to find people interested nowadays (Facebook, Freecycle)

You can get a brand new Boden dress for £60-80 in the Boden sale.
@39contentedsoul
That's a point I made further up thread, highly paid executives etc that award themselves healthy salaries.
It concerns me how much of the profits actually reach those in need.
Those that do most of the hard slog are volunteers.

When we had an Oxfam shop in our High Street, it was one of the best - particulalyl I bought most of the dcs' clothes there, but the Oxfam on-line shop is ridiculous. Prices are so high

Near me the Hospice has a 'Boutique' which strikes me as a great idea - they sell wedding outfits - (not brides, but) bridesmaid dresses, guests outfits, hats, outfits for special occasions, prom dresses etc. My dd and a few of her friends got their prom dresses from there for between £9 and £16, and I've recently got a lovely hat for a wedding I'm going to in there. People either take their stuff there directly (Jacques Vert, etc), or, if any arrives in other branches, they collect it up and send it there.
For 'ordinary' clothes though, I'm happy to rummage in my local High STreet - EXCPT the shops who display things by colour, rather than what the garment is. I don't bother with those.

piscis but people give to charity shops for different reasons (neither is ‘right or wrong’ just different) some people give because they want other people to have the chance to buy items at really low prices because they might not be able to afford to buy anything new, others give because they want the charity to be able to raise as much money as possible for the cause they believe in. I have a lot of regular doners in my charity shop who specifically say, we know you will price these properly and get good prices for them.

And no one is picking up the point that there is a huge inverse snobbery about shopping in charity shops, a lot of people genuinely don’t like to be seen shopping in them. We had a huge freecycle event locally in our town, everything was free, it was well advertised but hardly anyone came, there were lovely designer items still with labels on etc. At the end I was asked to take everything back to my charity shop as they couldn’t get rid of the stuff .

If picsis wants her stuff to go to people on low incomes who need it and that's the priority, she's doing the right thing not giving it to a charity shop. Charity shops have a legal obligation to try and maximise the profits for the charity, they aren't there as a source of cheap necessities to the poor unless they specifically aim at doing that. Whatever the aims of the donors when they give the clothes, that's what charities are supposed to do, so it's best to donate accordingly if that's not what you want.

Ideally for me would me to donate to a charity that prices low, that way the money goes to a charity and people on low incomes can afford to buy as well. Unfortunately I do not have one of those nearby, so I am giving the clothes for free now. I refuse to give my clothes to a charity that think is ok to sell used leggings with a hole for £1, or Primark used clothes for nearly as much as new. Come on...

Does anyone else play a game whereby you rummage through the clothes and try to categorise which sort of shop the item is from before looking at the label?
So categories would be market, Primark, ASOS, supermarket, High St (DP, New Look), better High St (Next) decent (Fat Face), designer..
I feel like a sort of expert as I’m rarely wrong

I've just priced a Sheila Fleet necklace and earring set. Retail price well over £160. Boxed, looks like never worn.

Some posters will be horrified that the set is out at £70 because it's not "cheap".

I am not horrified by something like that...if it has never been worn and it is clearly much cheaper than new, then fair enough. I myself have bought brand new items from charity shops (label on) that have been "expensive", but it is worthy and reasonable.

What I think it is not reasonable is to sell a used Primark t-shirt for £1 if it costs £2 new, or stained clothes, or clothes with holes...for £1 or even more! I think that's laughable and I don't see who is going to buy that as much as they want to support a cause tbh...

Some posters will be horrified that the set is out at £70 because it's not "cheap".
I don't think anyone would have an issue with an item that's appropriately priced.

The objections are usually where things are ridiculously priced.
Eg. Used lower high street items like new look and Primark costing the same as new.

A top from next/fat Face that's bobbled and faded in places but priced at £6 because someone's seen that they're a nicer high street make but not considered the condition of the garment.

I wouldn't be horrified by that although personally I would prefer to go into John Lewis or wherever and have a choice and go to the coffee shop and look at dresses and shoes at the same time and pay the 140 rather than go to a charity shop.
If I was in a charity shop I probably wouldn't be looking to spend £70

There’s one near me who I no longer go in as it’s completely overpriced. When it first opened they had reasonable prices and I often brought bits. I think it must have been taken over by a different manager. Went in a few months ago, they had a den kit for kids - nothing special looking, not some huge thing- priced at £40. I went home and looked it up and it was on the retailers website for £15.99 (full price, not sale). There was also a cheap looking art set (think felt tips/few crayons etc), had a sticker on the front that said ‘7 items missing £9.00) 😯😯😩

When I first started volunteering at Charity shops I was amazed at what the Managers and long term volunteers picked out for themselves and paid just the minimum amount they could get away with,one Manager sorted a Liberty scarf still in its box from a family who had emptied their mothers house,she paid the standard price of £1.50 for the scarf and it was found to have sold for £80 on ebay,sold as a new present not wanted by the owner also a full set of Judge pans still in the delivery box she bought that for £3.00.It would have cost more than £100+ if bought new and the rest I think.
I left that place and went to work elsewhere where the staff where very honest and had empathy for the charity.

Staff effectively stealing behind the scenes goes on all the time. My mum volunteered for a well known chain but left in disgust. One lady in particular would sort all the best shoes and handbags and clothes and send them to be sold in Nigeria. They wouldn't even make the shop floor.

I've had the personal experience of being told something is not for sale and I strongly suspect its because its been set aside for staff.

I’ve just bought a pair of Vivienne Westwood shoes from a charity shop for £30. To me that’s a bargain because they were in good condition and retail at around £380 new. ( they were leather “ animal paw” not Melissa). If you just want “ shoes” though you can still pick them up for a few pounds. However, I definitely see items overpriced for the brand and condition. In fact in a charity shop yesterday I heard a staff member complaining to someone about the high pricing on an item that they had. I imagine there’s a bit of an art in pricing so you maximise profits for the charity while ensuring the item sells and doesn’t sit on the rail for months.

Staff effectively stealing behind the scenes goes on all the time.

Based on one person's experience?

Some volunteers in charity shops are undoubtedly dodgy in the same way some teachers, lawyers, checkout operators and everyone else is dodgy. But saying it goes on "all the time" is grossly unfair. Most charities have some sort of policy governing what volunteers - not staff - can buy. Where I volunteer the rule is that you never price something yourself which you are going to buy. Everything bought by staff is written in a book, with the receipt number. You're not allowed to put things through the till yourself either. There are big posters up in the back shop with the whistle-blowing helpline for any issues, including fraud or theft. We do not get a discount.

In my experience volunteers are very honest and always pay the going price for items. Yes we get first dibbs but why shouldn't we get that little perk as recognition of the unpaid work we are doing?

Nope based on many. I merely used the one most pertinent.

However I respect that they are not all like that, but that doesn't mean it doesn't regularly occur.

Yes some are honest, but I know for a fact that a lot of people are sent to do probationary work in charity shops and some of these people are not always honest or even bothered about the aims of the charity.

Not sure about the 'first dibs' being a good thing (or a bad one) as for the wrong people I suspect it could open the door for taking things cheaper than they would be if sold on the shop floor.

I think the whole first dibs thing is not great to be honest
Lots of people volunteer with no actual perk
Eg
Scout leaders etc
It is the sort of thing that makes people suspicious of charity shop workers

Yes we get first dibbs but why shouldn't we get that little perk

Because what's left is a load of dross and you will lose customers! A schoolgate mum's mother started working in the local charity shop, and this woman was trumpeting that she'd given her dm a list of things to look out for. She said her dm made sure she took any Mini Boden etc stuff before it went on sale. Sadly I was not surprised.

Because what's left is a load of dross and you will lose customers!

Just how much do you think people are buying??? The odd DVD here, top there, or a kid's jacket. There is NO WAY you could ever buy everything decent that comes in. And what would be the point in snapping up clothes in a size 18 or 20 when you're an 8 or 10? Or a mother of the bride's outfit or wedding hat when you haven't a wedding to go to?

Volunteers ARE customers. Still think if many of the critics actually volunteered for a couple of months they'd have their eyes opened a bit.

As a charity shop manager I totally agree with Otra (in fact I think we may work for the same charity ).

We would never price items we wanted to buy ourselves and in fact many volunteers will pay more than the going price as they truly support the charity. Of course there will be a few rogue people around, as there will be in any profession but the vast majority of paid staff and volunteers are trust worthy. In addition we have regular unannounced audits from independent auditors.

Irma the simple fact is that if a charity shop loses its customers it will be closed down for not making a profit, do you honestly believe that the paid manager and volunteers are really going to buy that much? . We have to record all ‘staff sales’, out of my team of 32 volunteers plus myself there were four purchases last week. Hardly ‘picking out all the best stuff’.

Quore, Ragwort. And one person's definition of "good stuff" isn't the same as the next person's.

Well today I bought 6 jigsaw puzzles (45- 600 piece ones) and 8 balls of wool for a total of £5.25 which I thought was a real bargain
I trailed through all the shops in town today trying to find things to occupy my mum who has dementia so struggles with anything too difficult but won't accept kids activities because she's completely aware that she's not one. So finding this haul was a real joy.
I know some seem to be too expensive but others can be great.