To think charity shops should be cheaper?

[Chocolatelover45]

The prices in my local charity shops are ridiculous (small northern town) .
E.g.
£2.50 for a rattle
£1 for a scuffed pint glass
£3.99 for a children's t shirt (George)
£1.50 for dog eared children's paperbacks
£4 for hardback puzzle book with half the puzzles already completed
£2.49 for 4 small plain Christmas baubles

Why do they charge so much? Surely they'd sell a lot more if it was cheaper? Or is there a good reason?

Commodities?

What the heck...

I saw a new look dress in a charity shop once which had tags attached. The new look tags had a sale sticker on for £7. The charity shop was trying to sell the dress for £12?!

You're right.

The ones in my village are ridiculous. I know the one my mum works in doesn't sell on Primark or supermarket 'basics' they weigh them in. The ones by me are full of Primark - t-shirts that are £2 new for £2-3.99. I don't mind paying for decent stuff - I bought a Hobbs dress for £10 the other day - but the majority of it is tat. Books as well. Really expensive.

Also I read recently that only a tiny amount from sales goes to the charity because of the overheads.

Thise prices are fair op.
I've seen far worse.

I think they are great overall despite the cost...great for the planet. Sustainable fashion is the future.
I have some lovely phase 8 tops that i got for £3 each. I did buy a primark jumper for a fiver but it's so lovely i didn't mind and i got a lovely Boden dress for £20...ouch but nearly new.
Plus charity shopping is more of a fun treasure hunt.

Totally agree.

Often it is cheaper to buy on Ebay.

'Charity trustees must use their charity's funds and assets only in furtherance of the charity's purposes.'

Page 5.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/677252/Chapter2new.pdf

If the charity's purpose is to help those in poverty, then they could sell second hand clothes etc cheaply (though the charity commission would be justified in asking how they screen customers to ensure that they meet the criteria).

If it is any other purpose, then legally they must maximise the income and use the money for the specified purpose.

Whether they maximise the income by keeping prices low and getting turnover, or by selling fewer items but for more per item, is up to the charity.

The 'second purpose' of providing cheap items has never existed, except for a few, specific, charity shops where that is the legal purpose of the charity itself.

I think it's wrong, but greed is the driver here

Greed?

Charity shops exist to raise money for the charity. Which then gets spent on the activities of the charity.

So, the hospice shop's profits are spent on providing hospice care.

The Cancer Research shop's profits are spent on, y'know, cancer research.

Where's the 'greed'?

@ElluesPichulobu has it spot on

all charities are required by law to maximise the value of their assets as far as possible within the aims of the charity.

so, if someone donates to a charity a painting that is worth £10,000 they cannot sell it for less than that.

the same principle applies here. the value of any thing is the price a willing buyer is prepared to pay. if they know they could sell a coat for £10 they would be failing their duties as a charity to price it at £5.

the exception would be if a charity actually had one of their charitable objectives being "to be a source of cheap second hand clothing for people on very low incomes" and they could then price everything at 50p.

Also - isn't pricing / price banding set by their head office?

FWIW - my local charity shop has as a charitable objective also to provide affordable items to the local community

Items are supposed to be priced at 1/3 if the original retail if in great condition . The reason people get bargains is because the volunteers miss a brand . The one I volunteer at has a premium rail which is expensive but great quality high end items .

I actually prefer to now buy on marketplace or gumtree for this reason you can usually get higher quality items for less on there :)

badgermushrooms I give to charity shops as much so people who can't afford to buy new can buy my no longer needed things cheaply and assumed that was a large part of the motivation for most people donating.

There's a big warehouse style charity shop near us and they never turn donations away (they bail poorer quality fabric donations to sell by weight for rags).

When we donated the baby and toddler toys they were put straight out, I look my kids around to see if they wanted to buy a small item each, having just donated several boxes. It made the children's Day to see a littler boy thrilled with toy they'd donated and his mum, buying it for him for 1€ (new price about 25€ - it had been used by all my kids though). They'd obviously walked a long way to the shop, which is out of town, as they left on foot as we returned to the car. The workers have some discretion and sell most things lower than the marked price - the marked price is high because Semi-Professional Car booters/ eBay sellers scoop up all the best stuff for resale otherwise. They'll always discount heavily for someone who as far as they can tell is a private buyer - a parent with a child buying one toy or clothing in that child's and their own size, someone who is trying everything on etc. There's a sign up saying prices aren't fixed but they won't negotiate with trade buyers.

That's what charity is surely?

In England and Wales, by law, charities are required to state their objectives.

If the objective is funding cancer research, then the charity can't decide one day that they would prefer to help people on low incomes with cheap clothing.

If the objective is to help people on low incomes, then they could decide to meet that objective by providing cheap clothing. Or by running a food bank. Or by offering support to claim benefits. Or whatever they choose. But they cannot choose to fund cancer research.

Would you be happy donating to a charity thinking it would use your money for their stated purpose, only to find they had used it for something completely different?

I don't get the impression OP was asking because she thinks on principle charity shops should be cheap, though I accept we get a lot of posts from people who reckon that. She seemed to me to be asking whether the shop is using the correct tactics to maximise income. To which the answer is maybe, maybe not. It's hardly unknown in retail for shops, charity or otherwise, to misjudge the price the customers are willing to pay for the quality they offer. So it's possible, but without knowing the shop, can't say if this is what's happening or not.

In my experience they are too cheap. LKBennett dress sold for £5, Jaeger coat costing over £300 for £10. These were my deceased mothers clothes.

Charity shops are very expensive near me. I was trying to find a xmas jumper for DD1's play, she's 16 so women size and I couldn't find one for less then £10! In the end I went to a cheaper town and got one for £6.50. I still think that's a lot though!

I've seen coats for £45, shoes for £20-30 and clothes are between around £6 for a top and £10-15 for jumpers and jeans. It's not actually always a cheaper option anymore. If you use them for ethical reasons then you won't mind but personally I'm trying to find a bargain and it's not always the case!

I agree. I get it is for charity but I'd rather buy brand new if it's basically the same or damaged. I don't buy second hand often. I sometimes get the odd next purchase of eBay. That's about it though

I agree if those prices in your OP are correct. Around here there are tonnes of donations of toys, books and children's clothes (so much so that they regularly stop taking donations). However, they are priced reasonably- 50p for books, £1 for clothes, and toys never really above £2.50. It is always busy, and even though adult clothing is priced higher according to brand, because of the increased footfall they sell a fair bit; supply and demand really, a glut of children's stuff, sell it off fairly cheaply, increase the amount of customers, charge more of a fair price for adults clothes. They also do handbag auctions, there's usually a fashion student volunteering who takes photos of outfit inspiraton for Instagram, and have an active social media page. I volunteered for a while, and they make a good amount of money for their charity, the other one in the town which has just had a refit and has some wonderful volunteers prices everything super high, and is usually empty. £5 for a Primark t shirt when you can get one new for less? No thank you. Although I know it's not possible, if they adapted to the local market they'd probably all make more.

This is our local charity shop.
Ed's Mum sells jewellery in the shop too....

That is cheap.

The problem is we've become accustomed to retailers being able to sell new items for similar - if not cheaper - prices. There is a huge environmental and human cost to producing goods so cheaply and it's warped our sense of value as consumers. Charity shops are a really sustainable option.

the same principle applies here. the value of any thing is the price a willing buyer is prepared to pay. if they know they could sell a coat for £10 they would be failing their duties as a charity to price it at £5.

Treating every single item according to its individual sale potential is not good business practice insofar as it will not necessarily maximise the store's profits / maximise benefit to the charity beneficiaries.

You get feet through the door when a charity shop has a reputation for selling quality items at a good price. People go to charity shops for many different reasons - eBay sellers obv, people who like the thrill of the hunt, people who need a specific thing for a specific purpose (jeans to wear for a week on a farm), people with a little time on their hands waiting for the next bus - not everyone is looking to clothe a family for a fiver.

Once through the door an individual might buy three or four items. This makes it possible to refresh stock, and this in turn keeps the interest up.

Supermarkets are sometimes willing to lose money on milk and certain other items just to get people past the door where they may buy both the milk they came for and half a dozen other items.

Yes, the supermarket will sometimes get the odd desperate person looking for milk who will pay £5.00 for a pint. But not only will they put people off if that is the sort of pricing they are known for, the milk will sit on the shelves for a lot longer than it will elsewhere.

Isn’t the point of charity shops that you are essentially making a donation to a charity? Personally I wouldn’t donate anything unless it was in good nick - anything worn/bobbly goes in the fabric bin. When I lived in the UK I used to buy books and dvds in the Oxfam shop and then take them back when I’d read/watched them. The whole second hand market has changed so much - I don’t think you can expect charity shops to virtually give their stuff away only for it to be hoovered up by people who want to mark it up and put it on eBay. Perhaps the answer is to have a £1 rail for all the Primark/Tesco/George cast-offs. Also, if you think you can do better, why not actually go in and volunteer.

I agree...,..the ones round here are like jumble sales because no one buys the stupidly priced stuff. Why would they when they can buy it brand new for not much less ??

I agree some things are overpriced, but you can also pick up bargains. I regularly buy from charity shops, and have to be selective. I often can't afford their prices. A lot of them drop prices though if they see you looking then walking away.

Primark and supermarket brands make charity shops look expensive.

I agree that charity shops are working to support their causes rather than their clients, but if they continue turning a blind eye to how cheap stuff is all around them, they will soon be a part of Britain’s past.

Who wants to buy an over washed top from Asda for 50p less than what you would pay for it new?