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?

It's the other way in the town closest to me - it does make me feel a bit queasy sometimes when I hand in branded stuff with tags and know it'll raise very little money. I've been clearing out this morning and I'm looking at Boden boys' stuff and knowing that they won't even make a dent in the 'fill a bin bag for a fiver' they usually have going on . I've got designer shoes in their boxes, dust bags and all, never worn and they might go for £2.

I'm telling myself that getting the space in my house is better, and maybe someone in need will buy the things and make a bit on ebay, but I'm still bothered by it!

I live in a 'naice' town and our charity shops are fairly reasonable but are going up, definitely. Things are worth what people are willing to pay and no more. I am happy to shop in a charity shop but am not made of money, it makes no sense to spend 5-10 pounds on a worn jumper or dress say, it isn't going to wash very many more times. In that scenario for me it makes more sense to buy new at 50% more, have the pleasure of it new, know it will last longer and not have to spend ages de bobbling it, laundering it before I even wear it etc.

I do buy books still though, if it's a newish title I think 2 or 3 pounds is fair. Old or shabby books though, less so.

We have a local large charity furniture shop that I used to enjoy browsing but rarely do now as the volunteers are always in there loudly moaning about people who browse but not buy, and people that offer less than label price ( when it says 'make us an offer' on the bloody wall). When you do make an offer, that they are welcome to counter, they then start a PA rant about the poor charity and how will they ever help anyone if people don't want to properly donate and 'don't we know this is a charity shop'. You overhear it so often- So off putting. The furniture may be well priced relative to new but its dirty, often needs repainting or repairing and the lack of consideration for the fact that the lowest item in there is about £20 with stuff as much as £250, is astounding. £20 is a considered spend for a lot of people.

I see them as just another high street retailer

Which is probably why small businesses are cross that they get discounted rates. If they want to sell new products and buy in items like other retailers then surely they should pay the same amount for their prime retail stores?

I couldn't agree more. I've recently donated five black bags of clothes to charity, most cost £5-10 per item but I've seen things up for £7 just because it has a new tag (no price).

Where I am there is two paradeds of out of town shops less than two miles apart both with at least three charity shops. One parade is near the more expensive housing and the shops charge silly money for bog standard stuff. The other parade is the by the cheaper housing and stuff is priced a lot more realistically. I like to support a particular charity who have another charity shop again in a more expensive area. The last time I took a boot full of donations they were really picky and refused a perfectly decent scateboard ramp as they said they couldn’t sell it. They retail new for around £20 so they could easily put it up for £5.As I was leaving I offered it to a mum who had just come in with a couple of kids. She was happy to have it and the shop lost a sale.
Now even though they are my charity of choice I take everything to the parade with the cheaper shop.

By all means check it on sites like Ebay to see if it is worth more than a normal teapot. But for the love of god can charity shops please remember that Ebay has millions of buyers all over the world and your shop is limited to the footfall in your town.

This a thousand times!!

I saw in one charity shop the other day the woman at the till scrolling through ebay pricing LPs. Ridiculous! Unless you think you've discovered an original pressing of Love Me Do then the chances of realising an ebay price are minimal. Also, just because "vinyl" is now trendy it doesn't mean that Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits is worth more than 50p.

Rosa waiting ,My friend worked in a Charity Shop and was regularly haggled by customers wanting the product for less .Also regularly some people would shoplift !.The BHF is another one in our town much too expensive .But a quaint little market town has a lovely Red Cross shop ,some super things .Also managed to get a beautiful Summer dress Mia Mara for £5.00!(from Trussell trust )I think they support Food Banks .

They don't have a duty to sell things cheaply.
And I don't have a 'duty' to buy things. I'm not going to suddenly say "ooh, lovely. A bobbly primani T-shirt for £10. I'll have two! Because charity."

This a thousand times!!

So glad others agree with this sentiment. I love it when the British Heart Foundation near us put a sign next to the item saying how much it is on Ebay. E.g. CD £40 on Ebay £35 in Store.

I often double check and 99% of the time the price on the tag is for a listing that hasn't even sold. Just because Dave from Essex listed his Great Aunts cd on Ebay for £40 doesn't mean that's how much it is worth and listing it for that price doesn't mean it will sell even on Ebay.

I support a local Pet Rescue charity shop. Know where the money is going.

Thanks, LeysaV

So much depends on the charity, the store manager & the team of volunteers. I run a charity shop, we have a lot of autonomy about what price we charge, I know my local market & charge accordingly, yes the odd thing might be priced wrongly by a volunteer but usually it is an undercharge (Levi 501s for £4 !). If people query a price I am always happy to explain it or, if appropriate, offer a discount. I get to know my customers and am always pointing things out that they might like, I get a huge following of regular customers.
Whatever mumsnetters think, charity shops have to perform well or they will be closed down. I doubled the profits for my shop in my first year of running it, it was previously under threat of closure.
Customers will vote with their feet if they don't like the pricing, I can easily get £2 for a paperback, yes there is another charity shop opposite where you can get 5 for £1 - but our books are properly sorted & in excellent condition. It's a bit like choosing to shop at Waitrose or Aldi

"I watched an old man arguing with an assistant in BHF about a shirt that was £8, which would have been cheaper if he just went to George at Asda to buy a new one.
He pointed out he couldn’t get to George easily (out of town) and he relied on town centre charity shops for cheap clothing."

The thing is I live in a very depressed part of the country. If charity shops are there to make money then surely they should look at who their market is.
Lots of the charity shops near me have refused donations as they are too full (the shops are swamped with over priced stock) so they aren’t really doing their job are they?

We have quite a few charity shops in our town
cancer research, action cancer, assisi ect and some are off their nut if they think their stock will sell for the prices they look while my fave is cancer research. it is right beside my local asda, i take my kids there and the gems we find are so cheap and the kids love them. eg brand new next onsie £1 kids coat £2. so no you ANBU

I don’t bother going into ones that stock brand new things such as outside seating, beds etc. Only those that sell donations they are the only reasonably priced ones.

Our local one that sells brand new bought in items regularly has to do big sales. When they first opened they where amazing now it’s scratched bikes for £70! That need new breaks, brand new garden seats at the RRP of £35 per chair. Jeans that the seems are nearly split £3.99. Silly stuff.

I agree, in the last place I lived they would ask £3 for a paperback book. Where I am now they are usually 50p. I feel far more inclined to buy one for 50p read it and take it back to a charity shop.

But charity shops have a moral and ethical obligation to sell things cheaply. They dont just exist to make money for the charity, they also have vital place in the community.

This is wrong. I understand that a lot of people do hold that opinion, but it doesn't trump legal obligations. Not even slightly. I can see that it might get a bit arguable with charities where assisting those on low incomes to afford necessities is part of their remit, but ultimately, if you want your donations to provide cheap clothing to those in need, the onus is on you to only give them to places that do exactly this. The likes of the RSPCA, PDA, BHF etc, that is just not what they do and nor do they claim to.

who on earth argues with a volunteer in a charity shop

LOADS of people. I don't do the till very often but did about 30 minutes this morning while the other volunteer had her tea break. One woman asked how much a hardback book was, despite the price being clearly marked at £4. She then had a go at me, saying it was too expensive and she thought it should be £2 tops. So don't buy it then.

Then just after has there was another customer objecting to the fact that we have on display some sort of silver communion platter for sale. We have no business selling it, apparently, and it should be in the church.

People wouldn't dream of going into Waterstones and telling staff their books are too expensive, or criticising the window displays at John Lewis. But charity shops are apparently fair game.

Oh and yes to the shoplifting. It's a massive problem. We have to keep all the jewellery in a locked cabinet. Regularly on a monday morning we'll go round the shop and pick up a dozen hangers with nothing on them. Or people "swap" - come in wearing their scabby old jacket, pick one off the rails in their size, put their own scabby one on the hanger and walk out with it. Usually justifying their actions by telling themselves we're not a proper shop and we get all of our stock free anyway. Or they take a 99p sticker off a mug, put it on a crystal decanter and wait until the volunteer with special needs is on the till. We are an easy target. No CCTV. No security tags. Usually one volunteer only in the shop, often a school age child or a pensioner.

We don't sell a lot of new stock in the shop, we do have a limited range of Fairtrade stuff which is bigger at this time of year as the gifts start to come in. I have noticed the cancer research place along the road has a lot of weird and wacky products though.

Someone argued with us over a plate once.

It was a famous make, I can't remember which

He had bought one similar for less in a completely different unrelated shop and thought he should only have to pay what they were charging

Stood outside and shouted in at us

Got £40.00 worth of Lego for school.

The Salvation Army really takes the pee.My dh and I went in one awhile ago and we spotted some Beatles albums,when we asked how much are they we were told they are going to be put on E-bay. We were furious.That`s not fair to the customers at all. Hence we do not go in there anymore

Not sure what is wrong with them trying to sell albums for the best possible price? I get the argument that people who are short of money rely on charity shops for clothes & furniture, but no one actually needs a Beatles album.

Some are too expensive, I've seen cheap brands, Primark or supermarket being sold at a price that must be higher than they were new, and sometimes their idea of 'designer' is very odd. But on the other hand, I've got some great stuff at a price I was happy with, so there you go.

I have been known to haggle, but only if something was broken/damaged and has been priced as if it wasn't. I'm always polite about it though.

I always wonder who actually shops there. It’s cheaper to buy stuff new in the supermarket.

I think what's odd about charity shop pricing is that eBay etc is often used as a price benchmark. However eBay will have dedicated customers looking for those specific items.

Charity show, however, are largely shopping by price bracket rather than for certain brands, so the competition is primark, H&M. And that's when the pricing structure makes no sense - those customers are not comparing prices in the same way that eBay sellers are.

I appreciate that not all customers fit this bracket, but I do think charity shops' position have been undermined by cheap disposable fashion. They reacted by trying to become more boutique, but I fear that may have alienated some of the core audience.

I always wonder who actually shops there. It’s cheaper to buy stuff new in the supermarket

People who don't want new stuff from a supermarket?